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ZiegenBock Amber - Anheuser-Busch

Not Rated.
ZiegenBock AmberZiegenBock Amber

Educational use only; do not reuse.

129 Reviews
no score

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Reviews: 129
Hads: 402
Avg: 2.8
pDev: 38.93%
Wants: 11
Gots: 55 | FT: 0
Brewed by:
Anheuser-Busch visit their website
Missouri, United States

Style | ABV
American Amber / Red Lager |  4.00% ABV

Availability: Year-round

Notes & Commercial Description:
Beer added by: kbub6f on 04-24-2002

View: Beers (88) | Events
Beer: Reviews & Ratings
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Reviews: 129 | Hads: 402
Photo of OldTex29
1.56/5  rDev -44.3%

Had two of these while waiting for a flight at the Austin airport.

Appearance- Brownish-red. Looks somewhat like a bock, even if it's not.

Smell - Not a whole lot going on. Malty, but not overwhelmingly so. Mostly just smells like a macro-lager.

Taste - Again, the taste is more akin to a macro-lager like Budweiser than a true bock. A bit maltier than a Bud, though not terribly so. Slight hints of caramel. Hop presence is essentially non-existent.

Mouthfeel - This is where the crapiness of the ZB really shines through. Sickeningly watery.

Drinkability - Terrible mouthfeel + uninteresting taste = not good. At 4% ABV, this beer isn't even good for a quick buzz before a flight.

What the hell would it take to get some Real Ale or Live Oak at ABI? Or any decent Texas beer at the DFW airport?

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Photo of Reagan1984
1.83/5  rDev -34.6%

O.K., this is listed as an Amber, so I get to rate it vs./ the style. And this is NO American Amber.

I was tricked into buying this on my last trip to Texas. I told the guy in the store I wanted something local... Totally my fault. I take the blame. But I will go into this with an open mind. Please no Shiner Bock, please.

Pours with a tiny off white head that fades immediately. The beer is a dark amber color with mostly brown highlights. Good clarity with lots of visible carbonation.

Aroma was really not that nice. Some malts but almost wet cardboard. Maybe a bit of cinnamon.

Man, I wish I did this blind... I think it's a Bud with food coloring. I don't know if this is all malt, but I doubt it from the flavor, lack of. Really light and slightly sweet. No hop presence and no finish. Joke is on me, it's not Shiner Bock.. It's Budweiser or Busch with a different color.

Watery mouth feel. It's drinkable in the summer, but not at any other times.

Wow, what a big disappointment.

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Photo of mothman
1.88/5  rDev -32.9%

Pours a light off white fizzy head. No retention. Color is an amber brown. Clear.

Aroma: Caramel and bready malts. Very lager like. Grassy hops. Corn and grain.

Taste: More like an adjunct lager than a bock. Some caramel and bready malts with some earthy/grassy hops. Grains and corn again.

Mouthfeel: Crisp and bubbly. Light bodied with a high amount of carbonation. Ends dry and malty.

Overall, this wasn't a very good bock. Maybe it's an amber, but still it isn't too good. More like an adjunct lager. Not for me. Too much carbonation. Not very drinkable at all.

? -2-2-1.5-1.5

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Photo of MiguelMandingo
1.93/5  rDev -31.1%

Grabbed a bottle from a friend's party and thought I should review it, because there is no way I would ever buy this for my regular beer rotation.

Poured a 12oz. bottle into a pint glass.

Appearance - Transparent caramel brown/amber color. It produced a half finger rocky head that dissipated to nothing in about 30 seconds. There is no halo or crown. There is no lacing.

Smell - Not much going on here. Sweet malt and adjuncts. Maybe corn or grains. And there is a burnt smell as well..

Taste - Tastes like a cheap amber ale. It isn't the worst tasting beer I have ever had, but the flavor profile is extremely bland. I get hints of caramel and dark sugar and perhaps the slightest fruit note, but not all that much is going here. There is pretty much no hop flavor what-so-ever.

