The Spring Beer Tourey: # 3 GB Maibock vs # 6 Yuengling Bock

     Back  in the Bocks Plus Region we have two hopefully yummy bocks. # 3 Gordon Biersch Maibock lost in the first round last year,but they were victims of a bad match-up.  Yuengling Bock is new to the tourney.  GB pours light amber with honey, caramel and citrus on the nose.  Yueng is a very light brown with strong caramel and light mocha.  GB steps up with big flavors of honey and caramel with citrus herb on the finish.  It also brings a big body.  Yueng also brings it strong with the flavor, nice caramel and mocha, but there's a bit of an odd aftertaste.  It has body, but a gulp of the GB washes any trace of it away.  GB has that almost syrupy thick body to it. Nice.  The Yuengling has nice flavors, but Gorden Biersch has it all. GB wins, but I could go for a six of this Yuengling Bock, it's good.

The Spring Beer Tourney: # 4 Vinyl vs # 5 Pandoras Bock

      The # 4 seed is Magic Hat's Vinyl, which has a stupid name and a bizarre bottle, but I liked it last year.  The # 5 seed is Breckenridge Pandora's Bock, which has a great name and a lovely bottle.  Both pour out a light brown amber.  Vinyl has a rich caramel, mocha and citrus nose.  Pandora has a slightly sour caramel and herb nose, kind of weak.  Vinyl has quite a bit of mocha to its caramel, with some tingly citrus herb.  It's good, but I remember it being better.  Pandora has caramel, mocha, honey and a nice rich mouth feel.  There's some hop tingle it's nice and creamy and very good.  The Vinyl seems to improve a bit it has some body and it's flavorful.  But Pandora has a full body and  big complex flavors.  I'll try some sip for sip action.  The Vinyl can't hold up here, Pandora is to strong.  Pandora's Bock moves on easily to the Elite Eight.

Starr Hill " The Gift " Winterbock

      I sure love Winterbock, but " The Gift " is the most annoying, pretentious name ever.  It better be liquid gold for me not to hate it, even though Starr Hill is  kind of local.  This stuff is hard to pour, it's all head.  Had to wait a while even though I poured carefully.  It's a hazy pale straw with strong caramels and citrus on the nose.  Eeehhhh. O.K. there are some caramel, citrus and yeast.  There's also quite a bit of strong herb that clashes with the yeast and leaves a poor aftertaste.  I'm gonna plow through and see where this goes.  It gets better as you go, but this " Gift " needs to be returned.  This hovers on the lower end of the nice list, it's drinkable.  I should put it on the naughty list just for the name, and it's not very good.

Abita Andygator Helles Doppelbock

Abita is a brewery just outside of New Orleans and any business down there could use our patronage. I generally like things that say doppel or trippel, because those are happy words that mean more alcohol. This is of course the case with Andygator, 8% ABV. Andygator pours out a light to medium gold and has a mild honey and floral nose. It also tastes a lot like it smells, strong honey with floral notes and caramels. The hops keep a low profile at first but build very late on the finish. I actually kind of like the way they creep up on you it's different. This is a nice beer with something interesting to it and well worth giving a look. I don't think this earns a spot in the rotation but I might revisit it again sometime. As I get down to the bottom, I have to say smooth and likable, just like me.

The Spring Beer Championship: The Buck vs The Bock

The final contest of the Spring Beer Tournament is finally here. Many beers have been consumed to get this far and now only Dominion Spring Buck and Anchor Bock remain to be drunk. These are both good beers and both should be sought out and consumed. But, there can be only one. The palate cleanser for today will be air. The Buck is an effervescent honey, caramel,tea, heavy alcohol delight. Wow, I just took a big hit of this air and it's really good. The Bock is big and brown, and full of flavor. What it does it does well, but can't offer the good complex flavor profile of the Buck. Boy that's some refreshing air. I'm just gonna keep pushing through here. The Buck manages to take unusual ingredients and make them harmonize. This is something that a lot of unusual beers fail at. The Bock is very solid and I find the last sip to be the best. The problem is the Bock is solid, while the Buck is exceptional. I have no problem crowning Dominion Spring Buck the Spring Beer Champion of 2010. I'd love to do it again next year.

