Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock

Brewed by Brauerei Aying
Style: Doppelbock
Aying, Germany

As readily available as it is and I’m finally getting around to it??? The color of U-Bet Chocolate Syrup with a fluffy caramel colored head. Very nearly opaque. Aroma of warm chocolate sauce that in it of itself is filling (much in the same way as Storm King Imperial Stout). Sweet and vinuous on the tongue with no noticeable hop feel (probably due to the intense maltiness). Deep roasted chocolate flavor with a bevvy of prunes and dates as well.

Delicious. Dark dark brown with a hint of red in the color. Head is a very smooth creamy white. Aroma is huge. Smells like smoked and salted meat . Sweet and Complex flavor. Smokey, huge malt, some sourness, some saltyness. Rich and super smooth. with no lasting after taste. A little sweetness. Amazingly easy to drink and immensely enjoyable. This is world class.

Very good beer but a little thicker than i expected.

Note 3/29/02: Just had this back-to-back with Westy 12. My only question: why pay $10 a bottle for that when you can have this for $15 a 6-pack? Splurging for top-notch status-beer is great -- in moderation. Wooo!!

Note added 3/22/02: From past experience, you want to drink this beer relatively fresh! After a few weeks, I’ve had bottles turn stale and/or sour on me. Otherwise, it’s a marvelous beer.

(Note: my favorite style is doppelbock.) Re-rate, 1/26/02: I’ve always liked the <a href=’http://www.ratebeer.com/ShowBeer.asp?BeerID= Kloster Asam-Bock the best among doppelbocks and for whatever reason some recent bottles had soured me to this one. But now, after a just re-trying this from fresher bottles, it quickly regained its status for me relative to the Asam-Bock. Now it is sometimes hard to say which I would prefer. But it’s no wonder this one remains so popular among the raters here; it’s close to pure enjoyment by all criteria. One disadvantage relative to the Asam-Bock is the price of nearly $3 for a 11 oz. bottle, compared to just over $2 for a 16.9 oz. bottle of the Asam-Bock. But this is just a superb beer.

Bottle. Ahhhhh..... I had forgotten just how good this is. This is simply quintessential. There are other good doppelbocks, but nothing compares to this one. Body is a deep chestnut with glints of ruby; clear. The head is packed with mostly very small bubbles; it thins out considerably as it warms, but what remains floats on top all the way down. The malts in this just come rolling out of the glass; how do they pack so much in...? This is so rich that the flavors and mouthfeel have more in common with an imperial stout than with your run-of-the-mill doppelbock. Yum. Loads of fruit (plums and raisins), syrup and nuts in the nose. And yet, its sweetness doesn’t overpower. I’m making a point to try this on draft to see what, if anything, changes. But it’s hard to imagine it being much better than this...

This has a pleasing earthy tone... It has avery natural aroma bleeding of coffee and almond? I get a hint of almond out of this one... The thick frothy head was also pleasant and reminded me of a dark creamy ale. This is a near perfcect brew.

an excellent doppelbock, great flavoring along with good appearance. Nice malt taste that isn’t to overpowering

On the 7th day the Lord said, ’Let there be Celebrator Doppelbock.’ and it was good. Dark appearance with a hint of ruby coloring, pours a big rich head. Malty fruity aroma that is irresistibly enticing. Silky smooth with chocolate overtones and hints of fruit. Smooth finish of hoppieness and chocolaty malt. Currently my favorite beer in the world. Rerate: I loved it the first time I had it, and this time its even better.