Flying Dog Wild Dog Collaborator Doppelbock

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

Bottle, ABV 8.3%, at RBNAG 2009 in Vatlandsvåg. Dark brown colour, orange in the highlights. Low off-white head. Sweetish very malty and sugary aroma, hints of oak. The flavour is very fruity for a doppelbock, but also malty and somewhat sugary, with a noticeable bitterness in the finish.

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

Sampled from bottle. Note to self - never review a beer following Sap - it must be like following Elvis. Dang. Anyway - this doppelbock pours crystal clear amber with a thick but fading head. Aroma resembles creme brulee. Slightly sweet and malt dominate. Slightly alcoholic and full bodied. A beer this strong needs some age - and now is the time to try this one. Worth trying.

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

Pours medium-brown with impeccable clarity and scattered head. The aroma is big with earthy notes and a hint of toffee-sweetness. The flavor is delicious, complex, and balanced overall. Creamy yet well carbonated medium body with gentle warming affect; fantastic mouthfeel.

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

750ml bottle from Tops in Tempe. The pour was deep amber to copper in color. Thin 1/2 cm head, decent retention, weak lacing. The aroma was fruity with some dark malts, some grass. Flavor followed the aroma, darker malts, some lighter fruits, light choco, some grass. Finishes a bit acidic squeeky with some astringency, bitterness detectable (hops) in there. The mouthfeel was moderate for the style, far from a sticky malty doppelbock, but yet not that outstanding in any shape or form, not crisp and clean enough. Nice experience, but beyond that, just not a great beer (yet again) from FD.

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

Pours with an almost three-finger thick, amber tinged, tan colored head that is a mix of large froth and tightly beaded creamy head. The beer is absolutely brilliantly clear and is almost the bright color of cranberry juice. A very distinct nose; clearly malt focused, but it has an almost woody, sort of nutty character to it that is quite prominent. Something about it is a little off-putting; I almost wonder if the beer is a little green still, despite the 8 weeks of lagering. It has a sort of bourbon like note to it as well as a piquant fruity note that reminds me of cherry brandy. Lots of toasty malt aromatics, a sort of whole grain bread crust smell and a slight raisin note too. Despite the aroma being fairly interesting and even complex in its malt character, I somehow feel like it is just lacking. It could just need a bit more age.

Up front the beer is creamy feeling and rich, towards the middle some carbonation serves as a foil and lightens things up a bit, but then again in the finish the velvety consistency coats my mouth in it malty embrace. The texture on this beer is quite nice and exactly what I want in a Doppelbock. Sweet tasting, though not overly so; the sweetness is made up of lots of various malt sugars and I have a feeling it will lose the touch of clean / simplistic sweetness (which really isn’t a big part of the flavor) over time, leaving a much more complex malt character. Still has quite a bit of hop character to it, while certainly secondary, the hop character is not an after-thought; Towards the end a herbal, slightly astringent, mutedly earthy, almost berry like hop flavor kicks in as does a nice sharp bitterness. Actually a herbal, slightly astringent, bitterness really clings to the palate after the beer has left the mouth; it even just barely outlasts the maltiness in the long finish. Malt contributed flavors of toffee, soft caramel, muted cherry, nutty notes, brown sugar, something a bit like brown rice and a touch of nuttiness.

This beer is still a bit green, it will definitely still improve quite a bit. It is hard to say, but my guess is that this will peak somewhere between 6 months and a year from now. I may have to pick up another bottle of this as one extra may not be enough. Still this is another impressive offering from the Wild Dog series of beers, and while maybe a bit green around the edges (the noticeable / uncharacteristic hop character seems to accentuate this a bit) it is still quite the tasty tipple & even quite enjoyable. Actually, I expect that even the green, slightly astringent hop character that is here will make this a better beer in the long run. Rating has to do with current status, I’ll update in 6 months or so.

Purchased: Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