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Get Off My Bock
Wibby Brewing, Longmont, CO
Style: Doppelbock
ABV: 8% IBU: 24 Rating: 4/5
I stopped in at Wibby to record Longmont Observer’s This Week In Beer podcast. While technical difficulties prevented us from getting the podcast together, it didn’t deter me from enjoying a pint of Wibby’s new Get Off My Bock Doppelbock; a Pro-Am collaboration with brewer Matt White.
Late summer into the fall is an exciting time for craft beer, with Oktoberfest celebrations throughout September leading up to the Great American Beer Festival in October, I anticipate new and exciting beers hitting local taps over the next few weeks.
What interested me the most about Get Off My Bock was that this beer is Wibby’s Pro-Am entry at GABF. Pro-Am collaborations are exciting to me because it pairs professional breweries/brewers with home brewers/amateurs. It’s a great way for a brewery to add something fresh and new to their lineup while giving the home brewer an opportunity to brew on a whole new level. Since most professional brewers got their start brewing beer in their home kitchens, Pro-Am collaborations can be a great way for breweries to give a little something back to the brewing community.
Enough about Pro-Am, lets talk about this beer…
Get Off My Bock had a subtle nutty, slightly sweet aroma with fruity esters of stone fruit, I got notes of plum, the brewer's note suggested cherry. The color of the beer was light brown with golden highlights in the light. The beer was slightly hazy with a white, slightly off white, head.
Tasting the beer, it was malt forward, slightly sweet with notes of caramel. There was a bit of an alcohol flavor that came through on the back end along with the fruity notes of plum/cherry. My one negative critique about Get Off My Bock was that the alcohol flavor was a little bit of a deterrent. Granted, at 8% ABV, this was not a session ale and a detectable alcohol flavor is not a technical fault, I found it to be distracting from some of the other more subtle flavors.
A funny side note. When I originally ordered my beer, I had it in my mind that I was going to get the Double Dunkel to try for my review, but my brain and taste buds had other plans and what I ended up ordering the Doppelbock. It worked out well in my favor— I really liked the beer, but when I figured out what had happened I told my beertender. I felt a little silly, and we had a laugh at ourselves. In the end she offered me a taster of the beer I’d originally thought I’d wanted. The point is, if you find yourself with a beer that doesn’t turn out quite like what you’d expected, either because you miss ordered or it just doesn’t taste right, tell the beertender. They want you to be happy and to enjoy your pint. There’s nothing worse than suffering your way through 16oz of beer you don’t like just because you though you ordered something else.
Until next week…
Sláinte!
