Bock bunk

In the department of 'a little bit of information can be a dangerous thing', here's what beer writer Lew Bryson overheard at a beer wholesaler event:

I still heard things like "not bitter, like other bocks." You can't just give salespeople words when you expect them to make sales to people who actually know what the hell beers are, you have to make them understand what those words mean, and in what context they are meaningful. Otherwise, they clang like a broken bell.

And then there's this canard, occasionally overheard: "Bocks are brewed from the dregs of a vat."

Not! Bocks are malty and often sweet.

The dregs in a kettle are indeed dregs, a proteinaceous sludge. Good for recycling, though.

The dregs in a fermenter are also sludgy, but some of that thick yeast cake can be reused as yeast for another fermentation.