Doppelbock, American-style

Since I'm leading a tasting on Doppelbocks and Eisbocks tomorrow night, I'm using it as an excuse to drink--and review--some beers and I figured I'd post my notes here. You can get the full back story, along with my review of Celebrator Doppelbock, in this post from last week. But for now, let's get to the next beer!

Tonight I'm enjoying a Bell's Consecrator Doppelbock. Americans tend to do things bigger, and Doppelbock is no exception. At 8% ABV this one's actually kind of tame by U.S. standards, though that's bigger than just about any German Doppelbock you can find here in the States.

It pours a deep copper-red hue, brilliantly clear, with a creamy tan head that dissipates quicker than I would expect.

The aroma of the Consecrator is fairly typical of a Doppelbock: brown sugar sweetness with just a hint of DMS (cooked veggies). I'm also picking up a very slight note of of grassy noble hops.

Taking a sip you get pretty much all malt. It's a complex maltiness, with that characteristic Munich malt flavor (bready sweet as opposed to sugary sweet). You've got hints of honey and molasses as well, and just a little nutty toastiness. There's no real hop flavor, though you get a nice bitterness in the end that keeps the beer from being cloying. For 8% ABV, the alcohol is very well masked.

I've got to be honest, I picked this one up so I could highlight American-style Bocks, which in two words are big and boozy. However, despite the elevated ABV this one is actually pretty true to style. It's not as balanced as the Celebrator, nor does it have the chocolatey notes of Weihenstephaner Korbinian, but it's got a nice malty depth to it. Kudos to Bell's for this one!