Dubbelbock
Brouwerij De Molen

 

 

Usual 33cl bottle: poured into a ’Corsendonk’ badged stemmed tulip on 17 Aug 2013, the last beer in my ’random beer tasting evening’ held with no one but myself.

Very little sediment (if any) left the bottle. I love the intensity of Doppelbocks and this offering didn’t let me down. The look was deep ruddy amber/ light ruby red , the off-white head becoming a whisper and collar far too quickly for me.

As you'd expect, the malts rule the aroma and taste: sweet malty molasses take over completely, biscuity and lightly roasted in the nose, richer and deeper in the taste.

Lovely brew from start to finish, rich, flavoursome and interesting, I love maltier brews and this beer and style suits be too a tee!

 

 

 

330ml bottle. This appears to be different enough from the existing 'Winterbock' to warrant a new entry - if not, merge at will!

This beer pours a hazy, glassy dark orange brick hue, with three fingers of dense puffy, foamy beige head, which leaves a solid pattern of spongy lace around the glass as it slowly abates.

It smells of biscuity caramel malt, soft bitter, dry chocolate, a bit of hay and wild grass, with a slight alcohol tinge. The taste is more biscuity, crackery malt, bolstered by some caramel/toffee sweetness, subtle nutty baker's chocolate, and a sturdy grassy, herbal hoppiness. Only an echo of booze warming burbles up from sip to sip.

The carbonation is fairly mild and ineffectual, the body an adequate medium weight, and generally quite smooth. It finishes still well off-dry with the caramel sugar just too hefty, although the herbal, grassy hops, in concert with a thin booze edge, provide a modicum of balance.

A tasty, seemingly laid-back doppelbock, all things considered - the graininess and caramel well meshed, and the hops doing a decent job of providing support in a background role. As for the extra few points of ABV? They threaten, but their yips are wholly empty, until that nice homey warming sets in...