Mouthfeel - Thin. There is an okay level of carbonation, but it doesn't do enough to cut through the beer's extremely light body. It feels like it was made to be chugged.

Drinkability - I could see how it would be easy to drink a sixer and not even think about it. It has a low sessionable ABV, and the texture is thin enough to chug it with relative ease. On that level, it is extremely drinkable. On the desirability scale, it has next to none with me. I would never buy this beer, and typically avoid drinking it period. The only time I have it is at parties where the only other option is Miller Lite or Bud Light.

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Photo of ILikeGoodCider
2.03/5  rDev -27.5%

Enjoyed on 06.02.09 at the Houston Airport. Served in a 14oz pint glass.

Didn't know it was a BMC macro. Thought it was a bock (until I tasted it). Next time I'll order Fat Tire.

A: Light-medium brown / amber, OK head. Lacing was little-to-none.

S: Barely hops. Not much at all. I smelled the clean glass more than the beer.

T: More like a Bus Select, than an amber

M: Very high carbs & thin

D: I could drink a few, but I was disappointed overall. If I didn't have to catch a plane, I would have ordered a different beer next.

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Photo of mgdeth
2.03/5  rDev -27.5%

Appearance - To be fair, my beer was served in a plastic cup at Wurstfest, in New Braunfels, Texas. Light brown in color. Maintained a light head through the entire drinking time.

Smell - Slightly malty. Not much to speak of.

Taste - Substandard; weak. I pick up a malty flavor, and no hops, which is good. However, the words "sweet," "fresh," and "delicious" do not come to mind.

Mouthfeel - Watery. I expected something heftier from a "bock." I'm guessing that rice might make up part of the grain bill.

Drinkability - Not very good. The taste is un-exciting, so drinking this beer is not difficult. However, nothing about this beer makes me want to take another sip.

Comments - "Brewed and Available Only in Texas." Thank goodness. At least maybe the rest of the world will not be subject to this beer. When seeking a Texas-made bock, grab a Shiner.

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Photo of AlCaponeJunior
2.05/5  rDev -26.8%
look: 3 | smell: 2.25 | taste: 2 | feel: 1.75 | overall: 1.75

Brown with notes of amber, head was about two fingers and dissipated quickly into a lightly tan sheen, leaving some lace.

Aroma is caramel malts, somewhat sweet, and a little grainy.

Taste is primarily caramel malt and lightly grainy malts, with a touch of (perhaps) brown sugar, with some quantity of balancing hops that I would deem "not enough."

Feel is pretty watery with a slightly cardboard-ish caramel malt lingering aftertaste. Carbonation is pretty low and allows the thin body to have a slightly slick quality, probably from the over-abundance of caramel malt.

It's a typical inbev pseudo-craft beer, in that it looks like craft beer when it's on the shelf, and is priced like craft beer, and you might think you're getting craft beer when you buy it, but that's about it. This beer does not stand out in any way, but manages to shine in the "meh" department. It's nothing like the finely crafted artisan ales that real craft breweries make. This beer lacks flavor, aroma, and body, but it excels in blandness.

I don't know where this "hop finish" mentioned in the commercial description comes from, but I can't taste it. And where the "roasted malts" are, I'm not sure of that either, unless they just added barely enough roasted malts to get the color change they wanted. Caramel malt, now that I can taste in abundance; it's the main flavor.

I know this beer has been around for a while, but don't know if it's changed over the years. However, it needs to change if it wants to reach the "good" category in my book. Perhaps they wanted to impress bud light drinkers, and if so, more power to ya. But a craft beer this is not. It's a mass produced watery alcoholic beverage with just enough beer-like ingredients where it can still be classified as beer.

BTW, I'm not just hating on inbev for the sake of it. If they were to make a good beer, I would rate it well. This just isn't a good beer tho.

