Baron Rumpelstiltskin Rauch Doppelbock

Picked up a single 22-oz bomber at Bottleworks in Seattle, WA. Pours a dark cola brown colored brew with a thin beige head and quickly dissipates to an off-white ring. Aroma has some smoked caramel and roasted nuts immediately. Flavor is semi-sweet malt with hints of smoked caramel, chocolate and tart apple. Finish is semi sweet with some smoked caramel and dark fruit. Alcohol level is well hidden.

Pours a dark brown, with a decent fizzy head, like coco cola .. . light tar, and 5 day old bbq pit, light ... . Horrid tart kick! some light chewy smokiness, a bastard of a doppelbock, yikes! .. . what happened here Baron? i had your regular smoked and was in heaven, but this has to be infected! ..a new low for my personal favourite style, a black spot... does hide the abv well, and is drinkable but some metal notes with the tartness is not what was intended .. . i drank it all though .. . I had some frito lay Hot Peanuts with this beer, made this beer better! ..

Bomber shared by Enniskillen! Nose is chocolate, light smoke, and some roastiness. Hazy dark brown with a small beige head. Flavor has some tartness to go with the smokiness and chocolate, probably a mild infection; actally tates good but probably not an intended light sourness. I never had a lightly smoky sour. Smoke from the Oak was major infection! Would have been a 4.0 or so without the minor infection!

Dark brown, ruby with a thin off white head. Aroma is smokey, light chocolate, caramel, light alcohol. Taste is light smoke, taste is a bit sour, some chocolate- alcohol is well hidden however.

Appearance: Pours a dark brown, near black body with a very thin, beige-hued head. Smell: Nearly meaty nose of smoked grains with notes of chocolate, licorice, and wait... oh, here we go again, there’s some suspiciously tart, sour fruit wafts lurking within. Oh dear. Taste: An initially promising taste of bittersweet chocolate mingled with roast and smoke and hint of licorice quickly degrades into a presumably infectious flavor of tart, sour fruit with a thin vein of acidity. Touches of roast uncomfortably juxtaposed against further soured fruit tastes. Regrettably, it’s more of a doppelflop than a doppelbock. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: Showing early signs of an infection. Once again, Baron’s slipshod quality control issues are at play. A beer from Baron is like playing the slots at Vegas -- chances are you’re going to LOSE. In past years, it’s been one problematic beer after another, and, against my better judgement, I keep giving them a shot, hoping they’ll hit a grand slam home run. But no longer! I’ll give you have one last chance, Baron.

bottle shared by ibrew2or3: pours chocolate brown with a small tan head. aroma is very sweet, slightly smokey, good fruitness too, touch of roast. flavour is light not much smoke and gets sweet. finish is a little dry not to bad.

Date: March 29, 2009
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party
Appearance: dark brown with ruby edges, fine tan head
Aroma: sweet dark caramel aroma with lots of earthy peaty smoke
Flavor: sweet caramel malt flavor, plenty of balancing smoke, light tartness
Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 5/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 10/20
Rating: 2.8/5.0
Drinkability: 5/10
Score: *4

Pours a barely transparent dark mahogany with a thin ring of light tan head. Aroma of sweet toasty dark caramel and nice smoky character. Body starts airy and thin with some mild sweetness but a healthy dose of unexpected tartness before a drier semi-tart finish. Seems like it would make for a real authentic and nice smoked beer if it wasn’t for the likely infected sourness.