Bourbon Barrel Aged Aviator Doppelbock
Goose Island Beer Co.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Review from notes taken on 4/23/10. I was hesitant about posting this review based on the amount of time that has lapsed since I wrote these notes but oh well, worse has been done I guess.

On tap at the Clybourn location. The menu lists this at 9% abv. It pours a clear amber color with a creamy tan head. Fairly decent retention for a barrel aged offering. A wall of lace clings all around the glass.

The nose of this offering is big with oak and vanilla sweetness. More smells reveal big malty caramel notes and a faint touch of underlying hops.

The taste has slight notes of vinegar mixed with a hoppy bitterness that really clashes. The alcohol seemingly pierces through the vinegar flavor exaggerating the unpleasant character of this brew. This is not your typical or clean tasting bock experience.

Medium bodies with a light level of carbonation. The alcohol is quite present in the finish with both a warming factor and ackward fusel to solvent flavor. Not something I would have again.

Still, caramel colored witha small off white head fading quickly to a ring around snifter.

Light brown sugar, bourbon and vanilla aromas.

Bourbon, vanilla, oak, toffee, light oxidation, light hop and some wood tannins.

Mouth is light and a little to drying.

Pours a bright and clear copper color crowned with a thin lacy white head. The aroma is light and malty with subtle vinous qualities. The beginning of the taste is mild, grainy, sweet, and well balanced. The body is light with moderately low carbonation and flows fast into the finish which continues the maltyness and gives a light kiss of warming alcohol at the end.

Had this at the original Goose Island brewpub in Chicago. Served in a snifter.

A: Dark brown, almost black color. Slightly hazy. Almost could not be seen through. Almost no head, but a lot of film left on the glass. Assuming not a lot of carbonation because the head had no retention.

S: Licorice and alcohol were the prime scents. The alcohol was primarily of whiskey from the aging in the barrels. Sweet caramel undertones were also detectable.

T: This was a very sweet beer except for the bourbon and hops at the end to give it a slight bittery finish. Other major flavors were of molasses, caramel and milk chocolate.

M: Full bodied beer. Sat kinda heavy on the tongue. Not much excitement.

D: Would be a good desert beer or something to end the day on.

Had this on tap at the Clybourn GI location on 6/22/08.
Pretty interesting item as a doppelbock tends to be a malt-bomb and bourbon aged beers tend to have extra sweetness.
Arrives in a snifter with more head than I expected per the style and the aging. Not really cloudy, but like all wood aged beers, it's very hazy. Medium to dark brown with ruby accents. Looks good!
Smells like one of the sweeter caramel-centric doppelbocks mixed 50/50 with bourbon. Not really getting the vanilla or chocolate notes I expected...just whiskey and sweeteness.
This is my 2nd bourbon barrel beer in the last few weeks, and am noticing that this one might even be a little stronger in the whiskey flavor department due to the doppelbock's sweetness. Caramel, bourbon, molasses, milk chocolate, and and hint of hops in the finish to keep it from being the sweetest beer of all time.
The sweetness might be a little much, and the bourbon flavor makes this feel like about 4% stronger than it is.
I like this, but it's on the verge of being cloying. Along the lines of a Sammiclaus with a Jim Beam chaser.
The parts are greater than the sum in this case, but this would make a killer nightcap or something to split.

Served in a snifter at Goose Island-Clybourn 6/18/08. Thanks to HeatherAnn for the assist!

A: Served the color of dark roast, french press coffee. Tiny off- white head that quickly turns into a tiny off-white ring. No skim.

S: Huge aromas of bourbon and vanilla along side the lesser smells of caramel apple and toasted malt. Like smelling a dessert of Bourbon glazed caramel apple bread pudding.

T: See above! Sweet toffee, Bourbon, caramel, vanilla, raisins, coconut, and toasted malt all play equally important roles.

M: Sweet, slick, and very oily. Sticks to every inch of the inside of the mouth.

D: Almost no trace of alcohol and the incredibly appealing smells and tastes going on here make this beer criminally drinkable. What an awesome beer!

Surprised to see this on tap last time I was at Clybourn. Served in a snifter.

Pours an opaque brown, virtually no head, thin off white ring, sticks around for the whole glass. Smell is vanilla, oak, bourbon, caramel, clean and lagery, touch of raisin and roast, alcohol. Taste is nice, more oaky vanilla, lots of toffee and raisins, alcohol, bread, citrus, bourbon, nice. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with low to medium carbonation. Very warming, bourbon was a little bit too strong in the mix, but the doppelbock came out more as it warmed. Nice experiment.