Helles Bock Beer Tasting, part 2
Apr. 13th, 2023 06:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerA few weeks ago I tried a taste test of two helles bock beers, Rogue Dead Guy Ale and Abita Andygator, only to discover as I read the labels while drinking that one of them wasn't acutally a helles bock. It was a helles dopplebock. ...Which, BTW, means "light double dark" or "light double goat". 🐏🐏🍻 But the good news was that Abita has another beer which is a proper helles bock, and I still had several bottles of it downstairs from a previous round of beer buying.
So here's a proper comparison of two helles bocks, both of them Americans: Rogue Brewing's Dead Guy Ale and Abita's Mardi Gras Bock.
Dead Guy Ale is the incumbent from the previous round of taste testing, though not exactly the winner. Both it and the beer I paired with it previous had "Good, but..." flavors. Dead Guy had a bready taste on the front that I didn't like. The other Abita I paired it with, Andygator, was slightly too sweet.
In this round the Dead Guy Ale maintained that odd, bready taste at the front of each sip. It wasn't just a weirdness with one bottle. Abita's Mardi Gras Bock is frankly pretty similar to its Andygator in over flavor. The Mardi Gras is slightly less sweet than its sibling— just enough less sweet to make the beer more satisfying.
Abita Mardi Gras Bock wins this round and goes on my short list of favorite beers so far. The ultimate test will be when I get another 6-pack of Estrella Galicia Reserva 1906— the best helles bock I've tried and possibly the best beer overall— and compare it to that.
So here's a proper comparison of two helles bocks, both of them Americans: Rogue Brewing's Dead Guy Ale and Abita's Mardi Gras Bock.
Dead Guy Ale is the incumbent from the previous round of taste testing, though not exactly the winner. Both it and the beer I paired with it previous had "Good, but..." flavors. Dead Guy had a bready taste on the front that I didn't like. The other Abita I paired it with, Andygator, was slightly too sweet.
In this round the Dead Guy Ale maintained that odd, bready taste at the front of each sip. It wasn't just a weirdness with one bottle. Abita's Mardi Gras Bock is frankly pretty similar to its Andygator in over flavor. The Mardi Gras is slightly less sweet than its sibling— just enough less sweet to make the beer more satisfying.
Abita Mardi Gras Bock wins this round and goes on my short list of favorite beers so far. The ultimate test will be when I get another 6-pack of Estrella Galicia Reserva 1906— the best helles bock I've tried and possibly the best beer overall— and compare it to that.
