Ganter Wodan
Brauerei Ganter GmbH & Co. KG

Bottle 0.5L.
Dark brown body with reddish nuances; large, frothy, tan head, mostly lasting with fair lacing.
Moderate malty (roasted, caramel) aroma with notes of dark fruits (cherry, plum) and nuts.
Moderate sweet and light-to-moderate bitter flavour; long-lasting sweet finish.
Medium body with oily-to-creamy texture; soft carbonation.
Very pleasant one.

Very loud pop when I opened up the beer with a bit of smoke coming out of the bottle from the co2. This is a dark pouring beer. Hints of amber shine through at the bottom of the glass, but it's more a dark brown color. When I hold it up to the light it looks quite dark red. There's a 2 finger tan head that dissipated rapidly, with no lacing. After the head dissipates there's a bit of carbonation rising in the glass, and I can see it when holding it up to the light. As I pour the last bit in the glass there looks like there's a bit of sediment in the bottle.
I get a good deal of dark fruit on the nose - plum, raisin, fig. I get a hint of caramel as well. I don't drink soda pop, and haven't in a long time, but, I get notes of cola coming through the aroma.
I do get the dark fruit in the flavor. I get the raisin, plum and fig. I also kind of get a raspberry flavor in that mix, as well. Caramel also makes an appearance, more toward the back of the beer.
The carbonation does tickle my tongue a bit. This beer does have a decent body. It's very smooth, and full for the ABV.
It always amazes me what the Germans can do with beer using the Reinheitsgebot. While I have German ethnicity in me, I do not speak or read it, which my Grandmother would not approve of. I do see the word on the bottle, and I'd say it uses the allowed ingredients in the beer. I am blown away with this beer. I know it's around 1 Euro over there, but I'd gladly pay $5-7 for it here. Delicious!

Poured from fridge temp into a Ganter snifter. Pours a nice mahogany with a good amount of quickly dissipating head. Aroma is fantastic. Lots of bread, wheat, caramel, fig, cherry, walnuts, and malts. Taste is distinct from the nose - a bit sweet upfront. Lots of caramel and a bit of a roasty flavor. This is really good stuff. One of the best doppelbocks I have had. Definitely picking up dark fruit, bread, and nuts. Mouthfeel is pretty viscous and robust. Coats the mouth and gives a fantastic malty aftertaste. Overall, a fantastic beer that can be found in Germany for around one Euro. Unbelievable value for the price.

Half Liter bottle purchased at a market in Bad Krozingen Germany where Wodan was the only available full bodied specialty beer, out of 50 or so choices.

Wodan is a full flavored doppelbock from Ganter in Freiburg. Taste is fairly full, with a prominent presence of the alcohol. Good beer, but (as with all doppelbocks) a bit strong for me.

Half-litre on 11 Sep 2013 in the Brauereiausschank on Munsterplatz, Freiburg.

Ruby brown body, next to no head.

Sweet and malty in aroma and taste: I really liked it, but I'm a big Doppelbock fan.

Caramel and sweet malty molasses throughout the tasting, with a slight bitter and mini alcoholic kick towards the finish.

A very pleasant and easy drinking Doppelbock, the brewery tap being the best place I could have chosen to drink it.

Bottom line: best doppelbock I've ever had. Pours a beautiful clear reddish-brown with a taupe head that unfortunately wasn't long-lasting. Not sure if this was because of the cleanliness of the glass, because it looked as though it should have been able to stand up (incidentally, I drank it out of a probably 350ml standard glass stein provided by the brewer, so the glass shape itself should not have been an issue). Odor was unbelievably luscious, with immediate notes of sour black cherry, chocolate, malt, and dark toffee. Mouthfeel was medium-bodied with medium carbonation. Not oily or too bright. Taste was of sour cherry, leaning toward somewhat lambic, wonderfully hoppy but not overpowering. Alcohol was apparent but not as strong an appearance as in some doppelbocks. Tried to find this at several stores on the way home from our holiday but it was too late in the season. I'm definitely going to make a trip down to the black forest and grab some early in the season next year. What a great doppelbock. And the label is awesome!

 

 

A very malty German doppelbock, brewed in the beautiful black forest of Germany. The beer does not keep a very good head, but this is typical of doppelbocks.

A nice dark caramel color, you are able to smell the malt from an arm length away. The taste is, of course malty, with slight caramel undertones, leaving a pleasant after taste. This beer finishes nicely.

In the mouth, it is a bit syrupy, although not to the point of making one's teeth feel gritty. Two beers, three at tops, is all you can enjoy in one sitting of Ganter's Wodan.

Prost!

Poured a large head which died down quickly. An attractive glassy dark burgundy color, leaving very little lace during the drinking.

Smell is primarily malt, very dominant, and while no other characteristics have a chance to come through, the malt smell is one of the most complex in memory. It's a treat just to get a whiff of this one.

Malt is also dominant in the flavor, but also gives off black licorice and chocolate characteristics, with a nice honey aftertaste.

Hangs well in the mouth, with a mild candy-like tang, full and thick, rich and sweet.

This beer is super-rich, being built mostly on malt, malt and more malt, so it's best as a dessert beer. It's absolutely delicious, but for people outside Germany's Black Forest region, good luck finding it!