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Photo of GarthDanielson
2.09/5  rDev -25.4%
look: 3 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.25

A friend of mine brought me back a little mix-pack from Texas. He doesn't know a lot about craft beers, but the sentiment was nice. Poured from a bottle into a shaker pint, the beer is a muddled, clear, light brown coloring with a thin ring of off-white film around the surface. Aromas are subtle, with a blending of roast and sugary caramel sweetness. Flavors are watery at best, with a touch of sweet on the mid-tongue and really nothing else. I mean, there's a dose of carbonation to sharpen up the nothingness. Wow, this is like carbonated water. There's really no aftertaste because there is no taste taste. Maybe a touch of caramel, but that is really reaching. Carbonated and watery in mouth. The finish is light and clean, because there really isn't anything to linger behind. Jesus, this was a stretch to get much of anything out of this one.

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Photo of ElGeordie
2.09/5  rDev -25.4%

I've tried Shiner Bock a few times and remained VERY unimpressed. A few Texans told me that I should try ZiegenBock - so I did.
The born-on date stamped on the label gave away this one's parentage. But I try to be open minded, so in the name of science I drank a few anyway.
Visually the Ziegenbock is darker than Shiner's version, the head seems to be better too, it was creamier and lasted much longer.
Tastewise, although nowhere near what a bock should be it did at least have a trace of malt - more than can be said for Shiner Bock.
At the end of the day I wouldn't drink this by choice but it is (as many Texans had told me) better than Shiner Bock. Although they're both just dark macro lagers.

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Photo of DoktorZee
2.11/5  rDev -24.6%

On tap at an airport. The didn't have Shiner, sadly.

A - light amber brown with no head and no lacing. Slightly cloudy.

S - just the slightest hint of malt on the nose.

T - initial light tap of grassy hops shifting to watered down malt, and then nothing. Unfortunately very little to this beer.

M - very light with sharp carbonation.

D - Really drinkable, but no good reason to do so.

Until I got ready to review this I didn't realize it was a Anheuser-Busch flanker against Shiner. Sad. And unfortunately not a very good beer!

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Photo of CampusCrew
2.15/5  rDev -23.2%

stuck in Houton airport and this beer did not come to the rescue. I had no idea it was a BMC till now. Figures. bland, no taste.

appearance: amber, light brown, bubbly macro head

smell: slight hops to almost zero smell

taste: Little to none, clear refresher

mouthfeel: very high carbonation, thin

drinkability: very easy but horrible dirty aftertaste. beer than a bud light but not better than much other.

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Photo of mhewes
2.15/5  rDev -23.2%

Tried this one at a friend's party. Drank this one out of the bottle so I can't vouch for the appearance and I'm not going to try to get the smell out of the bottle. To be honest, there was not much to this beer. It has a pretty bland taste with some malt flavors. It was thin and watery. It wasn't offensive or anything, it was just a boring beer. Not something I would drink again but if it's the only thing around, I may pick it up.

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Photo of JDV
2.18/5  rDev -22.1%

Pours deep, yet clear dark brownish, maroon with a pale off white frothy head that lasted for a bit. Smell is bland, and metallic at first with a faint touch of malt coming later, but nothing pronounced or special. Taste is lightly malty with a definite bland, dull, nuttiness and a touch of light sourness. I understand this is was made as a competitor to Shiner Bock, and I prefer that to this one.

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Photo of kojevergas
2.19/5  rDev -21.8%

Ah, Anheuser-Busch's attempt to compete with Shiner Bock. Cute. 12 fl oz brown glass bottle with twist-off pressure cap and nice label art acquired a few minutes ago at my local cornerstore and served into an Independence Brewing pilsner glass in me gaff in low altitude Austin, Texas. Reviewed live. Expectations are low given the brewery. Reviewed as an amber; it never commits to whether or not it's a bock or an amber on the label, but further research reveals it's an amber.

A Texas exclusive.

Actually, it's important to note the epithet is actually quite clever: "Ziegenbock" means "Billy Goat" in Deutsch. Anheuser-Busch gets to call the beer a name that would make the average Texan think it's like Shiner when really it's an amber. Very clever indeed. Hat tip to the marketing cats over at Anheuser-Busch.

