Fulton & Wood: Fassinator
Goose Island Beer Co.

Fulton & Wood: FassinatorFulton & Wood: Fassinator
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From:
Goose Island Beer Co.
 
Illinois, United States
Style:
Doppelbock
ABV:
8%
Score:
84
Avg:
3.67 | pDev: 9.81%
Reviews:
17
Ratings:
52
Status:
Active
Rated:
Nov 29, 2021
Added:
Feb 17, 2016
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  7
Blonde doppelbock
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by vrbulldog22:
Photo of vrbulldog22
Rated by vrbulldog22 from Ohio

4.12/5  rDev +12.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

May 11, 2016
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.5 by TMoney2591 from Illinois

Nov 29, 2021
Photo of GuyFawkes
Reviewed by GuyFawkes from Illinois

3.06/5  rDev -16.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
2016 vintage; drank 4/28/16 @ Jerry's Andersonville.

Cloudy orange appearance.

White head; decent lace.

Vanilla & dry earth notes in the nose.

Medium thick mouthfeel.

Dry earth & faint vanilla flavors up front; faint booze heat notes on the finish.

Dry & boozy; just OK.
Mar 23, 2019
Photo of barnzy78
Reviewed by barnzy78 from Illinois

3.42/5  rDev -6.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
12oz bottle. Pours deep golden with suspended yeasties floating around; creamy ivory head holds good retention. Malty and spicy nose with hints of fruity esters as the label suggests. Sweet, malty flavors with notes of brown sugar, toffee, grain, caramel, and sultana with an earthy & spicy hop presence. Overly boozy and hot alcohol, fuller body, but harsh finish. Not terrible, but not as good as expected.
Feb 14, 2018
 
Rated: 3.6 by Giggy from Michigan

Dec 17, 2017
 
Rated: 3.84 by bigpoppa67 from Wisconsin

Aug 18, 2017
 
Rated: 4.53 by Albertdidz from New Jersey

Jul 03, 2017
 
Rated: 3.5 by Miami66 from Nebraska

Jul 02, 2017
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Reviewed by Beginner2 from Illinois

3.84/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.25
Fassinator is good for 3 reasons.
First, it is a creative take on the doppelbock... designed for the U.S. market. (More on that later.)
Second, it reminded me that I haven't been to the Fulton & Wood tasting room since it opened several years ago. (My bad.)
Third, Fassinator was so interesting that it prompted me to review GI's website... It is so impressive that I'm actually glad that AB InBev owns them because their capital has really raised the bar for the craft industry's marketing and, my good, its pairing with food. But this is a review about one beer....

Had at the 5th month after bottling (Best By date is 6 months), I feel like I caught this batch in its prime for me (I prefer it when the malts and sugars have had a chance to break down the hops, or mellow them.)
Fascinator's Looks make it an inviting beer: clear, a good initial head and a true blonde.
It certainly Smells malty, but really does not give me a notion of the hops to come.
Tastes initially are sweet malts. But then in a very controlled and seemingly deliberate way, the hops creep on to the palate.
Unfortunately, they stay there longer than I prefer. (I suppose the lesson is that 40 IBU can be mellowed with age, but not covered up.) The rest of the Feel is good, medium and not alcoholic; despite the 8%.
Overall: I will have this again and will look for it again. But I shouldn't wait until 2018 to get to Fulton & Wood.
Jun 07, 2017
 
Rated: 4.25 by MattyG85 from Minnesota

May 29, 2017
Photo of Tone
Reviewed by Tone from Missouri

3.63/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Pours a hazy amber color. 1/3 inch head of an off-white color. Decent retention and great lacing. Smells of citrus hops, slight spicy hops, sweet malt, caramel malt, hint of pale malt, and slight yeast. Fits the style of a Doppelbock. Mouth feel is smooth and clean, with an average carbonation level. Tastes of citrus hops, slight spicy hops, alcohol, sweet malt, caramel malt, hint of pale malt, and slight yeast. Overall, good appearance, complexity, feel, and aroma, but blend is off, and the body finishes with a unappealing metallic sharpness.
May 16, 2017
 
