Out of the Bottle: Prohibition Bock

It's May and my Prohibition Bock is ready for Spring. Let's see how it turned out.

I must say that I really like the look. The beer's clarity is excellent and its chocolaty hue is topped by a dense cream cap that does a nice job of sticking around. The beer leaves a bit of lace behind too.

So how would I describe the aroma and flavor? Chocolate Alt with an American twist.

Baking chocolate and caramel are the central theme. The overall effect wasn't quite what I expected, but I'm pleased and so are the friends who've tried my beer. The sweetness is well balanced by a mild bitterness that has a certain rustic (that's a flavor, right?) edge that seems to come with American Cluster hops. The yeast is clean, but all I could think while drinking was Alt. This is a beer that definitely rides the line between Lager and Ale. Rounding things out, the finish carries a lingering sweetness, while the beer's body has a nice heft to it.

Overall? Not a bad little beer. It came out a lot more Alt-like than I was expecting, given that I didn't use a recipe normally associated with the style. However, this was my first time with this particular yeast strain, so I guess that was to be expected. The same yeast is working away on my Pseudo-Pils. I'm curious as to how my lighter beer will turn out. Hopefully I'll like that beer as much as this one.

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