Bottled. I finally got back to my beer after a few days of gastritis (caused, no doubt, by the pitcher of swill from my previous rating). And found this beer, from my trade with DocLock, to be a nice mellow transition back to real beers. Pours a big country cream head over a pretty amber body; the head turns rocky as it starts to fade. The hops are clearly of an American IPA mode, piney more than citrusey. The bitterness is pleasing more than bitter for its own sake, and matches up well with a smooth caramel malt. Kudos.

Ommegang fest. Described as a double bock with belgian yeast. Hazy brown, with very little aroma (too cold). Rather sweet chemical cherry lollipop tatse. Body is more on the heavy side. soso.

Bottled, first beer from my shipment from DocLock! This may not be the right time to rate this, after my writing down my impressions of St. Pauli Girl. But here goes. Pours very light straw color, with a nice foamy head. Chewy, grainy malt taste gives this much more oomph than any major beer in this style. I could not find the expected Saaz hop profile this needs, though. There are some ticklish hops down the back of my throat, but just not quite what I’d have thought to find.

Bottled, thanks marbles! Copper colour. Bready malt aroma. Sweet, rich and full bodied, all emphasize is on the malt. The hop rate seems fairly low, and there is some butterscotch. A really good doppelbock!

Thanks to DrunkAsASkunk for the sample!! This pours a medium amber with a diminuative off white head. The aroma is bubblegum and cola. The cola comes back as the aftertaste of this fruit and cinnamon tasting beer. This might be one of those beers to put away for a while just for fun to see what it might do. In any case it’s not all the way there yet.

This did not taste like a doppelbock in the sense of Ayinger celebrator. It had actually non of the same characteristics. This is was light brown with light head. It was ok but not what i would expect from a doppelbock. 6/3/6/3/13.

Re-rate: almost 3 years later I will stick by my first rating even if its a bit under-descriptive. Aroma has lagered fruitiness, not a good thing, and a mix of wet bark and cardboard. Taste is thin and badly lagered because there is a bad residual sweetness left over. Too thin and awkwardly sweet. Not a good doppelbock and one I will probably never revisit again (3 years and nothing has changed). As I drink this the unbalanced sweetness gets more and annoying. Ugh, sweet and vegetable-like. 6/3/6/3/12

I am just not much of a brown ale fan. +++Sampled from a 12 oz brown bottle this beer pours a nice mahogany color with a small tan head. The aroma is a strong and pleasant scent of fruit and nut. The flavor is strongly of hazelnut with a moderate amount of smokyness. The smoke lingers on the aftertaste and was the factor that ended up turning me off to this beer. The draft version is much sweeter and has no smoke presence, but the nut is greatly reduced as well.

2003 Bottle. Thank you Jeff (jeffin7). Great pour, golden brown, with some dark honey colors, lightly hazy but mostly filtered. Good enough beige head. Smells of cherries, meaty and somewhat prune like. Yeasty, and a deep caramel sugar tone as well. Flavor starts out with a belgian kick, like they threw some belgian style yeast in. Has a hint of cherries but not dominant. Body is medium, lightly fizzy, but mostly soft. Sweet on the finish, sugary, lightly yeasty. Very unique to say the least. I have two more bottles and I think, based on the slighty syrupy texture, it should age well. Excited for the rerate.

2003 bottle and 2005 bottle sampled side-by-side blindly November 2005. The 2003 was easy to pick out, the cherries having subsided somewhat, while there was a hint of oxidation, yet the flavors overall, were better homogenized. The 2005 seemed rather syrupy, tart on the end, and too carbonated at this point. Both still showed poor head retention, though the 2005 was better, obviously. Neither showed the alcohol. Still just a bit too meaty/bready for me.