Doppelbock Blind Tasting

Reads 1618 • Replies 15 • Started Tuesday, December 16, 2014 1:18:06 AM CT

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beastiefan2k
beers 5003 º places 292 º 01:18 Tue 12/16/2014

Another one. I’ll post results in a little bit. But anyone want to take some guesses:

1. Primátor Double 24°
2. Ayinger Celebrator
3. Silver City Winter Bock (listed as a Dunkler on here)
4. Hacker-Pschorr Animator
5. Paulaner Salvator

It was an interesting tasting, we had more people and more diverse group of blind raters. Also, most of the group admitted to not having a lot of experience with doppelbocks. I tried to include a range of strong dark lagers and they were all [relatively] fresh. Seven raters that were completely blind and I knew the beers but not the order.

 
Gary
beers 2114 º places 4 º 01:25 Tue 12/16/2014

they all taste the same .

 
barncatmatt
beers 2287 º places 71 º 07:17 Tue 12/16/2014

2
4
1
5
3

 
beastiefan2k
beers 5003 º places 292 º 13:04 Tue 12/16/2014

no love for doppelbocks?

 
bartlebier
beers 4526 º places 177 º 13:12 Tue 12/16/2014

Celebrator sticks out by quality and dryness and had some surplus ImpStout liquorice notes usually absent in the style. Animator and Salvator are both typical examples of the Doppelmalt=doppelsugar kind imho. Haven’t had the others.

 
b3shine
beers 12115 º places 371 º 13:39 Tue 12/16/2014

Originally posted by matt7215
2
4
1
5
3

 
RW80
beers 3114 º places 33 º 13:53 Tue 12/16/2014

2,4,5,1,3. is what I am guessing having only had 2 out of 5.The Ayinger is quite impressive for what it is, specially after you think it is gimmicky because of the fact of the plastic bock.

 
Ernest
beers 9435 º places 229 º 14:00 Tue 12/16/2014

Originally posted by beastiefan2k
no love for doppelbocks?

I like them, but it’s sooooooo hard to find a truly good one. I dunno anything about Silver City, but you must admit the other 4 are from pretty generic large-ish breweries...did any of them score above 3.2? I mean, I wish I still loved Celebrator like I did 15 years ago, but it’s a 2.8 beer for me anymore (regardless of whether I think of it as a Dunkel, Dunkler Bock, or Doppelbock). Paulaner has always been pretty simple/plain across the board. Never had a Primator score above 3.0 either.

But blind ratings are still always fun...I sometimes feel like I’m trying to guess some "correct" answer, and my credibility is on the line. Exciting.

I suppose I’d guess the Hacker to be at the top and the Ayinger at the bottom (not counting Silver City, which I couldn’t even hazard a guess about).

 
DuffMan
beers 10981 º places 349 º 14:01 Tue 12/16/2014

Haven’t had Silver City, but here are my ratings for the others:
Celebrator 4.3
Salvator 4.0
Animator 3.6
Primator 1.6

I really like this style (as evidenced by my consistency in rating higher than average for nearly everything I’ve tried in this category), and other highly rated favourites of mine include:
Weltenburger Kloster Asam Bock 4.1
Hofstettner Granitbock 4.1
Ettaler Curator Doppelbock 4.0
Bells Consecrator Doppelbock 4.0
Hoppin Frog Karminator 4.0
Weihenstephaner Korbinian 3.9*

*the very first beer I ever rated on Ratebeer!!

 
beastiefan2k
beers 5003 º places 292 º 15:13 Tue 12/16/2014

This was weird numbers wise. Here are the standardized scores (controlling for each rater’s average). Meaning the closer you are the 0 the closer the scores are average.

2. Ayinger Celebrator (0.58)
5. Paulaner Salvator (0.17)
4. Hacker-Pschorr Animator (-0.03)
3. Silver City Winter Bock (-0.32)
1. Primátor Double 24° (-0.40)

Using median scores provides the same order.

Basically the Ayinger scored best and the other 2 German doppelbocks were average. Silver City and Primator scored below average.

Originally posted by Ernest
did any of them score above 3.2?

The raw scores were all pretty depressed. Aside from Celebrator, the other 4 beers average from 3.26 - 3.36 (this is why standardized scores are much more telling).

FWIW, the highest rating given out for a beer was Silver City at a 4.5. The lowest was for Primator at 2.7.

Originally posted by Ernest
But blind ratings are still always fun...I sometimes feel like I’m trying to guess some "correct" answer, and my credibility is on the line. Exciting.

knowing the 5 beers obviously made it easier for me and I was able to identify the Celebrator, Salvator, and Silver City. I had never tried the Primator or the Animator and had no basis to guess. I had never tried the Silver City but to me it had a recognizable American hop character not found in the other beers.

Originally posted by adnielsen
2
5
3
4
1

you were the closest

 
beastiefan2k
beers 5003 º places 292 º 15:22 Tue 12/16/2014

Originally posted by bartlebier
Celebrator sticks out by quality and dryness and had some surplus ImpStout liquorice notes usually absent in the style. Animator and Salvator are both typical examples of the Doppelmalt=doppelsugar kind imho. Haven’t had the others.

I found this to be true in my experience.

Originally posted by Ernest
I wish I still loved Celebrator like I did 15 years ago, but it’s a 2.8 beer for me anymore (regardless of whether I think of it as a Dunkel, Dunkler Bock, or Doppelbock). Paulaner has always been pretty simple/plain across the board.

Obviously, not everyone on this site has to agree. I still apparently like Celebrator, as corroborated by the blind rating. The blind rating for Celebrator and Salvator were right in line with my [old] ratings. Furthermore, I can’t seem to come across a German doppelbock that is better. So, am I not getting the better doppelbocks or am I just ignorant of what an exemplary doppel should be like (seeing that no one really thinks Animator or Salvator are that either) to better attenuate my scores.