For years, my friends from Texas have talked about Shiner Bock. And since I like a good Bock beer, I've always been intrigued, so when it finally became available in NJ, I had to give it a try.
On the nose, this beer exhibits exactly what you would expect from a traditional bock beer; lots of sweet maltiness, with only a hint of hops.
On the palate, the malt is nice, but lighter than I expected based on the nose. And while I'm not a fan of overly hopped beers, hops do have their place, and I felt that this beer could use a little more bitterness to offset the malt and give a cleaner finish.
And speaking of finish, while it wasn't particularly clean, it was surprisingly short, lasting for only 2-3 seconds.
I'm not quite sure what to think of this beer. It's too sweet and malty to be a refreshing "lawn mowing" beer, the type that quenches your thirst. And it's too light to be an interesting beer for serious drinking. It would possibly work as a food beer with something like Buffalo wings, where the slight sweetness would offset the spice, but I personally would prefer something a little richer like a Newcastle Brown.
This is probably a good beer for someone looking to move from generic mass produced beers into richer, more interesting craft beers, but for the experienced craft or import beer drinker, I think that it will be disappointing. Of course, if you're a real craft beer fan, you'll try it anyway; I just advise to start by buying a single, and not a six-pack.
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