Sam Adams Triple Bock Review: Exploring America’s Unique Ale Beer
Sam Adams Triple Bock is a beer that is older than most beer drinkers. It is a strong American ale beer with a blend of cognac casks, ports, bourbon and scotch. If you haven’t tried out this great beer, you’re missing out on many exciting flavors.
This complete guide describes everything you need to know about the aged beer from Sam Adams Boston Brewing Company.
Sam Adams Triple Bock Stats
Country | United States |
Brand | Sam Adams Boston Brewery |
Style | American Strong Ale |
Taste | Thick, soft |
Body | Medium to full-bodied |
ABV | 17.5 percent |
Flavors and Aromas | Sweet like tinctures of dried cherries and shells like alcoholic prune juice |
Serving Temperature | 68 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit |
Tasting Profile
Sam Adams Triple Bock Review
This American Strong Ale is a medium to full-bodied brew made with the finest ingredients to give it a rich and robust character. It has a deep mahogany color as a result of the bold malt. The mild citrus balances the beer’s smooth body and rich caramel sweetness from the German noble hops.
The beer is spiced with orange peel, ginger and fresh ground cinnamon for a deep malty finish and smooth flavor. Because of its unique fermentation, this beer is a perfect choice if you want to enjoy a cold evening.
– Appearance
This beer comes in a corked, eight-ounce cobalt blue bottle. It has a deep reddish brown color which almost looks like black with a bright Ruby edge topping. Triple Bock beer pours like engine oil with no opacity. It has no head, no lacing, and it does not give bubbles, giving a medium to moderately low-sized white to white tan head.
The beer appears thick with no carbonation and has a gritty feeling when you get to the bottom, just like a rich unfiltered port. It has low head retention due to its high alcohol percentage, but it also has good clarity. The viscosity and alcohol level may cause legs when you swirl the beer. We recommend you drink the beer as a two-ounce pour at room temperature in a snifter glass to get the best of it.
– Aroma
The aromas are full of dark fruit, molasses and stinging booze with noticeable hints of chocolate and soy. The aroma of the hops is high with resiny or citrusy notes of the New World or American hops.
The presence of mild to bold malt supports the high hop profile with a mild to dark bready, toasty, dark backbone. You will also notice light shades of chocolate and roast with clean to mildly fruity esters. Triple Bock has a mild alcohol aroma, but it is not hot.
– Mouthfeel
This beer has little to no carbonation, but it is not necessarily hot on the mouth. Rather, it gives a warm boozy mouthfeel with an oily and slick texture. There may be a presence of astringency due to the bitterness from the hop. However, this is not harsh on the palate.
– Flavor
This Samuel Adams Triple Bock has a mild to high presence of malt with dark fruit, toffee and caramel flavors at the center. The low to medium Maillard-rich malty, bready and toasty flavors also add to the beer’s complexity. It has a moderate to high hop bitterness. This bitterness will balance the sweet malty impression on the palate.
The hop flavors are a combination of the New World hops and American hops. These hops consist of atoms like melons, tropical fruit, resin/pine, fruits, citrus and floral. The malt will have a grainy character with clean notes of toasty and caramel flavors. You will also perceive a level of fruitiness.
The finish is dry, and you can feel the bitterness until the end of your beer glass. Its aftertaste is hoppy, with alcohol and malty notes.
– Food Pairings
This craft beer goes well with various delicacies. Some of these foods include the following:
- Indian/Thai dishes like Chana Masala, Fish curry, etc.
- Burgers
- Mediterranean dishes like beans, cheese, nuts, etc.
- Chinese dishes like Dim Sum, Char Siu, etc.
- Italian dishes like Panzanella, Bruschetta, etc.
- Mexican dishes like Elote, Enchiladas, Mole, etc.
Ingredients
Aside from the various notes and flavors used in the brewing process of this beer, it also contains the standard beer ingredients. These ingredients are:
- Water
- Yeast
- Barley
- Hops
One special ingredient infused with this beer to give it its unique taste and appearance is the grain. The grain base contains half of Maris Otter and Munich. Grains give the beer its dark caramel and toasty flavor. The beer’s solid head retention and the mouthfeel also result from the grain.
Nutrition Facts
The Triple Bock beer has about 340 calories per serving. This is relatively high for someone trying to watch their calorie intake. It has zero grams of fat, protein and carbohydrates. This is nice for someone trying to watch weight.
Sam Adams Triple Bock alcohol percentage is 17.5, which is a bit high. You must regulate the amount of alcohol you consume, especially if you have a low tolerance for alcohol.
History
The beer is produced by the Boston Brewing Company, founded in 1984. The first beer brand created by the Boston Company was called Samuel Adams Triple beer in honor of American founding father and patriot Samuel Adams. Since its creation, Boston Company has launched several other brands.
The Boston Beer Company is the fourth-largest American brewer; its products are sold domestically and abroad. We’ve had Sam Adams Triple Bock 1995, 1997 and 1994. It was the strongest beer manufactured at the time it was launched. The Samuel Adams beers Millennium and Utopias were “forerunners” of Triple Bock.
Conclusion
Sam Adams Triple Bock is considered one of the best American strong ales worldwide for the reasons we discussed in this article. Let’s have a quick recap.
- It is a strong ale American-style beer with a blend of cognac casks, ports, bourbon and scotch.
- This American-style beer is a full-bodied brew made with the finest ingredients to give it a rich and robust character.
- The aromas are full of dark fruit, molasses and stinging booze with noticeable hints of chocolate and soy.
- Samuel Adams beer has a mild to high presence of malt with dark fruit flavors at the center stage, toffee and caramel.
- The aftertaste is hoppy with alcohol and malt. The beer has little or no carbonation and goes well with all kinds of food.
This beer is the perfect choice if you need a refreshingly crisp beer with a high percentage of alcohol. You can get it at any liquor store across the country.