Dark Horse Perkulator Coffee Dopplebock

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

Tea colored pour with a 1 finger off-white head that fades quickly to a thin layer. Roasty chocolate and coffee aroma with notes of bread, toffee, a hint of dark fruit and some spices. Coffee dominates the flavor with a hint of dark fruits, spice, smoke, bread and a little nuttiness. Medium-thin body with soft carbonation.

Dark brown pour, significant beige head, moderate lace. Aroma, is earthy, chalky dark coffee, balanced by malts. Flavor starts off much the same: the malt balances the darker coffee elements, until the bright coffee emerges, floral, citric, aromatic, a really good iced espresso. This is a really well balanced beer. Hard to distinguish the coffee from the dopple. Wish I had another.

Clear brown color. Thin body. Coffee aroma and taste is upfront, but over-powers the malt and hops.

Pours brown in color with a nice quarter inch head that recedes quickly to nothing. Not a whole lot going on in the nose, barely detectable slight coffee.
This is a very interesting combination. Decent doppelbock with just a slight amount of coffee. I’m liking it. Decent mouthfeel.

12 oz. into Duvel tulip. I couldn’t not buy this when I saw it in the store. I’m always up for new flavors in beer, and I’ve never seen a coffee doppelbock. Deep shining ruby in the glass with creamy tan head; looks like a Fuller’s vintage. Used coffee ground aroma over powdery cracker malts. Some nice arching foam lace and relatively deep and slow racing. Mmmm, tasty; the crackery and nicely sweet malts provide a great floor for the light roasty coffee to play on top as just more than an accent. The combination has a vaguely milk chocolate flavor as well, probably just an unintended effect of the roast mixing with the sweetness (but a nice integrator). I was afraid the coffee would stick out like a thin sore thumb, but it doesn’t -- it melds very well with the overall flavor profile. Just a bit too powerful in the alcohol department to be mistaken for a session beer, but the softness of the flavor makes this seem very quaffable. Despite medium body, this is light on the palate. I like it.

Bottle: The nose showed off the coffee along with a mineral edge and overall was not as expressive as I was expecting. The palate was carbonated and refreshing showing off the flavors from the nose. In my opinion, this is a step down from the stout series from Dark Horse.

Bottle: Courtesy of major0429...pours a cloudy amber with no head. This was very surprising...the coffee seems to hit right off the bat, some notes of caramel malt and a bit of brown sugar noted as well. Very coffee dominant flavor with dark malts, toffee and the brown sugar coming through nicely.

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.