Atwater Voodoo Vator Doppelbock

Brewed by Atwater Block Brewery
Style: Doppelbock
Detroit, Michigan USA

12oz. Bottle: Aroma of soy sauce, acid, roasted malts, and some sour mix. Poured brown with a hint of ruby in color and large, dense, tan head that largely diminished but lasted throughout. Cloudy. Full of large and small particles throughout. Flavor is light to medium sweet. Tastes of roasted malts, chocolate, soy sauce, sugar, and light piney hops. Light to medium body. Thin, watery texture. Soft carbonation. Sweet, chocolate finish. 9.5%ABV is well hidden. Not really a Doppelbock.

Malty. Poured ok from the tap. Atwater is an underachiever for a brewery in the heart of the city that bottles....but never gets beyond the basics.

A deep red, almost amber color with a thick, hoppy aroma with strong notes of molasses, ginger, and herbs. Flavor is surprisingly tart with little of the syrupy undertones typically associated with doppelbocks. Somewhat reminiscent of walnuts, although lacking the heavy tannins; also has a pleasing finish like that of pear and apricot. Would be a nice pair to a little firmer cheese, maybe Carr Valley’s aged Cardona or Vacherin Freibougeois.

12oz bottle courtesy of Gurst. Pours a deep brown with a lacy tan head. Aroma is dominated by roasted malt, with some sweeter hints of vanilla, molasses, and coffee. Taste is sweet and fairly full, with initial flavors of dark fruit, molasses, and caramel slowly turning to a drier finish of roasted malt and coffee. I don’t get the metallic twinge that others seem to be. Instead, the flavor reminds me most of a vintage ale -- sweet, multi-faceted, and pleasantly strong.

This bock poured a deep black colour with a nice, big, frothy, tan colour head. To the nose there are scents of molassass, brown sugar and more molassass. First taste was thick and dense with flavours of dark malt, corn sugar and molassass. Oily mouthfeel with a very sweet finish. And go figure a molassass palate...

My Bottom Line:
Toasted and caramel malts conjure up raisins, as diplomatic herbal hops and nascent metallic notes conclude this able-bodied but handicapped Doppelbock.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A sheet of foam laces atop the beautifully translucid mahogany.
-If it weren’t for that nagging metal impression in the finish, this would be a very classy sipper. However, this rusty back is still in its infancy, so it doesn’t bother the flavor profile too much.
-Vanilla accompanies the caramel and raisins.
-Some roastiness also helps to dry out the levelled sweetness.
-Carbonation is comfortable and works well with the well-rounded body.
-This is not an übersweet Doppelbock like Celebrator or Salvator.

Bottle.

Dark brown with four finger tan head that dissipated to nothing within minutes. Aroma is strange, sour or possibly rancid. Maybe I got a bad one. The flavor was dominated by iron, or some other metallic flavor. Tasted as if someone had the barrel of a gun in my mouth. It was appropriate, though, because that’s what it will take for me to try another one of these.

Filtered dark brown brew with average size foamy head. A bit of earthy mohagany aroma. Flavor is bitter walnuts with a bit of sour honey.