Cherry Doppelbock
Brewery Vivant

Cherry DoppelbockCherry Doppelbock
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From:
Brewery Vivant
 
Michigan, United States
Style:
Doppelbock
ABV:
6.5%
Score:
87
Avg:
3.88 | pDev: 8.51%
Reviews:
17
Ratings:
34
Status:
Active
Rated:
Apr 21, 2018
Added:
Jul 17, 2015
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  6
No description / notes.
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Ratings by SerialTicker:
Photo of SerialTicker
Reviewed by SerialTicker from Michigan

3.71/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Looking forward to this beer, as I've only had maybe two other doppelbocks since I've started drinking beer. This was $3.99 for a 16oz can, which is a fair price in my opinion, given Brewery Vivant's quality.

Appearance: Poured this into a Sam Adams Perfect Pint fairly aggressively and didn't get much out of it in terms of a head. A finger or so of one came up but quickly and audibly fizzled out almost like the sound of a Coke. The color is beautiful on this beer: excellent clarity with a gorgeous mahogany tint to it.

Smell: Roasty, a little woody, and with a definite cherry tinge to it. Slightly wet-trunk like, probably because of the yeast.

Taste/feel: Quite nice. There's a very familiar Brewery Vivant Belgian-like quality to this beer that makes for a very interesting flavor with the cherry and roasted wood-like malt taste. There's a faint "trunk" vibe as well that I get sometimes in beers with Belgian yeast. Definitely a little funky, but a lot of tasty. The cherry juice is apparent, but as an accent, thankfully. It comes and adds some sweetness and flavor with a faint bit of tartness, though the latter could just be the yeast. This is definitely a sweet beer, as there is only a slight roast bitterness, and one that is quite unique as well. Finish is slightly tangy cherry with a more prominent roast flavor. This beer has a medium-to-full body with a light but fairly hard prickling carbonation (that probably made no sense). In a way, it drinks slightly flat, which is both a bummer and surprising, considering the sound when I was pouring it into the glass. As a whole, I like this beer, but definitely find it to be too sweet.

Another nice beer from a very underrated Michigan brewery. This beer is too sweet for me to drink more than a can of, but the flavor is unique. If you've grown tired of IPAs, give this beer a whirl.
Jul 25, 2015
More User Ratings:
Photo of stevoj
Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho

3.6/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
16 oz can from Pennsport. . I think this is pretty good. While you would think the cherries would make it too sweet, it actually tones it down a bit. And no this should not be a fruit beer, its a doppelbock. Dark brown with creamy beige head. Aroma is the normal doppel malt sweetness and some cherries. Taste brings some chocolate, dark malts, brown sugar and cherries. Really nice consistency too.
Apr 21, 2018
 
Rated: 3.96 by BeerForMuscle from New Jersey

Jan 28, 2018
Photo of GuyFawkes
Reviewed by GuyFawkes from Illinois

3.89/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Canned summer 2015; drank 9/7/15 @ the Yarchives.

Poured from the can into a glass.

Brown/purple appearance.

A rough pour yielded a big tan head which quickly dissipated; almost no lace.

Mild cherry & caramel notes in the nose.

Creamy medium mouthfeel.

Mild cherry & sweet malt flavors. Not much to this, but it's at least not offensive.
Dec 30, 2016
 
Rated: 2.75 by NonicPanic from Pennsylvania

Dec 10, 2016
 
Rated: 3.78 by Knapp85 from Pennsylvania

Jun 06, 2016
 
Rated: 3.71 by jzeilinger from Pennsylvania

Jun 06, 2016
Photo of woodychandler
Reviewed by woodychandler from Pennsylvania

4.37/5  rDev +12.6%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.25
I had purchased this CAN when my semi-local brewery, Victory B.C., initially teamed up with Brewery Vivant in CANticipation of drinking it with a number of other Brewery Vivant CANs that I had CANquired in my travels. It has been in my backlog/queue/rotation since, but today is the day!

From the CAN: "Why [CAN]s? Better for your beer. Better for your Earth. Better for your adventure."; "Tier 2 Brewer's Reserve"; "THE COLLABORATION Gathering friends together over food and drink is an age old prtice and one that is near and dear to our hearts at Brewery Vivant. We met the folks at Victory Brewing through the channels of doing business and found they shared our passion for Bon Vivant, 'living the good life.' We got together to brew a beer in this spirit and you're holding the result. Victory brought a lager yeast to our Grand Rapids brewery and we sourced Michi[CAN] cherry juice for this departure from our usual Belgian inspired beers. Malty and toasty: this is our doppelbock."; "GLASSWARE & PAIRING Live the Bon Vivant with your friends by pouring this deep mahogany hued brew into a wide tulip. Pair with old friends & new. Cheers!"; "A MICHIGAN MADE BEER".

I Crack!ed it open and CANmenced a gentle Glug. Once deCANted into a ... tulip (because I CAN follow directions), I gave it a vigorous in-glass swirl to raise a brief finger of foamy, fizzy, deep-tan/light-brown head that quickly reduced to wisps. Color was Dark Brown to Very Dark Brown (SRM = > 27, < 34) with NE-quality clarity & ... mahogany highlights! Who would have guessed? Truth in advertising! Nose had a leathery quality that may have been from the inclusion of skins in the production of the cherry juice. It was not bad, just unexpected and accompanied the cherry scent nicely. Mouthfeel was full, thick and creamy, like a dollop on my tongue. The taste really put me in mind of A-Treat Black Cherry Cream Soda from when I was a kid and it came in heavy, clear, returnable bottles with a gold foil wrapper at the neck. Actually, it tasted a little TOO good since it was rapidly disappearing from my glass and into my belly. I was thankful that the ABV was relatively low for a Doppelbock since I was really putting this one away! Finish was semi-sweet, which was kind of surprising. Two questions came to mind: 1) What sort of cherries did they use? I thought that Michigan was known for sour cherries.; 2) Did the yeast and/or malt overwhelm the cherry juice? Do not misCANstrue my remarks. This was a great beer and if the ABV was higher, it could be seductively dangerous! Holy Smooth, Batman, this was good!
Apr 30, 2016
Photo of tone77
Reviewed by tone77 from Pennsylvania