The Flavorful Four: #2 Anchor Bock vs #6 Garde Dog

The highest seed left is Anchor Bock. And Today they face the upstart Flying Dog's Garde Dog. The palate cleanser will be burgers. The Bock has great strong mocha and caramel flavors. This is a creamy, rich, medium body dark beer. Ah yes, the joy of flame caressed meat. The Dog is a nice refreshing beer with sweet caramel, and some well balanced hop bite. These beers are both showing really well today. I just love the crispy parts on the edge of the burger. Let's finish this.
The Bock really tastes great today. Well balanced, tons of flavor. The Dog is also looking good. This is a good beer for any time of year and I think it would shine with a variety of foods.The Bock is really going strong, but the Dog seems to improve a bit. This will come down to the last sip. The bock is gone, good throughout. It's up to the Dog to show me something with the last gulp.And it shows me a tinge of that off flavor it can have, disappointing. Anchor Bock weighs anchor, and sails off with the victory. Now the final match is set, and Anchor Bock will meet Spring buck for the championship.

Round 2: #2 Glissade vs #5 Irish Red

The next match-up of the second round features another 2 seed versus a 5 seed. This time it's sierra Nevada's Glissade against Sam Adam's Irish Red. The palate cleanser will be lime Tostitos. Glissade has a nice caramelized fruit and honey flavor, but also an overbearing yeast flavor and not the best hop balance. The chips are really limy in this bag. Irish Red has nice caramel flavors with hop bitters up front and on the finish. The chips with the most tiny green dots are the best. Let's go to the video tape.

The Sam's is a decent beer it's got good balance, but kind of a poor finish. Sierra Nevada could use some more malts to balance the loud hops and yeast. I really liked this much better last time. It's amazing how the equation changes when you have different beers, different flavors. The Glissade is starting to get very low in the glass I might be warming up to it. Boy both glasses are down we have to go into overtime. Going quickly sip to sip neither dominates the other. Red has the balance, Glissade has more alcohol. Neither competitor is playing their best right now, but it just wasn't Glissade's day. They lose a nail bitter in overtime. I really can't believe I like the Red more, but there it is. The Red was just a bit better and it rightfully advances to the Flavorful Four.

Sierra Nevada

Sam Adam's

Round 2: #2 Anchor Bock vs #5 Rising Moon

The first contest of the second round pits Anchor Bock, the 2nd seed, against Blue Moon, Rising Moon, the 5th seed. Anchor is a spring bock while Rising Moon is a keifer lime leaf beer. The palate cleanser is pretzel rods. The descriptions will be far briefer in this round as you can always go back and look it up. Rising Moon is a pleasant beer to drink. The tart lime is nice but subtle enough that it marries well with the crisp hop. The best part of pretzel sticks is the salt. Beer loves salt. Anchor Bock is nice and rich with a mocha flavor and hops that sort of zing in and out.Munch, munch. Lets go sip for sip.

The Bock is a good beer with body and rich flavors. However, it's got a bit of an "off" yeast flavor and the hop is strangely intermittent. I'm not sure I'm crazy about the aftertaste either, but it's got such big yummy flavors. The Rising Moon is a nice balanced beer, that clearly would be a ten with a lot of foods, but it's beer v beer. The Anchor is starting to sway me. The Bock seems better than I remember and the Moon seems a bit duller. Rising Moon is just sooo nice and I'm sure it's gonna make another guy happy some day. No, it's not about you, it's about me. Anchor Bock, you minx, you've made me stray. Actually, as the glasses get down to the end, I find Rising Moon still has a place in my heart. Then Anchor Bock takes her top off, Rising who. Anchor Bock pushes Rising Moon aside to go on to the Flavorful Four.

Blue Moon

Anchor

#3 Gordon Biersch Maibock vs Flying Dog Garde Dog

Back to the North-East bracket we have the #3 seed versus the #6 seed. The three seed is Gordon Biersch Maibock, out of San Jose California. Maibock is surprisingly hard to find, but is one of the best styles ever. Flying Dog's Garde Dog is a French farmhouse ale brewed right up the road from me in Frederick, we usually say Fredneck, Maryland. The palate cleanser for this match-up will be plain crackers. The Maibock pours out a nice redish amber, while the Garde Dog is a very cloudy pale straw. The bock has sweet caramel and mild hop bitterness on the nose. The dog has some bitterness and a sort of not unpleasant funkiness. A sip of Garde Dog brings total balance of hop, malt, sweetness, and bitterness. Now to enjoy my delicious plain cracker. Wow, that's an amazing cracker, orgasmic. The Maibock is loaded with caramel malt, a nice light hop throughout, and a sweet finish. Oh god this cracker is so memorable and amazing.

