Review: LongShot Traditional Bock

Traditional Bock is the second-best of the three LongShot beers from Samuel Adams this year. You may not agree if you don't like super-hoppy beers like their Double IPA, which I love.

LongShot brews, as I wrote about in a previous post, are the winners of SA's homebrew contest.

A bock is a dark lager. Lager beers are brewed with yeast that ferments at the bottom of the vessel (ale yeast ferments at the top) and at cold temperatures. Lagers are also conditioned, which means they are aged for weeks at cold temperatures after they have fermented. The flavors of a lager are cleaner and somewhat lighter than ales.

You can't hide brewing mistakes (fermented too hot, mashed grains wrong) in a lager like you can in an ale, which is one reason I never made a lager back when I homebrewed.

This beer shows that Americans can make German beers just as well as Germans.

My notes:

A deep amber in color with a thick, off-white head.

It has a good, sweet malty aroma.

The taste is quite good. Clean, sweet malt flavors -- caramel, syrup, even fruit -- are perfectly balanced with a hint of bitterness.

Its body is smooth and hefty.

This is a great everyday brew and another LongShot beer that should be added to Sam Adams' regular roster.