1878 Einbecker Doppelbock
August Schell Brewing Company

Good German beer with great flavor

A-Ruby brown with a thin light tan head leaving nice lacing.

S-Not much, a bit of sweet caramel malt and maybe a hint of berry.

T-Solid, sweet caramel and a bit of graham cracker. Interesting and pleasant.

M-Medium body with the silky smoothness one would expect from a D-bock.

D-Solid and pleasant brew. A good all around beer. Certainly not the best D-bock but I would not hesitate to have another.

On tap at the Blue Nile. A see through, dark caramelly brown color with red highlights, thin off white head that quickly drops to a ring. Sweet aroma, caramel and brown sugar, toasted grains, some fruity/berry like notes, almost made me think a splash of purple grape juice got in the glass. Malty, grainy aftertaste right up front, made me think of Cheerios for a minute. Then some of fruity-like flavors fold in, berries, maybe a bit of cherry, adding a nice refreshing edge, but its definitely a malt brew overall. Some light herbal hops in the aftertaste adding some balance. Medium bodied, easy to drink, average carbonation.

Overall: I liked it. Compared to a typical Schell's seasonal it pretty good, for a "special release" its alright. I like my doppels with a lot of berry/bramble flavor, this was more about the malty, dark sugar like flavor. Drinking it just reminded me of being at Bockfest.

Dark caramel-brown color, slim head.

Sweet, caramel malt nose, toasty, deligthful...right on for style.

Fills the mouth with malty goodness, rich and lovely. Light, but tasty, hops. Fairly full bodied, long, tasty, brown sugar-y malty finish.

Sweet, but not overly so, and nearly sublime. Delicious. About 6.5 %, so not too daunting in the drinkability, low enough to let you grab another.

I think I have to agree with other opinions, that this is probably the best Schell's product I've had to date. I really like it. Yummy, yum, yum...I mean it, ...yum.

Pretty damn good beer. Very well balanced. Poured with a nice fine light tan/ off white head and good lace. Brownish mahoganey color. Malty slightly roasty nose. A session beer. Good body and carbonation. Bittersweet with some bright sweet highlights. Great finish. Hope the rest of the beers in this series are at least as good.

Appearance: Garnet-brown, good head, good lacing as I drank.

Smell: I have trouble smelling on-tap beers, this just came across as sweet caramel.

Taste: Tasty stuff, sweet caramel and brown sugar, a little bit of raisin. Didn't taste any alcohol.

Drinkability: I could have had another but did not since I was unsure of the ABV and had to drive.

Finally got around to trying the first of Schell's 150th anniversary special drafts. I think they started on a high note, this was quite tasty. I have an empty bottle of Schell's old dopplebock, I wish I had a full bottle to compare the two. Looking forward to the next in the series!

Poured a medium, golden-brown in color, and topped by a pale tan head with moderate lacing. Right away on the nose, there's a fairly exciting point/counterpoint dialogue between the hops and the mildly sweet, tangy malt complexion. The hops are spicier than I'd come to expect from the (defunct?) August Schell Doppelbock of old, and exhibit light citrus* qualities; interesting.

Exceptionally smooth and creamy across the palate on the first sip, there's almost an impression that this is flat, but a lightly cleansing carbonation wells up toward the end of the palate and helps to emphasize the citric qualities of the hops. The complexion is a high point, with equal parts bready, toasted, and biscuit-like malt characteristics. Caramel notes are much lighter than I'd expected, while light notes of cocoa and smoke bring up the rear and weave in and out of both floral and citric hop notes.. There's less of the bitterness I'd associated with dark (chocolate) and roasted malts used in the Doppelbock of old, and with the citric hop qualities and depth of malt complexity I'd say this is definitely more accessible, even a better drinker.

Seems fairly light in body for the heft, but the mouth feel is in no way impaired. I was about half-way through my pint before I detected anything more than a gently warming quality to the alcohol, it would have snuck-up on me after two; the alcohol is definitely stealthy.

Overall this recipe is an excellent find from the archives and I'd be very happy to see it again - perhaps even in a bottle?

* On my second go-round with this one, the light, smokey character was augmented by the aroma wafting into the main room from the Dubliner's Saint Paddy's Day festivities. Interestingly, this highlighted the hops even more!

Served on tap, this pours a clear light brown color, with a small white head that vanishes quickly, leaving minimal lacing on the glass. The smell is mildly sweet. The taste is unexpectedly rich, with caramel malt and almost a brown sugar sweetness predominating, but with a pleasant crispness to balance the sweet flavors. The mouthfeel is also rich and smooth. The drinkability is only slightly marred by a mildly smoky aftertaste that doesn't fit the style. Barring that, this is the best ever offering that I've had by Schell's and is well worth seeking out. Nicely done!
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This beer arrived a deep tawny color with a small half inch head which lingered around leaving nice rings of lacing until the beer was gone. The aroma is very floral for a doppelbock with a nice caramel backbone. The taste is a lot like the aroma with a little more caramel in the finish. The mouthfeel is medium-full bodied with a silky texture, and moderate carbonation. Overall, this beer is more floral, and lighter bodied than most American doppelbocks I have had, but that works well for me. I would certainly drink this beer again.

I had this from the keg at the Border Batch meeting, also took it home in growlers and had it fresh from the tap at the B & L Bar in New Ulm. Very nice dark coffee color with a nice tight head. Left good lacing on the glass. Smell was good but subtle. Taste was exceptional this is a very well balanced beer with nice malty character and the hops come in at the end and balance it out well. It's very drinkable. I could and did make this a session beer with lots of flavour.

The appearance was good, but nothing to write home about. A dark, slightly transparent coffee color with not much head - a product of the pourer rather than the beer, I believe. The aroma was not overpowering and one probably wouldn't notice anything if they weren't looking for it, but the flavor made up for it. Just enough bite for my taste while maintaining a clean, refreshing feel. Very drinkable and worthy of my expectations after reading it was a "limited release".

First of the eight "Schell's Anniversary Series", set to lead up to 150 anniversary in 2010. One of the eight will be selected for the anniversary beer and the selection process will include voting from the public. Great idea and good promotion. (Just wish a few more places would be available to sample the beers - I have no local watering holes). I got lucky this time and was able to meet with a group that received a small 5 gallon unit. Thanks to BorderBatch and Bryan for the invite. It was a pleasure.
More description of this brew is available on the website, so I will not repeat it here.
Aroma presents with all the malty goodness one might expect and a great complexity from the "nine different malts". The aroma is steady and persistent but not incredibly strong. My preference was for the caramel which was sweet yet subdued.
Quite clear. Brown with a darker tan head that initially formed a finger sized head, but moved towards smear in time. Nice drippy lacing.
The malt character of the flavor was an interesting mix of toast, roast and caramel all nicely balanced offering a variety of flavors on each drink. Hop presence is in the balancing as this is not excessively sweet in any manner, yet holds some richness (not uncommon for beers from Schell's). Fairly dry but it's quick on the finish and the ending is more of the nice malt flavors.
Ale smoothness for a lager. Moderately heavy body. Nice feel.
Very slight warming, but I think this is a lower abv for style as I did not note any alcohol flavor. Heavy malt prevents fast drinking, and I wanted to enjoy each mouthful. A slower session beer is possible with this. Interestingly complex. Complements in continuing to make accessible, interesting and drinkable beers.