Cains Double Bock Beer
Robert Cain & Company Limited

 

Bottled and part of the Sainsbury's Good Beer Hunt
Pours a clear brown body.
Fruity raison aroma with bready notes.
Toffee flavour with some bitterness and good body

500 ml bottle, from Voldby Købmandsgård, Denmark. ABV is 8.0%. Now, an ENGLISH doppelbock, that's not something I see every day! Medium brown colour, not as dark as i expected (the bottle was very dark). Medium sized off-white head. Distinctly malty aroma with loads of caramel, also notes of brown bread and pastry, hints of dark dried fruits. Soft and pleasant mouthfeel, relatively light bodied for an 8% doppelbock. The flavour is malty with caramel again, sweet, but not TOO sweet. There is also a nice fruitiness that helps making the beer very drinkable. Moderate hops in the finish. Maybe not the greatest doppelbock in the world, but definitely a beer I'd buy again.

Picked this up from Beer of Europe in King's Lynn, as the 8% and Cains didn't quite fit, i'm used to their medium ABV ales. I know they brew a Bock style lager seasonally in February but this is a Double Bock special edition they have released and as far as I can tell it is to celebrate to 800th year of Liverpool's foundation.

The bottle tells me it's "brewed under Reinheitsgebor purity laws with authentic Munich malts and complimented with Saaz and Hallertau hop". So, this begs the question: Can we really do the double bock better than the Germans?

Poured from a cellar temperature 500ml bottle into a pint glass.

A - Deep red colour with a small head, which is gone within a minute. Very carbonated.

S - The Munich malts are very clear in the aroma. Lots of sweet notes. Some fruits, possibly figs.

T - The flavours are sweet at the front, roasted malts and brown sugar. Hops push through in the middle balancing out the sweetness. There is a definite taste of warming alcohol, which is something that I haven't experienced before with a Cains beers. The finish is less powerful that the initial flavours and offers up a biscuity taste and a fading bitterness.

M - The body is medium to heavy, and slightly syrupy. The carbonation is noticeable in the palete.

D - This is a very different beast to the rest of the Cains stable, it packs more punch and personally I think it delivers much more in the flavour department. I hope Cain and Co decide to keep it on because it provides a different element to the somewhat samey range, and personaly I would buy this again. Anyway, in answer to the question at the start...no yet, the Germans are still Kaisers of the doppelbock. It's a good effort but it's no Paulaner Salvator.