Monteiths Doppelbock Winter Ale

Brewed by Monteiths Brewing Company
Style: Doppelbock
Greymouth, New Zealand

330ml bottle (expiry 3/2010). Pours dark brown with a reddish tinge and a medium coffee-brown head. Rich malty aromas of burnt brown sugar, dark chocolate, toffee and faint hops. Palate is medium bodied with a smooth sticky mouthfeel and roasted bitter malt flavours dominating. There is a trace of smoke in the finish. Rather lacks the "Christmas cake" richness of the best Doppelbocks but still pretty good.

Bottle - Dark reddish brown with beige head. Medium carb and body. Sweet, caramel malts, with a spicy chocolaty flavour. Mildly bitter finish. Very nice.

Draft at the Blue Duck in Milford Sound. Pours a dark red-brown with a light tan head. Sweet aroma and flavor of caramel, brown sugar, fruit, toast, and roasted malt. Light body and sweet, thin, sticky mouthfeel, but also watery and highly carbonated for an odd lack of balance all-around.

Bottle bought in Perth by my sister. The color of beer was dark brown, much like Coca Cola. Fluffy white foam. The aroma contains something sweet, such as cola. Some coffee was there also. Not a huge aroma. A lot of sweet malt taste like caramel, coffee and dark chocolate. The ending offered a mild bitterness. Liquid was a bit thin, still a rather nice beer.

Copper pour with a off-white persistent head. Lots of sweet malt on the nose with some hints of oats. If it wasn’t so faint it’d be quite good. Some chocolate and slight hops. More sweet dark malt upon tasting, with caramel and treacle. Not much else though. Too much carbonation and slightly watery.

330ml bottle. Aromas that initially remind me of Christmas cake - dark fruit, and almond/marzipan icing, which then gives way to malt and dark chocolate. Very dark brown with rich ruby hue, thin tan creamy mostly lasting head with very good lacing. Nice malty chocolate flavour. Thinner mouth-feel than I expected but smooth enough palate. Nice beer to sit by the fire and enjoy but not special enough to want more of.

Bottle - pours black with a creamy tan head. Chocolate malt and caramel aromas. Chocolate malt flavours with a nice dry roast malt finish, which is quite warming. Nicely full bodied, great beer!

Bottle. Pours dark brown with a little off-white head. For a doppelbock this is pretty tame. Attractive nose has lots of chocolate but the palate is a bit thin and lifeless. Flavour has coffee, malt and chocolate but not too much sweetness. Not a bad beer, just not that exciting.