Back to the blog and rolling along with bock season! Thank you so much for bearing with me while I took February off; between our baby, Michelle working hard on a new project, and a new job I'm still settling into, it's getting tough to find space to write about beer. Taking February was the right call for me. 

Today, we're hitting the ground running on this cold yet still spring-like late-winter day with a beer that perfectly encapsulates the changing seasons, a style I eagerly anticipate the whole winter long. That's right; we're doing a bock.

I'll say here that I only have two bocks slated for review this month. A stroll through the shelves at my local bottle shop this afternoon showed that breweries are more focused on fad-like brews (which isn't a dig--I love fad beers!) than sticking with this tried and true seasonal. Luckily, one of the breweries adhering to this malty tradition is MadTree, who canned Guten Bock this year. Let's get to it.

Look, I'll be honest with you: My last post was about a MadTree beer. So, instead of reiterating and regurgitating what I wrote back in January, I'll just directly share my spiel from that post here:

Since it's been quite some time since a MadTree offering last graced these parts, let me direct you to their "About" page. The Cincinnati brewery (located in the city's Oakley neighborhood) is run by conservation-minded people, who believe in giving back to the environment and their community. They also believe in making damn fine beer.

Guten Bock's a 7.4% ABV doppelbock lager. Its brewers promise notes of bread, caramel, and a touch of chocolate in this malt-forward beer.

MadTree didn't do a super great job selling everything great about Guten Bock's bouquet. Let me try: A waft of the lager's wonderful nose presents notes of lemon, candied orange, black pepper, creamy milk chocolate, smoke, honey, pineapple, caramel, toffee, bread, and a health wallop of booze. Seriously, the beer's aromatics are alluring and top-notch. Purrl gave my can twelve whiffs, indicating she's as enamored with the lager as I am.

This is a beer whose flavor profile grows as it sits with you. My first swig is a solidly malty bock, with bread and chocolate rounding it out. Then, on a return swig, I find Concord grapes, that orange from the bouquet, and caramel. The more I drink, the more the flavor fills in with each and every aspect of Guten Bock's nose (each perfectly finding its place), with brown sugar lingering in my cheeks. The finish is a big, boozy warmth.

Despite it's nearly-overwhelming decadence, the beer drinks like a lager. Full, frothy, asking me to take swig after swig.

This beer's like a warm living room on a cold and rainy spring day. It's sitting before a fire roaring in the fireplace with a hot beverage as the rain pelts the window and the wind outside howls. It's a pleasant escape from not-so-picturesque weather.

In case you can't tell, MadTree's Guten Bock is a 10/10 offering for me. This lager's the best beer I've had in a long time. I mean that. Grab some while you can!