The Tale of the Tape: Molson Canadian 67 is being heavily marketed as a 67 calorie per bottle brew, with just 3% alcohol by volume. John Sleeman Presents Bock is 6% alcohol, but offers no hint as to its calorie content. Both are new releases, the latter for a limited time.
The Pop: The 67 certainly announced itself more vocally than did the Bock, with a resounding POP! as the cap was pried off, relative to the Bock’s more subdued pop. Once poured, however, the Bock created and maintained a nice collar of off-white foam, while the 67 poured with a head that crackled and died almost instantly.
The Look: Very pale gold for the 67, orangey copper for the Bock.
The Smell: The 67 offers a light, sweetish aroma of fresh hay and faint caramel, along with hints of fresh lemon and barely perceptible florals. The Bock has a more robustly caramelly nose with orange blossom notes, very faint cinnamony spice a and a hint of Blackstrap molasses.
The Taste: 67 tastes like, well, not much of anything, really. Seldom have I sampled a beer with this little to offer in terms of flavour, with the front reminding me more than a bit of lemon-flavoured Perrier and the thin body tasting vaguely of raw grain and fresh lemon. The finish is almost completely AWOL, with a slightly bitter edge accounting for pretty much the whole thing. The Bock, not surprisingly, has more than a bit more in store, with a sweet, chocolate-caramel start leading in to a toffee-ish body holding notes of walnut and toasted grain. The finish has a gentle bitterness to cut the very modest sweetness of the body, and also a welcomed and warming hint of alcohol.
The Judgment: Molson has tried this kind of low alcohol brew before, with Molson Select back in the 1990`s. It didn’t work then and it doesn’t work now. The Sleeman Bock, on the other hand, has a lot going for it, including good quaffability. It’s not the best bock I’ve ever tasted, but it is something I expect I’ll be revisiting more than a few times before supplies dry up.
The Answer: To yesterday’s question of whether I’d like the Bock twice as much as I do the 67, is yes. Three or four times as much, in fact.
Hey Stephen, Adam Moffat here from Molson Coors. Been meaning to respond to this post for awhile but alas just getting to it now. I respect your unique voice in the beer world but on this occasion I think you’ve unfairly pitted these two beers against one another. I suspect it would be tough to find any true beer fan out there that would choose a light lager over a flavourful Bock. In my estimation it’s really an apples to oranges comparison. A more appropriate comparison may have been 67 against other leading light beers in the segment. Or Bock on Bock.
Cheers
Thanks for chiming in, Adam. You’re quite right about the apples and oranges issue here, of course, but as I noted over here, my intent was not to compare the two directly. What I was instead attempting to decide was whether the Bock would be worth the doubling of my caloric intake, which I think it was. And remember, while you are certainly talking to a guy with a “unique voice,” you’re also addressing someone who tastes and drinks a lot of beer and so has as much concern about calorie intake as anyone.
I do want a low alcohol beer that tastes good.
Beer is cold refreshment – and I like to chug 1 Litre, but I don’t always want to get bombed.
So I am glad they are at least trying to give us a low alcohol beer that doesn’t taste like the 0.5% stuff
Becks has a 0.5% beer, and it’s not very drinkable, but I still do once in a while because I like cold bubbly stuff in my belly.
Can you guys suggest some low alcohol beers for me? Don’t diss the low alcohol, it’s what we need more of in Canada for guys like me.
With all due respect, Mr. Cool, if you’re chugging a litre at a time, I doubt you’re tasting very much. My advice would be to quench your thirst with water and then drink a beer for enjoyment rather than refreshment alone. Soda water is also “cold and bubbly.”
For flavour and refreshment, I like a good pilsner or German-style weissbier, or a pale ale or bitter. Any any of these save the weissbier come in forms lower than 5% alcohol.
I think the idea of a low alcohol beer is brilliant. With the recent changes to the licquor laws and driving, I think all breweries should start marketing beers with lower alcohol %’s. Don’t get me wrong, I know a thing or 2 about beers (read your first 2 books mr. beaumont, brewed my own, have drank beers from around the world for over 20 years) but like to enjoy a beer or two when out for company.
If Australia can make low alc. beers without compromising taste why can’t we? I’m sure MADD would love to promote this idea.
Low alcohol, yes. Low flavour, not so much. The Brits have been brewing milds and ordinary bitters for generations, many of which have strengths as low as the Molson 67, yet with great taste.
Agreed, Geoff, that low alcohol beers which don’t compromise on taste would be a great thing. Especially in areas where you pretty much have to drive if you want to get anywhere.