discuss the relative merits of these 3 medium weight dark beers and why you would choose one style over the others or what circumstances (food pairings, season, occasion, etc.) you would pick each.
Funny when Doppelbocks and Dubbels are considered "medium weight" beers! I guess if you only drink one or two....But seriously, we have three entirely different styles with the only common theme being color, and even there a Dubbel is typically dark from candi sucre, a porter from Black/Choco malt and a Doppel from Munich and Carafa. Add in three entirely different yeasts and you have three entirely different beers with unique histories.
Dubbel is the clear odd man out on this grouping for me. Don't get me wrong, I like dubbels, but I LOVE Dopplebocks and Porters. Between the two, I would probably tend to gravitate towards dopplebocks as I love the crispness that the lager yeast brings. However, often times dopplebocks are higher abv, and being someone that likes to drink more sessionable stuff, depending on the situation I may be reaching for a porter. So if it's just two pints I am looking for, I will probably go dopplebock. But if I am sitting down with the plan of putting away a sixer, I may stay with a porter. As for food pairings...hmmmmmm. Tough to beat a Mayflower Porter at 10:30 AM with smoked salmon on a bagel. And for the doppelbock, a homemade sausage sandwich with pickled onions and mustard. Damn, now I am hungry. And I want a beer. Shit.
I love Doppelbocks and Porters I haven't drank enough Dubbels to comment on them. I feel a Doppelbock is a good hearty Fall or Spring beer much sweeter than most Porters I've had with a more bready carmel taste and usually higher alcohol content. Porters are usually lower ABV and have a more roasty light coffee chocolate character still a good cold weather beer. However, I feel a Porter would be easier to enjoy on warmer weather days because of the doppelbocks more sticky high abv content. I can't speak to food pairings I like to drink my beers naked to enjoy the flavors. As far as occassions go I always imagine tailgating with a jacket on drinking these beers even though A. I don't watch sports and B. have never tailgated at a sporting event. However, I feel these are both great outdoor cold weather beers.
