Plank Bavarian Heller Doppelbock

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 7

This dopplebock poured a real thin top,very nice aromatics.Very clean(left the yeast in the bottle).I picked up fruity notes,and mostly malts.Some milds caramels,I will recommend this beer.

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

Pours a nice somewhat hazy (from sediment or something - not bothersome) amber with a fairly thick and persistent white head. Crisp aroma is mainly malty with an undertone of fruit. Flavor is richly malty with hints of apple and banana and just a touch of caramel. Texture is sharp, tingly and fizzy.

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

Aroma is doughey and bready with some faint banana and clove but not much with some hoppiness. Appearance is a hazy brownish-orange when held to the light with a very full head on top that is off-white in color and fuzzy and creamy and remains. Mouthfeel is medium-bodied with some good complexity as well as balance with a relatively creamy mouthfeel. Flavor is of dough as well as sweet malt with an aftertaste that is bready and a finish that is crisp and clean with some very slight alcohol coming through. Overall, an interesting beer we have here for sure and worth a shot if you see it; recommended.

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

A solid pour summons forth an initially three-finger thick, pale, off-white colored head in my 25cl tulip glass. The beer is an amber color that shows a lightly hazed, slightly orange tinged, gold color when held up to the light. The aroma smells amply of fresh malt, with both grassy grain notes as well as a certain malt sweetness. The sweet malt aromatics provide aromas reminiscent of a mix of rich, almost umami like malt, pale honey, and that of sweet, caramelized grain (like the sweetness found in bread).

Sweet tasting and quite malt focused as expected. The malt doesn't have the concentrated, caramelized note of a dark bock and instead focuses on pale malt flavors. The grain is well tempered by a noticeable hop character thy is typically lacking in this beers darker brethren; distinctly herbal with a solid bitterness that lingers into a long finish. The hop notes are supporting to the malt, but play a substantial role in the flavor profile. Malt induced flavors of whole-grain crackers, some light grassy grain, and somehow something that reminds me of oranges though definitely malt derived. The body here is perhaps a touch lighter than one might want in a dunkler Doppelbock, but it is much in line with many a German example of a dunkler and for this particular beer the medium heft works quite well; chewy yet still plays well with the hop character.

After a bit of time some stale notes begin to creep into the aroma, though they are kept muted most of the time. I like the extra hop oomph that is here (more proof that there is no such thing as an Imperial Pilsner, it is just a Heller Bock / Doppelbock). Definitely a nice beer, hopefully I will be able to get a fresher bottle at some point (though I have no idea how old this one even is).