JosephsBrau Winterfest

Brewed by Gordon Biersch Brewing Company
Style: Doppelbock
Palo Alto, California USA

Marzipan sweetness and grape-like esters are marred by cabbagey DMS. A mild hint of smoke as it warms does little to redeem. Beautiful colour to the clear ruby body but it is topped with an anemic white head that recedes to the most tenuous of partial covers with only the slightest trace of lacing. Short-lived flavour has less cabbage than the aroma but is sugary sweet with notes of raisin and grape. Although the initial flavour passes quickly, the moderate finishing bitterness lingers into the aftertaste. Somewhat watery in character especially after initially stong pointy carbonation dissipates to nil. Bottle sampled with MartinT, muzzlehatch and Rastacouere.

Bottle and served in a Hofbrau glass: Pours a deep rusty brown hue with a small fading head and some lace. The aroma is pumpernickel bread, caramel, toffee, hazelnut, some musty yeast esters, and a hint of prune.

The taste starts sweet and pretty much stays the course with little depth or anything else of interest. A touch of nutty character and some acidic twang but little too late. The feel is bland and a bit watery, a little metallic on the finish.

A forgettable doppel, there is much better out there, quaffable at best.

Not good. It has a kind of funky hazelnut / balsamic vinegar thing going on. I have yet to have a good beer from Trader Joes, and this one continues the string of mediocrity.

Doughy sweet nose, dark brown color, fluffy beige head. Syrupy sweet base, toffee, nuts. Light spice end. Thick-ish body. To sweet really, but overall successful.

Pours very dark amber with off white head that goes away very quickly. Aroma is sweet stale malt - quite musty. Taste is roasted malt with vinegar, sour and slight hazelnut. Some dark fruit flavors come into the picture later but they have a very artifical flavor. Mouthfeel is medium bodied and very slick. Not a very good example of the style, adequate at best.

12 oz bottle consumed in the generous company of tiggmtl, MartinT and Rastacouere. Dark reddish-brown, fairly clear, with a thin receding dark head....uggh, vegetal/DMS nose is unpleasantly sour, milky and spoiled.....the body is equally dissapointing, sugary and grapy, dull with little caramel, again with the vegetal character and sour-milk/yogurt touches....thick and cloying and painful to drink. Nobody else at the tasting was crazy about this, but it just hit me in all the wrong places, near-trainwreck.

Any first impressions?
-A veil of head hangs onto the bright terracotta.
-The portentous pils malt vegetal character is overdone in the aroma.
-Fruity caramel and earthy pils malt friendliness conjure up pleasant moments.
-The prickly carbonation is rather quiet within the maltiness.

What if you dig deeper?
-Watery passages disappoint.
-Grassy hops appear in the last half, accompanied by hay.
-Alcohol is a no show.
-A decent doppelbock, but never near the top tiers.

Bottle; no date.

Small frothy head. Deep red color, band aid grain nose. Nice caramel toffee and nuts taste - medium intense. Sweet but not overly sweet. Thanks a lot to Saarlander!!!