3.44/5  rDev -11.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
A big thanks to the founding father of the canquest, woodychandler, for this beer. Poured from a 16 oz. can. Has a very dark brown color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is very mild, some faint hints of malts. Taste is strong of dark breads, subtle cherries, very easy drinking. Feels medium/full bodied in the mouth and overall is a pretty good beer.
Jan 12, 2016
Photo of Jimmys
Reviewed by Jimmys from Pennsylvania

4.03/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
16 oz can.

A: pours fairly clear, but is rather dark it is hard to tell. a nice chestnut brown hue. looks like a still glass of coke.

S: a lot of chocolate malt, some roast. caramel too. some cherry but not a lot.

T: cant tell if it starts off malty or cherry sweet. either way there is definitely a lot of sweetness in this one. you can really taste the cherry on the backend. it is sweet, but not cloying. perhaps a touch of smoke? it really reminds me of a cherry coke actually (2nd coke reference this review). clean finish.

M: moderate to low carb on a medium body.

D: overall this is pretty neat and is exactly what the name implies, a cherry doppelbock. easy drinking, clean, only thing I wouldn't mind more of is some body. otherwise good stuff.
Jan 07, 2016
Photo of jlindros
Reviewed by jlindros from Massachusetts

3.57/5  rDev -8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Very under rated style which can be great if done well, and a tall boy can.

Pours a light fizzy head that hits 1/3 finger and fades fairly quickly, super dark just about pitch black color.

Nose brings sweet malts, caramel toffee candy, touch biscuity, into sweety candy fruity raisin fig paste, with light candied dried cherries, sticky molasses.

Taste brings more sweet malts, wheat biscuit, toffee caramel candy notes, molasses syrup and big candy flavours but only semi sweet, lots of candy fig paste and raisin, faint dried candied cherry, with mild esters, touch of dried cocoa, mild earthy leaf thing, herbal hop perhaps. Cherry juice late, sticky condensed sweet cherry juice auth more lingering fig, molasses, toffee, sticky sweet finish.

Mouth is med to fuller bod, little syrupy, lighter carb.

Overall eh, had its decent doppelbock notes but didn't really nail it, and cherry was barely there.
Dec 21, 2015
 
Rated: 4.13 by Kurmaraja from California

Dec 03, 2015
Photo of ThickNStout
Reviewed by ThickNStout from Georgia

3.38/5  rDev -12.9%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25
16oz can from LambicPentameter (thanks man). No canning date. Served in a goblet.

Pours a deep, dark mahogany with a three quarter finger cap of sandy foam. The head dissipates surprisingly quickly without leaving much in the way of lace.

Smells of caramel, cherry Kool Aid, toffee and just a little chocolate.

The taste fleshes out the nose. Caramel, cherry skins, brown sugar, cherries, raisin bread, cocoa and some vague earthy notes. There is almost no alcohol heat so this is pretty easy to knock back.

Smooth medium body with moderately soft carbonation. The finish is a predominantly sweet blend of cherry skin, caramel and some vaguely earthy cocoa.

Vivant and Victory teamed up and came away with a decent doppelbock. I ride the fence on how well the cherry worked. It seems like it should work well but I can't quite decide if the occasional bitter notes from the skins fit into the style.
Nov 17, 2015
 
Rated: 3.25 by sweemzander from Illinois

Nov 11, 2015
 
Rated: 3.75 by Gotti311 from Wisconsin

Oct 26, 2015
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Reviewed by SportsandJorts from Virginia

3.99/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Appearance: pours very dark, deep mahogany almost black. very light garnet hues can be seen through the very edges. a finger of a tan head forms has good retention and leaves behind a very light lacing. completely dark and opaque.

Smell: strong malty smell, dark and sweet malts mainly. the cherry juice flavors blends nicely in with these malts. more malts this time a bit pretty

Taste: opens with toffee and a little vanilla along with dark fruits from malts that slowly opens up to the cherry juice. some roasted malts balance out all the sweetness from malts and cherry. ends with a slightly syrupy cherry.

Mouthfeel: medium bodied. good balance, incredibly smooth and easy drinking. some light warmth to it.

Overall: I was very hesitant of this one, fruit in non-sour beers rarely turns out well to me. Glad I tried this one for Vivant, the flavors work very well in this one. Not quite the meal in a glass I expect from a doppelbock but certainly a tasty and interesting brew.
Oct 20, 2015
 
Rated: 4.35 by whatname from Pennsylvania

Oct 12, 2015
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Reviewed by andrewjraab from Michigan

3.8/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Pours a dark brown with tints of cherry. Not much head to speak of with zero retention and lace. Smells of chocolate, candy, ludens cough drops, malts, vanilla. Tastes of chocolate covered cherries up front, malts, oaky, more layers of chocolate and finishes semi dry and sweet. Overall, solid brew that is worth a try.
Sep 24, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by bcm75 from Illinois

Sep 05, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by Gtg642 from Michigan

Aug 30, 2015
Cherry Doppelbock from Brewery Vivant
Beer rating: 87 out of 100 with 34 ratings