Doppelbock
Fort Hill Brewery

Golden-colored brew with rapidly-dissipating white head. Pale for the style. Nose of sweet malt. Smooth mouthfeel; low carbonation, Body is on the thin side for the style. Tastes of sweet caramel malt. The roastiness and complexity I want from a double bock are not present. This is not a bad brew; it is simply that nothing about it indicates it's supposed to be a doppelbock. It's a medium-strong sweet golden lager.

 

From the can, it pours a clear caramel color with a modest off-white head that reduces to a ring and thin layer. Roast malt in the nose. Caramel flavored roast malt in the mouth.

Pours a clear reddish-brown color with a small, short lived head and little lacing.

Smells and tastes of toasted malt, caramel and molasses.

Light body and carbonation. Syrupy, watery mouthfeel.

This brew is nuance-free and very sweet. Sort of like a soda pop with alcohol.

No can date
Pours a med foamy off-white 1 finger head with med retention, a bit of lacing, clear cranberry to chestnut color

Nose brings plenty of sweet malt, candy malt, brown sugar and candi sugar with a little molasses syrup, rich toasted bread crust and some dark fruits, fig, chewy candied date, touch of earthy hop

Taste is fairly sweet but not too sweet, rich chewy malts, a little syrupy, with more brown sugar, molasses, toffee, candied dates and fig again, little raisin or prune juice as well, mild earthy hop, semi sweet getting drier on the back end, a touch of hop bitterness late and light perfumey alcohol, fairly dry finish

Mouth is med to fuller bod, a tad syrupy, med frothy carb

Overall not bad, a bit on the heavy syrupy side, but otherwise a decent doppelbock

12 oz can, no date, from my buddy Evan, into Powder Valley pint glass.

Pours a very pretty caramelized honey color, with a thin grey head of 1/2 finger, receding to a ring. 30% transparent.

Aroma of fennel, honey, caramel, toasted grain, and lavender from the can. From the glass it's most of those minus the caramel + more honey and at a lesser intensity.

Flavor brings black licorice hard candy, with a little horehound, perhaps some root beer barrel. Slight honey, maybe some fig, it's definitely heavy on the dark fruit candy, whatever it is. Some toasted malt, but mostly just fennel candy/black licorice candy.

Feel is wet, carbonated, semi-crisp, alcohol is well hidden, and has a sticky front and finish.

Overall, something went weird with the taste, but the rest of the beer plays out just fine. Not sure I'd swing back around to this one, but I'm still gonna say it's a quality beer. This was my first near-miss from Fort Hill. Still a decent to good beer though.

 

 

FORT HILL DOPPLEBOCK 6/5/19

I've had 14 different brews from this popular local brewery but not this one. Yet.

Poured from the 12 oz. can into a Fort Hill glass.

a; Clear deep amber with an inch thick white head which receded quickly to almost nothing.

s; Mainly caramel malt.

t; Follows the nose with some light fruit notes which linger slightly on the sweet finish.

m; Medium, good body and more carbonation tingle than the lack of head would suggest. The moderately high ABV is very well covered.

o: Quite true to the style, if anything perhaps a bit too caramel malty sweet, but really pleasant and somewhat desserty. The style is noted mainly as a late fall to winter warmer, but this is good anytime and probably would work especially well as an alternative to an octoberfest marzen, and recall that "marzen" was originally a March brew from fall and winter leftover ingredients.

Fort Hill has slid into my "consistent-buy" category over the past few months. I loved their Red Prince and really looking forward to this Doppelbock. The reviews seem a bit critical but they're also dated so I feel confident that the crew has been steadily upping their game.

Picked up a six pack (no damn dates - see below) and blew through it in a week which, for me, is no small feat.

Gorgeous amber-nearly-brown hue with a nice cap of off-white head. Aroma of toasted grain, brown bread, spicy and grassy hops with a small kiss of red apple. Taste is right there.

Feels hearty and full but not to the point where I couldn't put down three cans in a sitting. It has an ABV that belies the taste (no alcohol can be found in taste or aroma) but feels appropriate given the feel. Great late winter/early spring brew. Highly recommended.

Side rant - date your cans. I'm sure the freshness police get annoying after a while, especially when your IPAs are your big sellers, but for a small shop with an unclear production cycle, it's hard for me to judge your beer with an appropriate amount of information. If it's old - I want to know. If it's new - I want to know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earthy malt forward. Toasted grain, a bit grassy, some dank noble hop bitterness. Medium bodied. Smoother feel. Semi dry, somewhat short finish. Fairly balanced overall. Not bad.

 

from a 12oz. can pours darker amber with a quickly fading half finger head and hardly any lace to speak of. the only aroma I could pick up was a faint smell of apples. taste of malt and slightly salty caramel with a smooth warming finish. light to medium body carbonation was ok. I think it would have been a better beer with a lower abv. but I would still buy it.