Served cold, straight from the cornerstore's fridge. Side-poured with standard vigor as no carbonation issues are anticipated.

A: No bubble show forms as I pour.

Pours a one finger wide head of light khaki colour. Average creaminess and thickness. No lacing as the head recedes. Head retention is below average - ~1-2 minutes.

Body colour is a textbook copper; clear, dark, and translucent. No yeast particles are visible. Vibrance is below average, but I wouldn't call it dull per se.

It looks a lot better than I anticipated, but is poor for an amber. It definitely looks like an amber lager-meets-bock.

Sm: Um. Clean barley. Grains, maybe? The aroma is so muted and light I don't get hardly anything from it. Very reticent and closed off. Wow, that's bland. Even Budweiser has adjunct and barley. This is unbelievably unevocative.

No hop character, yeast character, alcohol, or really any malt character is detectable.

Muted is better than off-putting.

T: Caramalt, grains, barley, maybe some adjunct. Plenty of malty sweetness. Boy, is this bland. There's just so little going on. Poorly built for an amber (lager). Okay balance; I mean there's generic cohesion of the few notes it has.

Zero hop presence, zero yeast presence, and nearly zero flavour. No complexity or subtlety here. As generic and uninspired a beer as one could brew in this style.

Low depth, duration, and intensity of flavour. A very neutral beer, but an inoffensive one.

Mf: Smooth and wet. Overcarbonated. Poor presence on the palate. Thick; lightly syrupy. Entirely too overbearing for the lack of flavour. Poor execution for the style, but I guess it kind of suits the flavour profile in that it matches its blandness.

Not oily, gushed, hot, or astringent.

Dr: Downable swill. Bland and boring. I won't be trifling with this again, but you could do worse than bland. I mean, it's not Chelada. In fairness, you could pound a pitcher of this on a night out with the lads without any issues, but the sweetness does get to you. Let's be glad this doesn't make it out of Texas. I can't see this luring Shiner devotees away, but maybe the clever marketing is working. I do love that aspect of the beer, but unfortunately everything else is subpar. Not recommended. I'd probably take an adjunct lager over this at the local bar; at least they have more flavour.


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Photo of crwills
2.21/5  rDev -21.1%

Part of a tasting with northyorksammy, biegaman, grub, and derek. Thanks guys!

Decent deep, brown/gold colour with a small bubbly head. Aroma is strongly adjuncts with a little bit of unprocessed malt. Flavour is corn and very mild hops. Adjuncty aftertaste. Not a good one.

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Photo of jhammerly
2.21/5  rDev -21.1%

I got this from a buddy of mine who picked this up while on vacation. Since he didn't find very much, he figured he'd get this since he knows that it's only available in Texas and probably won't ever come across it again.

Brewed by A-B, the packaging looks like something from Michelobe, so I'm not expecting much. The best thing about this beer is the appearance right after the pour - an amber, caramel colored body with a thick, whitish head. A faint smell of caramel sweetness barely reaches the nose. The body is very thin (I'd hate to taste the light version) and tastes watered down. Sort of like a Bud with some caramel flavoring. I wouldn't want anymore of this, even if it was available in my state. It could be very drinkable, if only I liked it. It's one of those beers that you could drink a lot of due to its light body and carbonation. Their web site states: "Only Texans Get It." Well, they can have it.

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Photo of BeerSox
2.23/5  rDev -20.4%

12oz bottle into pint glass.

Crystal clear deep amber color that edges on ruby. Light tan fizzy head that slowly settles to a thin cap. Spotty lacing along the glass.

Toasty malt aromas with not much else.

There is nothing "bock" about this bock. It has some grainy malt, but it is very bland. The alcohol weighs in at 4%ABV, which is nothing like a bock. It's just a dark lager. Watery, light bodied, and fizzy.

This is probably AB's attempt to brew a beer to compete with Texas' Shiner Bock. Neither are great examples, but this one is just a watery lager that had a longer boil. Compared to Budweiser this is dark and heavy, however. Drink at your own risk.

