Spaten Optimator

Brewed by Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu (InBev)
Style: Doppelbock
Munich, Germany

Serve in Dimpled mug, Stein, Stem glass

UPDATED: FEB 26, 2010 Strong malty aroma. Prune, caramel, skunky. Dark dark brown color, mild hint of red/orange. Nice thick white head, forms quickly then disapates. Strong malty flavor. Prune, burnt caramel, green bottle skunk/bitterness. Medium full body, lingers. Unique and striking beer. Can take a bit of getting used to. Comes in brown and green bottles. The browns are cloying... the green just right.

Dark brown pour, thin tan head. Aroma of herbs, bread, and malts. The taste is initially a thick, roasty flavor, and subsides to a mildly hoppy finish.

Bottle. This is a beer I passed up on for so long and finally bought. Pours a hazy deep reddish amber body with a small khaki head. Aroma is cherry, raisins, nuts, caramel with vegetable background. Pretty good fruity, sweet malty flavor, on the verge of being too much. Full bodied, warming malty finish. Overall good beer that could sneak up you.

Sample poured from a bottle at Cincy Beerfest. Pours a somewhat cloudy brown-orange color with a small, creamy beige head. Aroma of caramel malts, nuts, sugar, cream, and roast. Flavor is also sweet and nutty, with notes of hops, brown sugar, and toast. Medium bodied, with gentle carbonation and none of the skunk/funk that shows up in other Spaten beers. Sweet and malty. Not bad but this isn’t my kind of thing.

nice aroma of honey n toffee , pours a deep amber with a decent off white head , tastes malty and rich and sweet without being cloying with a beautiful balance lightly chocolatey . this is one smooth and nutty beer with great drinkability .

UPDATED: JAN 26, 2010 Poured a dark ruby brown with an off white head that left no lacing. Aromas of roasted malt, caramel and chocolate. Very good flavors of roasted nuts, dark fruit and caramel. Creamy palate that finished slightly sweet. A solid beer from Spaten.

12 oz bottle. Aroma of a wet field of grain (I used to set sprinkler pipe in such fields when I was 12 or 13--that’s what this beer smells like). Pours brownish red with a medium head, great lacing. Diminishes too fast. Raisins come out in the flavor. Somewhat sour. Medium carbonation. Finishes grainy, sour. Despite my relatively high scores for every aspect of this beer, I can’t in good conscience give it any higher than a 13 for my overall impression. I just can’t see myself ever buying this (this bottle was given to me as a gift). It’s just not that good. Well-made, obviously, but just not my cup of tea. It seems like when I had it on tap at my local Oktoberfest celebration it was much better, though.

12 oz. bottle- Pours dark brown with little head and good lacing, aroma isn’t the best but not horrible. The flavor is smooth chocolate malt kind of like a porter only lighter, its very good and drinkable.