Ettaler Curator

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Comes out of the tap a partially translucent dark mahogany with a decent light tan head. Malty aroma as nice nutty, caramel,clove, and earthy notes. Flavor has bold strokes of caramel, toasty malt, cloves, and sweetish wood with nutty and earthy underpinnings. Thick, syrupy texture has some good fizz. Bock your doppel and Prost!

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Pours a nice and clear dark brown with a 2 finger off white head that takes its time. Noticably carbonated. Aroma is sweet and bready, pretty typical of the style. Taste is of chewey malts and a slight sweetness that ends with a big his of metal. The metat taste goes away fairly quick. Sticky to the tongue and throat and stays there a while after. Alcohol is very well hidden but you do get that ever satisfying warming feeling. Actually a pretty decent beer.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 9

Recieved September 2006, Sampled December 2007
Pours with an initially, almost three-finger thick, lightly darkened, tan colored head that has a bit of staying power to it. The beer sits in my glass a concentrated, blackened, amber tinged color but does show a brilliantly clear, concentrated ruby red color when held up to the light. Rich, sweet malt aromatics define the nose of this beer. Almost no hop aromatics, in fact I can't really smell any. Aromas of figs, richly caramelized malt, broiled raisins, musty concentrated dark fruits. The aroma has almost smells like it has cork taint, that musty, slightly off cork smell of TCA seems to be here, but I have no idea how that could be. This may just be a bit of oxidation setting in, but it is a bit unusual for it to take this form. Irregardless, the aroma is rich and malty enough that it is able to overcome this and still remain quite enjoyable.

Sweet and richly concentrated malt notes as well as brandy like warming alcohol flavors are noticeable in the first sip. This is really rich and chewy, without being overly sweet though; the malt sugars here are complex enough that the sweetness is not cloying. This is definitely a meal in a glass; the heft of this brew is impressive, it has both a viscous weight to it and a palate coating quality that sticks to the mouth even after a sip has been swallowed. A touch more hoppy than the aroma suggested, there are hints of herbal (at times even menthol like), hop derived flavors here as well as a soft, fleeting, though lingering, hop bitterness in the finish. Clearly though this beer is about the malt. Concentrated & powerful, flavors of dark chocolate, toasted grain, lightly bitter burnt malt and dark whole grain toast provides a slight counterpoint to the sweeter malt flavors. As the beer warms & loses the medium carbonation it becomes much more creamy feeling, though it also begins to pick up a touch of that TCA like mustiness from the aroma.

What a tasty, totally rich & satiating, thoroughly enjoyable beer, while the lack of that TCA like component would have made this perfection in a glass, it still does not hurt it enough to make this less that incredible. This is exactly what I have been looking for in a Doppelbock lately. If you are a malt lover, you have got to try this beer, it will totally satisfy any malt cravings you may have.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Pours dark deep mahogany with almost no head. Aroma of caramel, toffee, almonds, cherries, and grain. Mouthfeel is very watery, almost flat, very distracting to the overall beer. Sweet toffee up front, some milk chocolate notes, caramel, some sweet cherries, finishing out mildly sweet, a little grainy, with some toasted nut flavors. Not a bad doppelbock, not my favorite either. 9% abv is very surprising, seems much lighter than that.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

This beer had unique flavors to it. Pours a dark, ruby color. Head was thin as well as the lacing. Aroma was coffee, candy. Tastes really sweet, smokey. As it got warmer it got sweeter. Interesting beer.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Pours a very deep brown, almost black with a two finger head that settles quickly to a thin cap. Even with the head fading so quickly the cap stays around for a long time, and there's more lacing than I expected. Smell; mild hints of chocolate with a sweetness that reminds me of honey. Darks fruits are definitely present, but I can't see to pick anything out specifically. Taste; chocolate cake and prunes are the first things that come to mind on the first couple of sips. And I'm surprised to say that the combination works for me. The honey-like sweetness is there, as well as a slightly nutty bitterness in the finish. This is different than any other dopplebock that I've ever had, and I like it alot. Mouthfeel/Drinkability; mouthfeel is thick and full bodied with a fairly low carbonation, and the drinkability is good, especially since I can't detect any alcohol, other than a slight warming in my stomach.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 4

courtesy of oh6gdx - pours a clear dark brown colour with a reddish hue; very little foam remaining; the nose is a little bit sourish, roasted with strong notes of caramel, dates and a touch of alcohol; sweet and medium-bodied, tart and sour; dry and astringent bitter finish - it really does not work for me

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Bonus point or two for clocking in at 9.0% with zero alcoholic heat. Dark with almost no head and low carbonation, head is weak, carbonation is fine. Silky smooth in the mouth, coating, but not lingering. Rich malt with hint of chocolate but some distracting soy sauce like flavors. Quite nice.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Pours a clear ruby brown with a small head. The aroma is much like dark wheat bread up front followed by figs and dates underneath. The flavor is fairly light, bread crusts, and dried fruits mostly, but there's a salty-like tang in the finish and the alcohol has a bit of a burn.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

I'm surprised this has so many bad ratings. Had it on tap at Brick Store Wednesday night. Appearance was very dark brown with light tan head. The aroma had ginger and cinnamon and some carmel with roasted malt. The flavor was bursting with cinnamon and giner and nutmeg spices along with light chocolate touches and nutty flavors mixed with a big carmel feel. Very dark brown with light tan head that stays around for a bit. There were just a lot of flavors in this and very very well balanced. Glad I got to have it on tap.