Doppelbock
Blue Stallion Brewing Co.

 

16oz can from the brewery
Dark ruby color. Thick foamy khaki head with great retention.
Sweet and malty aromas, taste follows suit with a hint of bitterness and a bready finish.
Like it a lot!

 

 

 

 

Deep melanoidin character, with sweet, toasted, nutty malt accented by a hint of specialty malt fruitiness in aroma.

Flavor reveals a fairly sweet malt backbone. Deeply toasted nuts and a touch of cocoa counter. The finish is spicy and slightly bitter. Specialty malt fruitiness adds complexity.

Great depth of character in malt. It's borderline cloying, though. Could use a bit more attenuation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Similar to their Bockbier, Blue Stallion's Dopplebock signifies warmer weather ahead with the traditional beer of sustenance for Bavarian monks. One sip of this dense and power-packed ale proves why the dopplebock is "liquid bread".

Its stern and masculine pour is a mosaic of ruby, garnet, brown and crimson. Its deviant prism is brilliant in clarity which demonstrates its carbonated streams that fuel the dense blanket of foam that caps the beer. Its confident appearance only waivers late when the foam finally collapses back into its pits. With light trickles of lace left behind, the beer begins to take on dense brandy proportions.

Its decadent aromas are of all things fruitcake, sherry, meaty and sweet. Toffee-laden and molasses-rich, the beers strong malt backbone is felt immediately. Its woven fruitiness of cherries, apples, figs, dates, nuts, raisins, prunes and apricots seem to give an endless meadly of vinous and drunken tangy sweetnesses. A background of savory sherry, toast, and grilled aromas seem nearly terryaki-like.

To taste, much of the same transpires as the bold sweetness of toffee and molasses hinge on toast, nuts, coffee and even chocolate. But its fruit-filled center is a blend of all those dark, dried, pitted stone fruits of the nose that seem to have been soaked in sherry. That when the beer's winy notes come through with port, near-soy sauce, and salty-savory combinations occur. As the ale trails into a maple rum finish, it holds onto its bready and fruity taste indefinitely.

Its rich and bready body is creamy and nearly aches the sweet tooth. Its tangy sweetness seeps deep into the taste buds and satisfies the palate with dessert-like richness. Only its tart vinous acidity provides just enough of a buffer to the malt in the short presence of hop bitterness or dryness. Its long sherry-like finish is warm and spicy and nearly outlasts the sweetness.

I absolutely adore German Dopplebocks. As they have a profound range of flavors and textures, Blue Stallion hits a moderate tone in balance but have pulled the reins on complexity. Its booze and fruit seem slightly out of balanced but still is a well-built brew!

The color is rich and robust brown with an almost thickness to the hue. The head was a loosely knit field of bubbles that coalesced to a thick central top.

The aroma holds sweet graininess but even a scant amount of dried fruit. The grains are more prominent with a malty strength and tinges of booziness.

The flavors follow suit with strong sweet grains and an assertive malt base. There is a touch of dried fruit though it is deeply hidden. There is an unfortunate alcohol taste within the whole experience that casts a sourness.

The feel is neither boozy or abrasive and the carbonation is less than moderate, so it's easily drinkable. There is a nice warmth the courses through the chest.

This is is a decent example of the style that may be victim of its own device. Big malt and grain taste but booziness to boot.