JosephsBrau Winterfest

Brewed by Gordon Biersch Brewing Company
Style: Doppelbock
Palo Alto, California USA

12 oz. bottle from Trader Joe’s. Pours dark red to brown with a tanned, rocky, long lasting head and lovely carbonation. Aroma is not very appetizing – with piny hops and bready malt in the balance. Taste is similar plus alcohol. Body is medium, crisp and somewhat oily. Finish is long and earthy. Well, this is not Ayinger Celebrator.

Clear chesnut brown with a creamy tan head that leaves lots of lace. Aroma of toffee, nuts, caramel, alcohol and roasted malt. Taste is overly sweet with burnt malt, toffee, light chocolate. Body is a touch thin and sticky and finishes with a little burnt malt with moderate alcohol warming.

From a 12oz Bottle. Mostly transparent, cedar bark colored brown with a thin layer of creamy tan head. Malty aromas of Christmas fruitcake, figs, and plums. Very fruity, but all malt-derived. Clean. Medium bodied, light-moderate carbonation with a somewhat effervescent texture. Richly malty, but well attenuated and lacks any cloying residual sugars. A little bit too heavy on the dark malt flavors, although it certainly has the definitive melanoidin-rich base. Notes of charred prune, tobacco, and even a hint of pale chocolate. Certainly smack dab in the middle of the "toasty" domain and starting to head into the "roasty" territory. I’d like it better with a little bit more raisiny richness and a little less toast. Overall, a unique take on the style that executes clean malt flavors without an over-the-top gravity. A little bit less toast would enhance the drinkability.

Bottle. Pours grape colored reddish brown with a thin creamy light tan head that leaves some lacing. Aroma is rich, sweet and spicy, very malty. A bit cloying, bitter sweet. Full, lively carbonation. Wow, this did not seem like a doppel to me when I had it now that I see the classification. Lacked pretty much all of the defniitive doppelbock characteristics.

Interesting. A rich malty lager. Aroma is baked sweet bread. Appearance is a dark brown body with a thick off-white head. Flavor is brown sugar, toffee, and typical sweet malt profile. Has a very smooth finish, not bitter at all. A well crafted and medium bodied beer.

Translucent medium brown with a nice one-finger head, good retention, but no much lacing. Strong caramel and toffee malt aromas. Toasted malts are the predominant taste up front, followed quickly with sweet molasses and toffee that odminate the aftertaste. Medium carbonation and body and a cloying sweetness that lingers and detracts from the overall experience.

Bottle from Trader Joe’s. Dank malt nose, some toffee and caramel with a cloying hint at dark spice or brown sugar. Seems to pass through Sam-Adams-ville. Ruby-brown pour with a light, tanned head. Taste is unbelievably cloying. Seriously, it’s hard to believe a beer can cloy this much. I’m dumping 90% of this bottle and refusing to drink any more, labeling it as "an overly cloying, undrinkable mess", and going back to subtract the points I had awarded for aroma and appearance - no way this cloying, metallic, vegetal, grainy DMS bomb deserves a 0.9. An early favorite for "Worst Beer of 2009" - shame on you, Gordon Biersch!

Has mostly a caramel malty aroma with some hints of molasses. Pours a dark amber color with minimal biege head and too difficult to see the sediment and action. Creamy caramel malt taste with molasses, florals, and butter in the background. Medium/full bodied, creamy buttery and resinous feel, with lively and fizzy carbonation. An outstanding bargain at Trader Joes for a buck. I can enjoy this session of a Doppelbock all day especially knowing what I paid for this.