Sudwerk Doppel Bock

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

I had this beer in Davis, California. It was fine enough but an average dopple bock. Let's put it this way, I would rather have Celebrator (but who wouldn't). I thought this beer was a bit thin too. Mouthfeel is a big deal to me.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 5

Pours a dark mahogany brown with a light white head, solid retention and nice lace. The aroma is heavy malt, dark bread, brown sugar. The taste has big malt flavours, never cloying, coffee, brown sugar, some toast and roast. The mouthfeel is medium to full-bodied, soft easy carbonation, frothy and creamy. Not overdone, acidic or overly carbonated. The coffee taste was really to overpowering and really dimished the taste of the beer.

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

A tasty exercise in malt. Sudwerk has packed a lot of good malt flavor into this beer without pushing it into sweet and cloying territory. The beer pours a deep brownish garnet color with a thin, dissipating cap of beige bubbles. The aroma is vinous with a big caramel malt backbone. There are notes of prunes and port, as well. The flavor is surprisingly dry for the style. Bitterness is light, and there’s a touch of spice. Chocolate malt is present but takes a back seat to the big fruit/grain flavors. A good beer that I’m liking more and more as it warms up.

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

not a bad beer, but sub par for one of my favorite styles. slighlty lacking in the big body. the malt character is there as well, but not robust enough. it didn't help that it was served too cold, but i got the idea as it warmed up a little. pleasing, if a little lite for the style. 1/11 - had it again in the bottle at proper temp, and raised the score 0.1 from a 3.3.

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

I tasted cherry and chocolate in the flavor. The aroma is malty, slightly roasted. The appearance is see through black. Just burped and very alcoholly note. The mouthfeel is thick for a winter time treat. overall i do like this beer, but it is average for its style.

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

Sampled February 2007
Very well carbonated, in fact it overflows my glass with four-fingers of head in my glass. The head is a light brownish tan color and it sits atop a dark, almost black beer that shows clear, purple, amber highlights when held up to the light. The aroma is rich and chewy and this is quite evident even as I pour the brew. Sweet melanoid rich malt notes yield notes of molasses, toffee, concentrated raisin, fig and even prune notes. I would guess that this beer has some age to it as the malt character seems to have picked up some oxidative notes around the edges, at this stage it seems to only add to the complexity; a touch of port, maybe a hint of sherry and some chalky malt notes are what seem most attributable to this.

The taste is not nearly as big as the aroma would have suggested. I think that the apparent age may have reduced the flavors a bit here. Still there is lots of malt left that adds quite a bit of complexity. Lightly sweet up front, this malt sweetness accentuates a raisin / fig note. The finish has a touch of chalky malt character to it and perhaps a hint of roast malt character. The malt really reminds me of caramelized, sweetened fruit. The body is quite a bit lighter than I expected, even the big malt characters here seem indicative of a brew with more body than this. In the end this is quite a tasty brew, though I have a feeling it was a bit more decadent in a brewery fresh state.

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

Had as part of a winter sampler. A very nice craft beer from Davis. Has a lot of coffee scents and limited hops. Pours very dark brown with a thin head. Goes down very smooth.

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

Dark brown pour with a huge tan head. Nose is all roasted malt with a very slight coffee finish. Creamy palate with those big roasted malts just swirling over the tongue.Bitter finish.

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

I used to put Doppelbocks in the "hated with the fiery passion of a thousand suns" category. But with my exposure to various beer-geek communities, and the ensuing exposure to many different examples of many different styles, I've softened my stance quite a bit. I still prefer Bitter Dry Ales over Sweet Mushy Lagers, but this certianly isn't bad at all, either way.

Deep brown in tone -- almost black. Minimal foam production, and even less head retention.

Likeable aroma: sweetish, almost maple syrup-like. Definately makes itself known, which is more than I can say for most beers of this ilk.

Very even-handed in the mouthfeel and flavor departments. Not sticky-sweet like many beers I've had of this style, and not thin and flacid either. And definately not annoyingly tedious in the flavor profile, from start to finish.

Like my buddy Richard said when he passed this to me, this does come across as more Stout/Porter-like than anything else. Reasonably drinkable (regardless of style), and more appealing than the other Sudwerk beers I've had in the past. I'm not sure if this is a Winter Seasonal or a year-round offering, but it's definately not a bad beer. No sir, not at all.
//TB

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 7

Deep dark black color, large head with a coffee-ish nose. Full bodied dopplebock. Roasted malts coffee, chocolate and caramel. Slightly sweet. Kind of hoppy. Flavorful. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is crisp. Aftertaste is bitter, some alcohol bite. Cool artwork on a etched bottle.