Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock

Brewed by Brauerei Aying
Style: Doppelbock
Aying, Germany

Finally I get the chance to taste this. Saw it so many times in the U.S. but never bought it. Bottle @ thewolf tasting. Pours clear dark brown with a good beige head though rather short lived. Aroma of sweet dark bread, softly roasted malt and caramel. Stickish mouthfeel. The flavour is quite sweet with roasted caramel, roasted malt, dark bread, alcohol and grains. Sweet roasty finish. Too sweet.

Tap at Ayinger bräuhaus München. Almost black colour with a big baige head. Sweet chocolat roasted aroma and a sweet light roasted light alcoholic taste. Medium to full body and a sweet dry finish.

Bottle. Roast, dark chocolate, cream and a hint of laurel in the rich aroma. Massive, full bodied beer. Raisin, chocolate, roast and cream in the malty flavor. The malty sweetness is well balanced by other flavors. Velvety texture, fairly long aftertaste. This is indeed a great, complex doppelbock.

A Mes rate: Bottle at HogTownHarry Fest ’08
Wow. 90% crap all night and then this little beauty comes out. Not sure how this one has evaded me for so long but I’m very pleased to have finally got some. Very very dark brown with a lovely red hue and a good off white head. Aroma is easily some of the best German malt I have smelled. Gorgeous smoky and bready stuff with a fantastic earthy note. It’s rare I can sit sniffing for a while at a German beer but this REALLY works for me. Flavour... Love. Love. Love. Earthy, smoky, sufunkingpoib malt and an outstanding mouthfeel. Perfectly balanced, smooth and drinkable. You know the style, you have had many of these before but it is just perfectly done. The best bottled German beer I have had by some margin.

Bottle @ Tasting at my place.
Bought through Gul&Gratis.
Pours a beautiful clear, deep red-brown with a medium beige head. Aroma is rye bread, light caramel. Lots of malty sweetness. Sticky mouthfeel. Flavour is sweet, but still rather dry. Some roasted oakiness, but generally way too sweet.

Another beer that I used to drink in mass when I was a teenager. Sitting here rating it brings backs the memories (or should I say lack of memories!). What a head! 90% of the glass poured a tan head. Color is a darker reddish brown. Malty sweet aroma and tastes. Caramel and dark fruits. Smooth and easy to drink.

In a Fin Du Monde tulip. It’s very dark brown with a huge frothy tan head, slowly, but steadily diminishing though. Aroma grabs your nostrils and remind them what malt is all about, eminently complex and appealing with its chocolate (black and white, why not?), vanilla, cigar, and numerous fruits notes. Now that’s malty. This beer is as complex as any other beer. Period. Rich roasty black chocolate, some caramel, lots of plum esters, blue grapes, cherries, pecans, coffee, yum yum, butter notes as well as robust earthiness every couple of sips (sometimes, the malt reminded me of Rogue Hazelnut Brown nectar). The palate is as good as it gets, thick, full, round, velvety. Long aftertaste once it warmed a bit that varies from a sip to the other, once it will be the dark chocolate, the other time it will be the roastiness and next time you’ll remember those juicy plums, subtly bitter at times. In my eyes, it’s fully worthy of these high ratings. That’s precisely the type of beers I adore, a big malty phenomenon with a body to back it up. Only critic I’d adress it is the palate fatigue (or I just want the moment to last forever) I get after just one bottle, maybe the sweetness is too much although I never found it stickingly cloying, I wouldn’t have two in a row, hell I’d never deserve two i a row! Glad I’ve got another one of this rare treat. Thanks to both Erics!

Delightful Dopplebock with a deep brown color and creamy head. It has a complex flavor with a hint on chocolate.