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Photo of Vashtar
2.25/5  rDev -19.6%

This beer os overboard on the "amber." It's like they put in amber flavored high fructose corn syrup after they brewed it.

The aftertaste somewhat cardboard (familiar and bad).

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Photo of mikeg67
2.28/5  rDev -18.6%

On tap at "TX Road House", Victoria TX. Pours dark red hue, lively carbonation. Sweet, fruity aroma. Medium, crisp body. Regular, flavorless, macro taste without any finish. I think Anheuser-Busch was trying to copy Schiner Bock here. I will avoid this one.

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Photo of lordofthewiens
2.3/5  rDev -17.9%

A 12oz bottle poured into a pint glass.
Faint caramel malt aroma.
I felt like I was drinking sugar water.
Drink this if you must.

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Photo of karst
2.3/5  rDev -17.9%

Poured bottle dark brown from a 12 oz bottle with soft white head and retention. (Soda like carbonation) The aroma was malt. Persistant bready malt taste and sweet malt. No hops. MF was a very thin.

A Texas only brew, very similar to national - Amber-bock.

Not a bad beer to pour on the roasting pig (ZiegenPig!) but not a session beer even for a pig over hot Mesquite coals.

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Photo of spaceranger
2.33/5  rDev -16.8%

I've had this brew before but forgot how much I disliked it. If I had known in advance it was an Anheuser-Busch product I never would have picked it up anyway. Yuk and double yuk. No balance, no real flavor. The usual AB corn-rice filler is ever present. Carbonation is about right. Not a bock at all. Just amber colored. I guess it's kinda like that new Ultra Amber junk. I can't imagine how brewers put out product like this and expect people to buy it. Of course, it's like a buddy of mine said once: "You can just mix any crap up, slap some sort of label on it and somebody will buy it." Guess that's right.

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Photo of HardTarget
2.35/5  rDev -16.1%

Aroma: Faint. Actually, what I noted was pretty good, malt/hop mix in good balance, toasted characteristics, mild sweet, some alcohol.
Appearance: Flat, thin brown. No head, minimal carbonation that faded to just plain flat quickly.
Flavor: Maybe. To be fair, what you can taste is enjoyable. Toasted malt, hops in fair balance, with a finish that is, well, it tastes like Budweiser. They must use some of the same ingredients, possibly the yeast and hops.
Mouthfeel: Watered down water.
Overall Impression: This is an excellent, well-rounded bock that someone has poured into a gallon of water. What is there is good, but far too watered down to be enjoyable. The “bock” name must be from the same Texas Alcohol Laws that make Shiner call itself “bock”, but neither of these beers are a true Bock. Drinkability is equivalent to water, you can drink a lot of that, but not going to scratch any beer itch you may have. I guess I could recommend this beer if you are very thirsty, but don’t want a beer.

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Photo of jasonjlewis
2.38/5  rDev -15%

I can definetly tell this is an AB beer, because it tastes watered down. It's not bad, and it tastes smooth. I'm surprised that this has so much praise if Bud Light is an avoid. AB beers a lot of the time taste watered down. This beer is smooth for a bock, but that's not a good thinkg IMO. It doesn't have that bitter bite that I expect from a bock beer. It's a bock beer for the non beer drinker.

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Photo of champ103
2.38/5  rDev -15%

A: Pours a clear amber brown color. An extremely minimal beige head forms and recedes to nothing. No lace.
S: Grainy, and cereal malt in the nose. A light toasted aroma. Metallic and chemical.
T: A bit more toasted and caramel malt flavor than in the nose. Other than that, the same grainy, cereal, and metallic taste that was in the nose.
M/D: A light body that is thin and watery. Over carbonated as well. Not hard to drink, but no reason for me to want to.

A blah attempt by Anheuser-Bush to put another Amber Bock or Shiner Bock product into the Texas market. Both, by the way, are much better than this.

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ZiegenBock Amber from Anheuser-Busch
67 out of 100 based on 129 ratings.