Sweet candied bock with dominant barley roast, buttery pale malting, and receding dry nuttiness. Carbolic hops fade as toasted graining battles back coarse astringency. Label claims ‘lager beer’ under bock ‘title,’ and it’s much closer to the former with its lively hops and bittersweet grains. Plus, mocha presence too light for bock class.

Bavarian bock more influenced by toasted barley, roasted chestnut, and sweet husked corn than expected full-on creamy malt thickness. Dry mocha and sweet chocolate coat underside, dissipating abruptly by mildly bitter hop finish. As usual, American bock version has less complexity than most Germans.

Easygoing amber-bodied bock closer to mild cream ale. Perfumed citrus entry picks up honeyed caramel malting to seize surfacing prune-raisin dryness, finishing crisp, clean and mellow.

Quaffed bottle 1,417 of 2,400 before X-mas ’04 expecting seasonal illusions (nutmeg-cinnamon) to ultimately develop due to label’s wreathe insignia. But indistinct reddish auburn dry bock also lacked advertised ‘rich, creamy’ character. Instead, distant barley roast and sedate gourd, tobacco, chestnut, and almond illusions drop off to deficient maple finish.

Amiable yellow-hazed white-headed medium body brings softly creamy marshmallow malting and banana-clove-bubblegum sweetness to sinister bruised lemon souring. Delicate herbal restraint placates subsidiary coriander-cinnamon-allspice illusions.

Sumptuous soft-fruited dry bock with perky hop subtlety, tangy orange peel blitz, and chewy caramel-molasses tether gains barleywine luster scurrying to sweet barley-roasted raisin-almond finish. Creamy mocha malt midst smoothed out by frisky carbonation and herbaceous recess.

Golden red bock nearly as colorful as its snazzy label. Soured raisin persistence impels sweet cedar influence, bruised cherry tang, red grape tartness, and grassy hay smidgen. Almond nuttiness brackets meager rye sentiment. Brewery defunct: 2005.

Well integrated rye-toasted pumpernickel theme extends through dirty earthen graining, torrid vegetal souring, and dried cherry dirge. Though cumbersome phenol fizz gets in the way and sour mash waft may be off-putting, its chocolate-cocoa malting adds abstruse depth.

2006 version (a.k.a. Mountain Holidays in Vermont) lightly embitters roasted chocolate-caramel malt dehydration with spicy dry-hopped raisin-fig parch and skittish cashew-chestnut-pecan chafe. But seasonal nutmeg seepage lost amongst tertiary tobacco trickle.

Claret-hued dark double bock (with cascading bubbles quickly rising to tan-headed surface) gains dry prune prominence as strong cereal-grained barleycorn influence beckons. Cocoa, coffee, and raisin notes scattered.

Early woodsy cedar chip illusion fails to supplement oncoming toffee-like vanilla-backed theme of ruby-cola-hued springtime ’07 release. Barren prune-fig segue and astringent pecan-walnut toasting coarsen tannic red grape wisp, negating baker’s chocolate, powdered cocoa souring, and anise trace.