Now let's go to the head to head match-up. Must have more cracker. The Maibock has a nice body and strong flavors, but the Garde Dog has a nice body and balanced flavors. I'm really shocked by how well the Garde Dog holds up against a strong style like this Maibock. Wait, hold on, I can't wait to enjoy another one of these incredible crackers. Wow, these crackers are better than doing rails of blow off a strippers ass. This contest is really close. I can't help but think the Maibock should be pulling away, it's very good, but I keep reaching for the Garde Dog. Seriously, Maibock is a great love of mine, but the Garde Dog finds my hand again. Oh my god, Garde Dog drains a three at the buzzer. GARDE DOG WINS, GARDE DOG WINS. A stunning upset as the # 6 seed advances. A stellar match-up, but not as great as that plain cracker.

#2 Sierra Nevada Glissade Vs #7 Buffalo Bill's Orange Blossom Ale

The next match-up is between #2 in the Mid-East Region, Sierra Nevada's Glissade and the #7 seed, Buffalo Bill's Orange Blossom Cream Ale. Glissade is a golden bock made by the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company out of Chico CA, which I believe is near Suckramento. The Orange Blossom is an ale made with honey, orange peel, and orange flower extract, made by a big brewery, Pyramid, for Buffalo bill's Brewery in Hayward CA. The palette cleanser for this one is blue corn chips with chili cheese dip. Now for a rant. I know I'm supposed to have a simple water cracker so the food will not interfere with the flavors of the beer. Screw that. That's not what people have with beer, they have food. So die snobs, die.

Anyway, Glissade pours a clear pale gold, while the Orange Blossom is that cloudy straw color. Glissade has a little bitter apple on the nose, the other stuff has an overwhelming, lingering orange. Wow, that is strong. Crunching sounds. The Sierra Nevada has some nice hop bitterness up front with a creamy light caramelized apple\pear, and significant hop on the finish. The blue corn chip really holds up well to spicy dips. A large orange flavor comes up front with the Bill's, but so does some hop to balance all that fruit sweetness. That fruit lingers on the finish for a while.The golden bock is a far worthier #2 seed than the Anchor Bock, but it's a good, not great bock. The blossom has interesting flavors, but it's just a novelty beer not worthy of your regular rotation.

Need to hit those chips again, yeah those are good. Now time to go head to head. I thought the Orange Blossom was really good at first, but it get's old quick. Beers should get better as you drink them, the Glissade does. There's some real hop to the bock, but it has sublime balance. This seeding was very accurate, there's 5 minutes left and the Glissade is playing it's walk-ons. Sayonara, Orange Blossom, you just got routed. Glissade moves on to meet Sam Adam's Irish Red in the second round.

#2 Anchor Bock vs #7 Saranac Irish Red

Switching to the North-east Bracket we go to our last Irish Red to go in the first round. It's the #2 seed Anchor Bock, a spring bock out of San Francisco, against the #7 seed Saranac Irish Red Ale out of Utica, New York. It's left coast versus east coast. The palate cleanser will be a roast chicken fresh out of the oven. Saranac pours out a light amber red while the Anchor is a not quite opaque dark brown. The Irish Red has a little hop on the nose that yields to a brown sugar scent,unusual. The bock starts yeasty with a bit of chocolate and caramel on the nose. The Saranac has that slight caramelized fruit which yields quickly to a decent hop bitterness. Pick at some chicken, wow the skin is crispy with a spicy herb rub, delicious. Anchor has made a bock with good malts and mocha flavors, but a surprising blandness, and barely detectable hops that appear only on the finish. This could be an upset.
Uummm, chicken. Alright time to put them head to head sip for sip. The Anchor lacks balance and the relatively weak hop in the Saranac overwhelms the bock. The bock fires back with a strong body and richness. I don't know if this #2 seed is going very far if it can't dominate this level of competition. Of the three Irish Reds in this tourney the Saranac is the weakest. More chicken. I look at the glasses and notice that the Anchor is quite a bit lower, you just can't ignore the evidence. The bock pulls out a squeaker, but how will it do in the next round against a tougher foe? You never know how the match-ups will end up.