3.4 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
Bottle.
Head is initially large, frothy/fizzy, light brown, mostly diminishing.
Body is hazy medium brown, bottle conditioned.
Aroma is moderately malty (caramel, toasted bread, cookie), lightly hoppy (flowers), with notes of orange, alcohol, cinnamon, hints of evergreen needles and smoke.
Flavor is moderately to heavily sweet, lightly acidic, lightly to moderately bitter.
Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly acidic, moderately to heavily bitter.
Medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation, moderately alcoholic.
It sounded great on paper, but unfortunately it’s just "pretty good" in practice. The cedar is light, a more minor point than hoped. It’s well-balanced for the style (which is often too sweet), but perhaps a little *too* attenuated in the finish...comes off as a bit pointy and rough-edged rather than rich, smooth, or elegant. In the end it’s a nice brew and easier to drink than the majority of its ilk, but it’s just not wowing me in any respects.
3.9 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Special tasting, bottle 7 of 10, batch 1-2009. Thanks to the gang at the KC beer blogger’s Brew Day 3.0!
As the label will soon read, this is a stretch of the traditional doppelbock style in just about every way. Pours a coppery brown with an off-white head. Malty aroma hides the ABV and the cedar aroma is also very tough to pick up.
The light cedar aging comes through at both the start (piney, evergreen boughs) and finish (sap/syrup). The abv - ~8% - makes a late entrance just as the malts and hops begin to mellow the woody flavors and dries out the finish nicely.
This will definitely deserve a re-rate once I can get my hands on a few bottles and taste them on their own!
3.8 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20
Looks like I get first rating on this one. Pours tawny bronze with a dense soapy light tan head. The aroma has toasted biscuity malt and some spiciness and is quite dry for the style. There is just a touch of woodiness and the beer is a bit rustic and rough for the style ~ and that suits my tastes just fine. Medium / full body that is on the rough side with some gentle sharp carbonation. The flavor begins with heavily toasted toasted malt and there are some definite cedar traits showing. The wood does a good job of counter-balancing the sweetness of the malt. There also seems to be some spicy hops and a bit of dry breadiness. The finish has a bit of abv heat that is pleasant and warming and some medicinal traits that work for what this beer is. This is very dry dry for a doppelbock and is a very nice unique take on the style. This once again shows why I love Boulevard’s beers.
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