Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock

Brewed by Brauerei Aying
Style: Doppelbock
Aying, Germany

Sample poured from a bottle at the Winking Lizard Tavern (Crosswoods) in Columbus, Ohio on 1/23/2007... I remember this being very good, but I really need to get a bottle to enjoy by myself so that I can really enjoy and appreciate this world class beer...

Poured a dark brown, reddish hints; medium to large light brown head. Aroma was malty, sweet, caramel, and fruit. Smooth flavor with caramel malt, nuttiness, dark fruit; a mild smokiness. A little hop presence. (Rerated to 3.9)

This is great. The best doppelbock. Very creamy and sweet. Not overwhelming. It is like floating candy. Fantastic. Much more complex than Andechser Doppelbock. Very malty amd round. Incredible, fantastic, Exceptional!! I’m dying to get get more. Why is this so damn expensive in Copenhagen?? Damn!!

Tap on 6/13/02 (10 4 9 4 18): Very smooth, rich, and creamy. Great balance with a subtle roasted flavor but also sweet with some hints of apple. A great beer! - Bottle on 7/6/02: A finely laced head. A lot more spritzy and carbonated than the tap. It almost bites the tongue. Tasted chestnut, chocolate, and toffee. I was not as impressed with the bottle as I was with the tap, but this is still world class. Bottle 6/8/07 (8 3 7 4 17) A dark brown color with a brown head. Sweet molasses, wood and nuts with dark fruit and apple in the aroma. Smooth and chocolaty with a fruit finish.

A color as black as night, and a toasty tan head. Strong and seductive aromatics: sweet and candyish, with notes of toffee, anise, and cocoa, and a slightly burnt character that perhaps derives from the higher alcohol. Taste is huge with malt, highly warming (note the ABV), full, rich, and delicious. A perfect aperitif beer. Three things ring above all else: malt, coffee, and caramel. Solid, bold, and loaded with coffeeish flavor. One of the world’s greatest brews.

Been years since I had this. I’m just not a bock fan, but given this beer’s exalted status on this site, I figured it was worth another look. Dark brown, nice head, an attractive beer. Aroma smelled like a freshly opened can of malt extract before dumping it in the brew pot. Flavor matches. Sweet, a bit smokey, but really just tastes like homebrew wert. Maybe that is why it is so popular. Maybe that’s why I still don’t like this beer. RERATE: 10/14/07 as part of BJCP training session. No change in score or notes at all, I still just don’t like this beer. Everybody else in the training group was busy erecting alters to the brewers while I sat cringing. I don’t think I’m ever going to dig this one, just not to my tastes.

Pours a dark mahogany color with a mild tan head. There is extremely mild lacing--barely noticeable. Aroma is mildy banana--sort of like a Heifeweizen. Taste is very mild with a hoppy/bitter aftertaste that hits you a few seconds after you swallow. This is a very smooth beer, but the taste is rather mild and not very complex--maybe I was expecting way too much out of this beer? It’s really good, but I’m not so sure if it deserves such high marks. The palate is rather carbonated with a moderate heavy texture. A very good beer, but I think it may be a tad overrrated.------� aroma is still about the same, but I do detect a bit more roastiness. The appearance will be increased a point to 5/5 because this is gorgeous. The flavor of this is very nice. Slightly sweet to start turning very malty, caramelly, roasted, and slightly chocolatey. This is extremely smooth and doppelbock everyone should try to emulate. I increased the overall to 17 from 16.

Dark, like the darkest amber but not quite brown. Handsome however slightly thin head. Beautiful aroma is where this bock really starts to shine...roasted malt and subtle hops, caramel, butter, alcohol. Layered, but smoothly transitioned complexities of malt and hops. Fruit and smoke on finish, like BBQ bananas. If this was less pricey it would be ultimate everyday beer.