Anchor Bock Beer

"You could do it in a boat, you could
do it with a goat." - Dr. Seuss  

Two Guys realize that it’s back to school season so we thought we would provide another history lesson to our loyal readers. Our latest sample was a bock beer. Bock beer is a strong, rich, malty, low-hop style of lager. It was originally brewed as an ale by Bavarian monks in the 14th Century and used as a source of nutrition during times of fasting due to its higher nutritional content--yet another example of the greatness of beer, aka liquid bread. The origin of the beer is believed to be Einbeck, Germany and the name comes from a Bavarian dialectic pronunciation of the town that made it sound like "ein bock," meaning "a billy goat." As a visual pun, many bock beers today use an image of a goat on their labels. There are many varieties or substyles of bock beers which differ in color(though none are light) and strength including one that is partially frozen to concentrate the flavor and alcohol content by removing the ice water. That’s baaaaaa-dass! Now onto the beer!

Joe: Since at the time of this sampling it was not 157 degrees outside, we tried a non-summer beer.  It was Anchor bock from the Anchor Brewing Company located in the great earthquake state of California.  It is a dark brown beer with light carbonation.  It has a 5.5% ABV.  You would think with a name like Anchor Bock that it would have a taste reminiscent of the sea but instead it has a caramel piney taste that reminds me of the woods.  The hops bitterness is very light and it has a sweet taste once it hits the back of the teeth.  As usual with a beer such as this, it tasted better once the palate was acclimated to the flavor.  I enjoyed this beer and would like to try another beer from this brewing company.  I give it a score of 3.5.

Justin: I enjoyed this bock beer from San Francisco. Anchor Bock immediately reminded me of the only other bock beer that I have tried – Michelob Amber Bock. The flavor was strong like a kick from a goat, as expected from a dark lager. It was full of flavorful tones of roasted barley and piney hops with rich hints of chocolate and caramel malts. The carbonation was very light which made the beer taste a little syrupy at times but overall, I enjoyed this nicely balanced brew. Four stars! 

Widmer Brothers Citra Blonde Summer Brew

The perfect "beat the heat" treat.

Two Guys have been starting our blog posts recently with a little bit of history of our favorite beverage. We have advanced past the drinking beer through a funnel stage and now want to know more about the different varieties of beer that we enjoy so much. We are happy to share what we learn with our 4 loyal readers. Two Guys sampled a honey blonde ale for this review. But what exactly is a honey blonde ale? For that matter, what is an ale? Ale is a type of beer that is brewed from malted barley using warm fermentation with yeast to speed up the process. It is then mixed with hops to help preserve the beer and give it a bitter taste that offsets the sweetness from the barley malt. Honey blonde ale is where the malt is dried with coke (And no, it's not the kind of coke that a mountain of which will cause you to run down the stairs screaming "Say 'ello to my little friend.") It comes from coal and this particular drying process gives the beer a very pale color. Blonde ales are normally a little sweeter and less bitter than normal ales. Well, enough of our quick little lesson - now onto the beer.

Joe: On this sampling we tried Widmer Brothers Citra Blonde Summer Brew.  If you keep track of such things, this is our second in a row summer themed beer. In our defense it is summer and it was 137 degrees when we sampled this beer. The Citra is a pale colored 4.30 ABV beer with high carbonation.  It is a citrus beer so it has fruit flavor. In this case an orange taste. But unlike the Liney we tried in the last review, it is very light. In my humble opinion, it perfectly offsets the hops bitterness on a hot summer day but does not overwhelm the taste. I thoroughly enjoyed this beer. I give it a 4.5.

 Justin: Its official, I have a new favorite summer beer! Widmer Brothers Citra Blonde Ale is full of crisp flavor and is equally refreshing. The beer smells like how summer should. The citra hops provide many mild hints of grapefruit and oranges along with a delicious spiced characteristic flavor. The mild bitterness is nicely balanced by the malt sweetness. Underneath each bottle cap is a prost - in German it means "cheers", as a salutation accompanied by beer. My favorite of the night was A Prost: To beer bread without the bread. I definitely recommend this beer and it receives my highest rating to date of 4.5 stars!