van fles @Benzai’s Anti-carnaval Tasting; geel/gouden met witte kraag, aroma van sinaasappel, zoet, hop, stro, gras. Smaken zijn matig tot redelijk bitter, hoppig, gras, citrus, kruidig, zwakke tot matige body, maar niet zo bijzonder.

Bottle @ anti-carnaval tasting. Hazy orange with a small white head. Smells fruity, sweet. Tastes sweet, malty, herbs. Thin to medium body, soft carbo.

From a 50 cl bottle bought at Plan B in Rotterdam. Local Rotterdam Doppelbock brewed in collaboration with Gänstaller. Moussy, thick, frothy, pale greyish white, irregular, lightly lacing head over a lightly hazy, warm orangey amber beer. Aroma of old orange peel, wet cardboard, sweet paprika, green tomato, barbecued chicken, butterscotch candy, old ’jenever’, bread crust, fresh toast, pistachio nuts, dry autumn leaves, old dried out apple, iron, green olive, pumpkin flesh, rainwater, fried potato, cooked carrots, some onsetting ’rusty’ oxidation. Clean, sweetish onset with restrained fruity hints of sourish redcurrant and unripe peach combined with sweetish apricot and red apple, but all very subdued; softish carbo, smooth and supple, slick mouthfeel, not betraying its considerable alcohol potency. Slightly caramelly, cereally pale malt sweetish core with some bready softness as well as a mildly bittering toasted edge, evolving into a dryish finish in which the toasted bitterishness is accentuated by a considerably significant hop bitterness (especially for a helles Doppelbock), leafy, peppery and even a bit tonic water-like, combined with slightly wry, gin-like alcohol establishing a warming feeling in the throat; some lingering fruitiness, notably bready yeastiness (especially in the end) and juicy malt sweetness go down along with this alcohol effect. A tad too boozy perhaps, but within the limits of what I can accept from a near 8% ABV Doppelbock; distinguishes itself from the classics in the style (think Paulaner Salvator or Kulmbacher Eku 28 Kulminator) by its hop forward profile, cleverly connecting this old and very traditionally German beer style with international trends. Other than that, this is, in all, a boozy strong lager which is probably already past its prime - I’m sure it has been sharper and ’harder’, but likely a bit more exciting too when it was young. Oxidation does not become this one, honestly, but I had worse beers at this age, including German style Doppelbocks so I still enjoyed it, all things considered.

Bottle, 330 ml from Pivoteka. Courtesy of and shared with JFK10000. Pours orange, small off white head. Sweetish, malty, bit spicy, some bitterness in finish. Light to medium bodied.

Bottle at the December THT. Poured a hazy medium amber with a thin broken white head. The aroma is woody hop, light fruit,some malt. The flavour is moderate bitter with a dry malty light hop bitter palate. Medium bodied with average carbonation.

Bottle at THT. Slight hazy golden with bubble off white head. Quite flowery, bitter herbs, bubblegum, white bread, quite grassy, soft toffee. Medium sweet and bitter. Medium bodied.

Bottle shared at the November THT at deanso’s place. Hazy orange pour with a thin white head with poor retention. Notes of malt sugar, oranges, orange zest, caramel and citrus hops. Medium body, light carbonation and a bitter-sweet finish.

Sampled from bottle @ Benzai’s final THT although MrHangover thinks it’s something else. Lightly hazy yellow to light orange color, small white to off-white head. Smell and taste lightly malts, lightly bitter. Don’t get much more. Meh.

33cl bottle shared at Novembers Tht. Thin white head. Hazy blond pour. Nice bitterness.