Eisbock is one of those anecdotal German styles that makes for a great story but is a love it or hate it beer for most people. Much like Rauchbier, the Eisbock style can be traced back to a legend about some seemingly unlucky turn of events that results in a new style of beer. In the case of the Eisbock, a barrel of Bock bier was left out in the elements accidentally. When the beer was retrieved the brewer scraped all of the ice crystals off of the top of the barrel and served the rest of the beer. As it turns out, only water was removed from the beer when it turned to ice and what was left in the barrel was a concentrated form of Bock beer. Bocks are normally around 6% alcohol and generally reddish brown in color, this Eisbock is just over 9% and almost pitch black...
