Latest Reviews
Double Dry Hopped pseudoSueToppling Goliath
Modus Vivendi
Wild Beer Co.
Spaceman
Brewfist
Recent Articles
Outdoor Winter Tippling TipsStay safe from the pandemic and stay warm with these winter patio drinking tactics. Shameless
Craft brewer sellouts become as tone-deaf and underhanded as their new overlords. Great Taste Eve
Check out the burgeoning Madison beer scene the night before the best fest in country. Good Beer Makes Good Conversation
The effects of drinking beer worth talking about. The Beers of Walmart
The largest retailer in the world now has its own line of beers. archives »
Beer Reviews
Honey Bock
New Glarus Brewing CompanyNew Glarus, WI
USA
http://www.newglarusbrewing.com/
Style: Bock
Jug’s Rating:
(Drinkable, but flawed)
Comments:
Pair With:
Eddie and Nigel are hopheads. I’m a goathead. Big, rich bock (which means goat in German) beers are my vice and I got pretty excited when I found out New Glarus was going to release a “Honey Bock”.Honey, of course, is not traditionally used in any bock style so I was really curious how this would turn out. New Glarus had a decent bock in Uff-da Bock, and they make some pretty radical shit with their Unplugged series, so I was confident the Honey Bock would turn out fine.
Man was I wrong.
The Honey Bock pours golden and clear with a fine, white head of tiny white bubbles that lingers. It’s so light and clear I questioned the malt character right away. It is a pretty beer, but that is the only compliment I can give it.
The malt nose is, well, missing. Not even a faint scent of malt and only a slight Hallertau-ish hop bouquet. At this point I am getting really suspect of this “bock”.
The first taste is fizzy water. I’m crushed. There is no malt flavor. I mean absolutely none. It’s fairly heavily carbonated, which I could let slide if there was any backbone to the beer at all. Finally there is a slight, sweet honey flavor exposed after the over-carbonated fizzing dies down.
I had to double check and make sure I poured the right beer and not some macro-swill honey bullshit. Surely this cannot be a product of New Glarus. I actually poured another one just to make sure this wasn’t some cruel trick Eddie devised.
As a beer, it is drinkable if you don’t like flavor. As a bock, this beer is absolutely terrible. Our rating system won’t allow me to give it a 1 mug unless it is undrinkable, which it is not, so I’ll give it 1.5 mugs here, 2 on the board. I can’t believe this came from New Glarus. The bottle says it’s a “Wisconsin Style Honey Bock, easy going and more approachable than its traditional dark German cousin.” Well, there is no fucking way this is a bock, and I demand a DNA test to prove this is related to any dark German cousins. I’ve often praised New Glarus in the past for its quality beers, and I reserve the right to expose this one harshly for what it isn’t. The only words I can find to describe this I have to borrow from my teenage daughter:
OMFG WTF? This beer got pwn’d! Epic fail </3
Reviewed by Jug Dunningan on January 18, 2010.
Agree with this review?
No 
Yes 
Today in 1516, the Reinheitsgebot, or “German Beer Purity Law,” was adopted in Bavaria.