Leinenkugels 1888 Bock

1888 Bock

Brewed by:
Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company
 
Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin

Bock
 
5.10% ABV
 





Commercial Description:
Leinenkugel 1888 Bock, a luscious brew, originally created to serve lumberjacks, will be available for all who want to try its excellent boutique of Caramel, Pale and two-row Chocolate malts. Cluster hops add a touch of citrus character and when combined with Munich malts and a 20- to 25-day cold lagering process, you have a truly timeless beer. (ratebeer.com)

General Pricing:
12oz bottle, ~ $7.00 6 Pack, ~$28.00 Case

Background:
Bier Cabinet Spring Cleaning Continues. Well, this one was actually in the fridge. I bought this with other bocks in February and I’m now just getting around to reviewing it.

Review:
The beer pours a clear dark amber with ruby hues and an off white head. The beer is fairly effervescent with lots of tiny bubbles rising up from the bottom of the glass.

There are some nice toasted malts on the nose along with a slight hop aroma. But there also seems to be a grainy or grassy note to the nose of this beer. Nothing bad, it just makes me a little suspicious.

Boy, that was a big let down. I kept anticipating flavors throughout the whole tasting of this beer and they never really came. It starts with a very nice somewhat toasted malt sweetness up front on the tip of the tongue. But that is only for a split second. In fact it may only be a perception or anticipation and not the real thing. The perceived malt sweetness does not continue or carry though the rest of the sip at all. There is a nice effervescence over the tongue in mid-sip but this again does not seem to have a positive effect on the experience. The back-end is just flat in flavor. It is very easy to drink because there is nothing to it. The finish is fairly dry and also lacking flavor. The final after taste is of that suspicious grainy/grassy note that was detected on the nose.

From the rich look and nice aromas of this beer you are expected a better sensory experience than what you are left with. It is really an odd experience it’s like drinking a Coke but tasting nothing but water. Well, not quite but you get the idea.

This is one of those “Must Drink Cold” kind of a beer. It has only warmed to 61 degrees and it is picking up a fair amount of unpleasantness already. This may be a short review I don’t think I can handle letting this warm up much more.
The faster you try to drink it the worse it gets. There is still not much going on in the sip but all the unpleasantness seems to build up for a hellacious finish.

Now at 64 degrees and it is just about undrinkable. This is the first beer out of 137 reviews that I am really having second thoughts about finishing. I’m not sure if it’s really that bad or I’m just not in the masochistic mood. 

If I don’t finish it, it’s an F for sure and I really didn’t think this would get this bad when it was cold.

OUGH! Maybe it will still be an F.

Wow, how does a beer go down hill so fast? 3 to 4 degrees is the difference between this beer being drinkable and not. Something is wrong with that.

So what do I do for a bottom line? On one hand it is drinkable maybe even somewhat enjoyable when it’s cold.  On the other hand it’s down right atrocious when it warms. On the other hand… I feel like the Tevye, the father in “Fiddler on the Roof”. I ran out of hands and in crying TRADITION, TRADITION, I’ve come to the conclusion that this is a dismal failure.  

I still can’t bring myself to give this beer an F rating so I’m going to give it a D-. I’m not sure what the logic is I just ran out of hands.

Leinie has had some hits and misses but they missed this one by a mile.