Dark Horse Perkulator Coffee Dopplebock

Brewed by Dark Horse Brewing Company
Style: Doppelbock
Marshall, Michigan USA

Date: 01/25/2008
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party

Appearance: clear dark ruby red, fine beige head, streaks of drippy lace,
Aroma: dark caramel malt aroma with a touch of sweetness, lots of roasted and coffee comes in to take over the initial sweetness,
Flavor: sweet dark caramel flavor balanced with a smokey coffee character, light earthyness, caramel sweetness fights back for dominance,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.4/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+/4

12oz Bottle. Heavy caramel and toffee musk. A dusting of espresso powder and cologne. Nuanced. Lightly sweet and sweeping through the browns. Pours a rather ruddy brown, with a soapy edge in tan. Flavor charges through with a big malt profile, lots of sugars and light fruit, then a flash of coffee in the pan and it doesn’t really come together all that well. Malt plays shallow and the coffee is a little washed out. Finishes on a bright hop edge. Not as stunning as it should have been.

Pours a very light looking coffee color. Aroma smells like coffee, too. Add some ice and I may have a iced perkulator coffee doppelbock. Or better yet blend it with some ice for a perkulator frappacino. I digress. Flavor profile is mostly coffee and body is very light. There was no head. Overall I liked this beer probably because I really like beer and coffee. If you fall into this category you’ll probably like this beer, too.

Pours dirty hazy brown w/ no head. Aroma has lots of coffee and almond with a hint of vanilla. Caramel is also quite strong in there. Palate is a bit thin. Taste starts kinda of nice with a lot of coffee and some nutty, chocolatey caramel, but unfortunately a touch of booze comes in and knocks those taste profiles down leaving them in a nasty mess throughout the finish. If this beer had some more body, it might stand up to the medley of flavors mixed in there, but as is, it’s a bit rough. Unfortunately, I think the lack of body will hurt it’s cellarability, which would otherwise show some potential, but we’ll see.

It pours a dark, almost opaque black with a small, creamy head. The flavor is really strong with the coffee coming through most prominently. The flavor is a little bit boring though with a bit of malty sweetness, but lacking with any bitter that you would expect from the coffee. Beyond that, the palate is quite lacking with a very thin mouthfeel that just doesn’t excite me.

On tap at Crunchy’s in East Lansing. Poured a bronze/brown color. Up front is caramel, a little chocolate, then fading into a light coffee finish. This came together better than I expected. Nice job.

I love the picture on this thing and the vibe at the brewery that matches it. This is very malty , thick caramel and some coffee overtones. Prolly my favorite beer from dark horse. The hops and alcohol come through right towards the end, but it is really blended well with the maltiness for a grand drinking experience.

12oz bottle, courtesy of a trade from a while ago?? Thanks! Pours a clear, bright orange-amber color; light tan head with patchy fine-bubbled lacing. Tons of coffee and caramel in the aroma, though the coffee dominates: decently roasted with chocolate notes; slight greenness. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: pleasant, chewy caramel and nougat beneath a strong roasted coffee presence; nice balance between the coffee and the creamy doppelbock character, though the coffee itself could be better: slightly green and closer to Folger’s than anything more intricate. Still, reasonably tasty stuff, and I don’t normally care all that much for coffee-infused beers. Medium finish showing caramel and dough; coffee coming through as roast.