Gordon Biersch Winter Bock

Brewed by Gordon Biersch Brewing Company
Style: Doppelbock
San Jose, California USA

Serve in Dimpled mug, Stein, Stem glass

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Nice bock beer for the winter, one of the better beers they make. Good amount of alcohol and a smooth but heavier feel. Nice head on the mug and quality lacing, not bad.

0.5L dimpled mug draft at the Gordon Biersch in Leawood, Kansas. The pour is dark copper, brown, with some reddish hues. The head is tan, about one inch and decently lasting. The aroma is nutty malt light sweetness, soft hay, and general potpourri spice which is subdued and in the background. The taste follows the nose, nutty sweet malt, soft earthy hay and the yeast spice. The maltiness rich, and pretty layered. The palate is medium to heavier bodied initially, though it thins out a bit as it warms. Carbonation is soft, spice and yeast carry the finish. Masked the 7.5% abv well.

Tap @ Gordon Biersch Broomfield. Reddish brown appearance with a light brown head. Nutty, toasty caramel malty, light chocolate aroma. Pretty roasty, caramel malty, rich toffee, somewhat nutty flavor. Not bad.

Poured from a bottle into a 0.5L glass. Color was dark brown, almost mahogany (I read the description). About an inch of head when I got it. Fairly thin lacing on the top. Sporadic film on the sides. Smelled of dark toffee malts. It reminded me a bit of a dark Heath bar. Also some caramel and coffee in there, too. Sweet flavors. Tasted a little bit lighter than the nose. Toffeeish. Pretty smooth, but hardly any aftertaste. I bit too much alcohol kicker. Medium body. Thin texture. Average carbonation. Smooth feel. A decent beer, but a little late in the overall taste. Would like it slightly darker.

Tap. Pours a deep amber with a medium head and some lingering lacing. Taste is sharp with a good alcohol bite and some malty sweetness. It has a mildly sour aftertaste. Decent overall.

Bottle. Pours dark amber brown with a small tight tan head. Aroma of caramel, toffee, raisins and molasses. Flavor was lightly sweet with caramel, raisins, toffee, molasses a hint of some nuttiness. decent

Tap, Dulles. Off-white head on a very dark copper brown with orange highlights. Raisins and malty sweetness in the aroma. Flavor features raisins again, but not as much malty sweetness in the flavor but nice toffee and dry bitterness in the finish. Substantial, and actually fairly nice.

Dark, copper colored. Clear. Weak aroma to it, but it was a malty, strong beer with a bitter palate. Nice winter offering.

12 ounce bottle from a Wegmans. Pours a dark reddish amber color with a medium tan head. Decent head retention and lacing. Aroma of caramel, toasted malts, raisins. The taste is toasted malts, caramel, apples, raisins, faint hops. Medium bodied. Nice beer.

07-Feb-11 (12-oz bottle, Bottled on 28-Sep-10, Part of Handcrafted Beers gift set: Purchased 12-Jan-11 at BevMo in Solana Beach, CA) This doppelbock is medium-sweet and very malty, with rich melanoidin flavor, caramel, medium-dark toast, and a gentle, noble hop flavor in the background. The important thing here is that the beer is malty and sweet, but it’s not a cloying, sugary sweetness, and that’s one of the crucial keys to a good doppelbock. Appropriately, the beer is low in bitterness from hops or roasted malts. Medium-full bodied, but not heavy or cloying because of the sweetness isn’t sugary, and the finish is moderately dry. Carbonation is medium. The nose is very malty with melanoidins and moderately fruity, some toast, molasses, dried fruit, a hint of grassy hops, and is quite sweet smelling, but there’s also a touch of tartness in there as well. The color is red-amber and shows perfect clarity. The pale-beige head pours to half an inch before settling to a thin ring. A pretty nice doppelbock, and better than many of the domestic offerings I’ve tried, but it’s still not competition for the best German examples.