I wrote a few weeks back about Michelob being set free from Anheuser-Busch. Michelob has always brewed a better beer, in my opinion at least, than the typical A-B offering. Recently, Michelob has been branching out into the craft beer forum. I felt now would be a good time to try one of their first craft brews, Amber Bock.
The bottle pours a rich amber, with a decent head. The aroma is very sweet malt. It comes across as a sweet, malty lager with little hop finish. Not a bad beer, I didn’t notice anything about it to dislike, but I wasn’t inspired to go buy more. Where this beer could do well is giving it to macro drinkers who could use an easy stepping stone. Nothing to extreme in this beer, just a nice drinking beer.
What bothers me about this beer is I don’t feel the term “bock” is appropriate. A bock is usually a rich, malty, strong lager. With respect to a traditional Michelob, yes, this is more rich, yes, it’s maltier, but it is no stronger than the original. I would guess the recipe is similar but with more caramel malts, or realistically, less rice. In fact, Ratebeer calls it an American dark lager, not a bock. I think this is more appropriate than calling it a bock.
While not a bock, Amber Bock is still a decent beer. In college we would buy this by the keg for parties since the price was the same as other A-B brews. I’m looking forward to seeing what Michelob can do on it’s own. This is a decent starting point, and I can only hope they get better.
