Dark Horse Perkulator Coffee Dopplebock

tap at the Dark Horse 4 Elf festival - It is hard to get past my prior experience that a coffee beer should be a stout or a porter, but this dark amber beer works. The aroma is heavy on the coffee with some rich malt lurking underneath. The coffee flavor is assertive without completely overwhelming the malty dopplebock goodness. It is full bodied, lightly carbonated, and rather interesting. Granted I have to say that I still would prefer a good coffee stout/porter.

12 oz bottle from KingpinIPA, thanks man. Pours a deep mahogany with a medium size frothy beige head. Aroma on this one is all coffe upfront with sweetness, honey and molasses, in the background. Flavor on this is similar to the aroma with the coffee stealing the show and then fruity sweetness coming in. This one is just a mess. Combining coffee with some things good. Combining coffee with a fruity sweet dopplebock not so good.

12oz bottle. Pours dark reddish copper with fizzy tan head. Aroma is strong with coffee, malt, caramel and touch of chocolate. Flavor is malty with coffee dominating palate with notes of caramel, chocolate and light alcohol. Light mouthfeel and light carbonation. I really do not care for coffee beers in general but this is better than what I expected it to be.

Bottle shared by emacgee. Thanks Ethan. Pours a deep ruby brown with a small ring of lace that fades quickly. Nose is big malts, coffee, alcohol, some earthy notes. Flavor has some hefty alcohol warmth up front with some coffee, hops, and sweet malt notes. Pretty thin mouth feel. Not the best I have had from this brewery.

Thanks JCB. Pours a ruby copper with a thin fizzy tan head. The nose has a nice smooth coffee aroma, light alcohol, malty, sweet, raisiny, caramel, develops a nice malty complexity with warmth. The flavor is sharp and spicy, prominent alcoholic warmth, some hop bitterness, sweet malty background, coffee flavor is a little more subdued than the aroma. Prominent alcoholic warmth on the mouthfeel.

Initially pours what looks like a black and tan; mahogany bottom and black top. Generally is a dark mahogany color with a medium mocha head that fades to a thin bubbly ring. Aroma is caramel and espresso, with maybe a hint of vanilla sweetness. The taste is not what I expected.....a bitter and dry coffee note up front, with some dark fruit and caramel malt sweetness. Up front it tastes like a coffee brew, but then fades into a doppelbock, which I guess is probably the intent. Taste is almost like Furthermore Oscura.

Poured from a 12oz bottle and served in a dimpled mug. This dopplebock poured a murky, ruby brown hue with a short-lived head of tan foam that settled into a lasting ring. A small amount of slippery lacing was left behind. The aroma had a very pronouced note of cold pressed coffee. A solid dose of caramel and dark fruit also made an appearance. The flavor contained a smooth coffee note (not bitter like alot of other coffee-infused beers), dark fruit skins, caramel, and a hint of baker’s chocolate. The mouthfeel was full-bodied and had light carbonation. Filling for sure, but yet quite drinkable. Very enjoyable. Nice to see the guys at Dark Horse give a lager a try.

Thanks to Russ for sending me home with one of these...pours a deep brown with a reddish tinge...thin beige head that goes away quickly. Aroma is a mix of bitter coffee and sweet malts with, well, something else in there, and it just is not working for me. As for the flavor, I will just say that I am usually one who likes contrasting flavors to keep things interesting, but the combination of the extremely strong sweet, caramel malts and the bitter, almost old tasting coffee was just, well, not real good. This beer is more sweet than bitter, and the sweetness is somewhat repelling.I am typically a fan of coffee beers, but this one has the flavor of day old coffee. Palate is thick and oily. I can only hope that Dark Horse gave this one a try, and figured that they might as well bottle it since they had it. Not one of their better offerings. On a side note, I hate rating without the use of the apostrophe...