HINTERLAND MAPLE BOCK @hinterlandbeer

I'm sure I come off like a beer snob or some sort of beer "fanboy"!  If you think that I have two ass-cheeks you can kiss!  Anyways it's not often I cover a beer or other drink I don't like...today that all changes.  

The last few times I've made my weekly beer run to Baesler's my eyes have been hypnotically transfixed on this Maple Bock beer by a Wisconsin brewery/ restaurant named Hinterland.  On several occasions I've put a 4 pack in my cart only to have eventual second thoughts of buyers remorse and put it back on the shelf.  Well a few weeks back I decided to finally pull the trigger on this particular beer.  

Maple Bock has a dark brown, mahogany hue around the fringe. The dark, creamy looking head leaves you with a little bit of lace. Hints of chocolate and caramel malts and a touch of maple syrup fill your nose. Maple Bock enters your mouth dense, and full. With the nice taste of a solid bock, maple syrup flavor doesn't overpower the rest of the beer. Layered roasted malt and caramel create a slightly sweet flavor. Maple Bock was given the "World Champion Bock" designation by the World Beer Championships in 1997.

Beer Advocate rates Maple Bock an 85 on their scale which is Good!

When you get a beer named "Maple Bock" you think maple sirup so naturally you want to drink it at close to room temperature.  I actually chilled this beer then left it out for about 40 minutes on the counter.  I popped the top of the beer and was overcome by a nice aroma!  However after the first swirly sip it was evident I wasn't going to like this beer.  There was no real hint of maple at all or there was no malty profile like Hinterland likes to claim!  What stood out about this quite unremarkable beer was that it had a metallic after taste.  It was not very appealing to say the least.  The beer really had no distinct taste other than the metallic aftertaste.  I was highly disappointed in it.  The bottles were really cool and I guess that's what drew me to this beer along with the name Maple Bock.  To be fair to Hinterland I'm not going to say Maple Bock was terrible.  It was the first beer of theirs that I have tried so I don't have anything to compare it too which is different from my review of Rampant and New Belgium since I've had plenty of their beer catalog.  

I have two (2) Maple Bock's left and I plan on offering them out when beer tasting season at Mcooligan's starts this coming month.  Like I mentioned, not a huge fan of Hinterland's Maple Bock and don't plan on buying anymore, but I would be interested on visiting their restaurant in Wisconsin and trying it on tap because there's always a difference in how a beer tastes in a bottle as compared to fresh from the tap.  But don't take my word for it, if you see a 4 pack of Maple Bock feel free to try it and see what you think!

Cheers!