Rated: 3.79 by Mxsluis from Michigan

May 08, 2017
 
Rated: 4 by JVan from Illinois

May 04, 2017
Photo of zeff80
Reviewed by zeff80 from Missouri

3.78/5  rDev +3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Poured out a clear, golden amber color with a tan head of foam. It smelled of sweet caramel malt, toffee and caramel. Nice sweet doppelbock with caramel and a mild bitterness.
Apr 17, 2017
Photo of BB1313
Reviewed by BB1313 from Ohio

3.69/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Bottled on 1/10/17. 12oz bottle poured into a tulip. Pours golden with solid clarity and lots of bubbles racing upwards; big chunky white head that sticks around leaving great thick retention and sticky lacing. The aromas are malt forward with lots of bread and crackers. Mild hints of caramel. The flavors are pretty bold. The caramel comes through along with some hints of toffee. Some dark fruit in the mix. Mild bitterness. It's slightly sweet with a solid malt backbone. Finishes slightly warm with some mild alcohol notes, but it's not hot or boozy at all. There's a subtle spiciness. Slightly syrupy. Mouthfeel is full-bodied with moderate to low carbonation. It's slick and slightly creamy. It's ultimately smooth.

This is a solid brew. It seems to drink bigger than it really is, but I don't consider that a bad thing. The "blonde" characteristics makes this come off more as a maibock than a doppelbock, in my opinion. Enjoyable stuff, I like it.
Apr 01, 2017
 
Rated: 3.69 by Taphouse_Traveler from Florida

Apr 01, 2017
 
Rated: 3.82 by AMarkle6524 from Pennsylvania

Mar 26, 2017
Photo of superspak
Reviewed by superspak from North Carolina

4.2/5  rDev +14.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 1/10/2017. Pours lightly hazy/cloudy deep golden/amber color with a 2 finger fairly dense and rocky off white head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of big wheat, cracker, toasted biscuit, nuttiness, and light honey; with lighter notes of lemon, pear, apple, pepper, clove, banana, bubblegum, herbal, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity and bready malt and light-moderate fruity yeast notes; with great strength. Taste of big wheat, cracker, toasted biscuit, nuttiness, and light honey; with lighter notes of lemon, pear, apple, pepper, clove, banana, bubblegum, herbal, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Light herbal bitterness and yeast spiciness on the finish; with lingering notes of wheat, cracker, toasted biscuit, nuttiness, honey, light banana/clove, herbal, and yeast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of bready malt and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; with a great malt/bitter/spiciness balance, and zero cloying sweetness after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering bitterness. Medium carbonation and medium-full body; with a very smooth, creamy/bready/grainy, and lightly sticky mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol for 8%. Overall this is an outstanding blonde doppelbock! All around awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of bready malt and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; very smooth and easy to drink. Very rich in bready malt complexity; with complimenting yeast/hop notes in the background. A highly enjoyable offering.
Mar 25, 2017
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Reviewed by The_Kriek_Freak from Pennsylvania

3.74/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
It pours a darkish amber with a great looking small-bubble head and great lacing. The aroma is slightly metallic but mostly bready and sweet. The taste is also sweet and fruity. The bitterness comes out at the end. More fruitiness as the beer warms up. Medium body. Not an expert in dopplebocks but this one was overall OK.
Mar 22, 2017
Photo of Thirstygoat
Reviewed by Thirstygoat from Illinois

4.03/5  rDev +9.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Pours hazy shade of golden with white head that settles into top layer with lacing adhering to glass
Started to describe aroma as bready but it's more yeasty like a Belgian but not in a sweet way
Nice malt flavor with the slightest fruit, maybe banana hint
This coats the mouth and throat
It is hard to see this as the same style as Celebrator with its plummy thickness, but for a blond this works Should this be a separate style?
Mar 12, 2017
Fulton & Wood: Fassinator from Goose Island Beer Co.
Beer rating: 84 out of 100 with 52 ratings