Andechser Doppelbock Dunkel

Brewed by Klosterbrauerei Andechs
Style: Doppelbock
Andechs, Germany

Rated: june 2007
Bottle brown, 500 ml
Appearance: Very deep reddish, cherry like in the sun, very clear, deep strong tea.
Aroma: Very nice, strong alcohol blend well build with roastiness and some cherry and fruity palate, blueberries, strawberries, cherry, cranberries.
Flavour: Very nice roastiness, cogniac, very great palate of fruit, plum, cherry, cranberries, blueberries, strawberry. Nice strong alcohol.
Palate: Very nice, fruity, roasty, well drinkable, medium finish.

Bottle. Thanks BrianK for sharing this bottle, drank side by side with celebrator doppelbock to make my final decision on my favorite. Pours dark brown with creamy off white tan head. sweet malted caramel and chocolate. The verdict, andecher by a hair.

I don’t normally drink doppelbocks, but this is just fantastic. After pouring a 0.5 L bottle into a chalice, the smell of dark fruits, coffee and freshly baked bread is immediately apparent. The appearance is dark, ruby-brown, almost cola-like with a small creamy, khaki head. Taste has wonderful hints of caramel, figs and brown sugar. Very complex. It’s a "chewy" beer, yet incrediably smooth. Basically zero taste of alcohol, which is amazing, considering the 7.1 % abv. Be careful with this one, it will catch up with you very quickly! It has a surprising amount of carbonation, which makes for great drinkability. This is an outstanding beer, brewed by one of the last remaining monastic breweries in Germany. A must try!

Smagt 19/4 2008 hos Lars. Smagen er sødelig karamel og er meget let drikkelig, virkelig god øl.

Bottle, 500ml. A clear light brown/red colour with a small head. A sweet, somewhat hoppy roasted malt aroma. Taste is very malty, with chocolate notes, coffee notes and brown sugar. Quite sweet. Low carbonation. Alcohol fairly evident. Really tasty.

Best By Date March 2008; Sampled April 2008
Pours with a frothy, initially three finger thick, tan colored head that . The beer is quite clear, despite being a dark plum color I can see through it as it sits on my desk, if held up to the light it shows a light, brilliantly clear, cranberry color that has touches of copper to it. this has a malty aroma to it that is quite meaty, meaning it has a richness to it that I associate with umami. Caramelized malt sugars, touches of toffee, sweet toasty bread aromatics and perhaps a touch of oxidation around the edges that seems to boost some of the rich malt notes. There is also a distinct fruity, almost berry like note here, though it isn’t always noticeable.

Richly textured though not overly heavy, it also has a nice, prickly carbonation to it that helps to lighten things on the palate just a touch. Sweet, though not cloying, it continues to have a richness & complexity to its malt-sweetness. The beer finishes with a touch of sharp dark malt notes, not really roast-like, but something that is going that direction with a toasty edge. This almost has a cocoa note to it at times, especially when the beer hits the taste buds right such that it tastes drier than normal. I really like the heft and texture of this brew, it is chewy & rich with a certain viscousness to it, yet it is still easily drunk 500ml at a time. The malt character really takes on a rich bread-like flavor that is somewhere between a chewy whole grain bread and a lightly sweet, faintly spiced, holiday bread. This actually has a fantastic malt depth & character to it & it really lingers quite well on the tongue; changing from sweet to rich to toasty to caramelized. A light hop bitterness kicks in towards the beginning of the finish and provides a touch of balance to the rich malt character.

This just gets better as it warms up a bit and I work my way through this glass; I can’t quite pinpoint why (though I don’t think it is just the alcohol), but it just is so rich, chewy and drinkable all at the same time. A wonderful beer, that I will most definitely have to get more of at some point in the future. I’d be curious what a fresh bottle of this would taste like, though this one is not noticeably over the hill in any way. This perhaps started out a bit slow (though still really good), but it has picked up lots of steam, finishes incredibly strong and I am now wishing I had more of this sitting in my glass right now; this is really quite fantastically tasty. Letting it warm up really makes this beer shine.

First style rating. I loved the smell of the sweet malts, and rostiness. Very tasty.

Bottle thanks to Papsoe. I have been wanting to try this one for a while. Aromas of caramel and sweet malts. Flavor was Smores and sweetness. Sweet malt flavor. Not much alcohol flavor. Pretty yummy.