Left Hand Smoked Goosinator Doppelbock

Brewed by Left Hand Brewing Co.
Style: Smoked
Longmont, Colorado USA

750mL bottle, courtesy of argo0. Thanks, Aaron! Pours a murky, amber-brown color; khaki-colored head with fine-bubbled lacing. Pleasant amounts of smoke, beef jerky, and dried fruits in the aroma; some toffee. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: solid smoky note with some chewy nougats, candy sugar, and smoked beef jerky; not over-the-top smoke, but integrated well with a chewy malt core; some pepper coming through as well. Medium, light smoke and sugar in the finish.

Provided by argo0. Hazy amber with a small beige head. Sweet smoky nose with caramel, toffee and dark fruits. The flavor is moderately sweet, moderately smoky with hickory, caramel, golden raisins, honey and light pine. Medium body is soft with light carbonation.

Bottle at home with Tom and Royce... THanks to REAKT for this ... hazy brown ... smokey woody malts ... meaty ... definitly woody ... decent enough definitly smoked ... but not my thing

Boittle huger massive thankjs to ang. Aroma is smoked bad boy, sweet hints of melon. Taste is similar, very smokey and sweet, unbalanced but annoying.

750ml bottle. Surprisingly, the aroma is extremely smoky. Lots of roasted pork, glazed warm fruit. Hazy dark amber pour with a lot of creamy head. Flavor is a bit too smoky for me; some molasses is present behind the smoky burn. A bit of a sweet side, too. Very big and filling. I wouldn’t drink it again, but it definitely deserves at least one go around.

Tap at the Happy Gnome. Dulled mahogany hued pour. Firmly spiced and smoked aroma of citrusy beechwood, allspice, anise, and a bit of juicy strawberry and black licorice on the back. A wheat like tang of bubblegum and clove presents itself carefully in the background, though with enough vibrancy to provide a crisp counterpunch; gives way to an earthy grass of hop and moss for a bit at the end. Flavors are similarly molded with the rich licorice, black cherry skins, brown sugar on oranges; lots of molasses and soy sauce in a great, earthy balance of sweet and salt; tangy brisket, burnt toffee and jerky. Smooth in the mouth, juicy, dark, and drying out with brown spice in abundance. This weaves a really pleasant and unique smoked character into a finely polished construct of restrained malt sweetness; a bit tepid altogether, but very good.

750 ml bottle shared with willblake. Pours a reddish/brown with a large foamy white head. Sweet aroma with lots of smoke which gets more intense as it warms. Full bodied, average carbonation and a slightly dry finsih. Flavor is similar to the aroma and lots of smoke is apparent but there is a slight sweetness that comes through from the malts as well. Once again Left Hand does it right.

Draught tulip at Sunset Grill on 11/17/07
Dark copper-tinted mahogany with some garnet streaks. Small, but modestly well-retained dark beige head leaves little lacing. Clear.
Soft, inviting smoke suggestions in the nose are comingled with sweet caramel and toffee malts while light medicinal/peppery phenols and juicy green (grassy/leafy), but lightly crisp hops (in light quantity) assert themselves on the finish to provide a well-balanced, American interpretation of a rauchbier. Hops continue to give an interesting edge to the beer, on the finish, but chocolate, vanilla and even light coffee appear through the middle. Some slight "hardness" for lack of a better descriptor, that I always associate with Left Hand. I don’t know if that’s pasteurization or extensive filtration, but it never seems overly fresh and yeasty. A touch of alcohol warmth emerges towards the end of the glass, after it’s had plenty of time to breath. The smoke stays well integrated with the malts, as well. No flaws.
A big shot of toffee and thoroughly rich woodsmoke (with definite meaty suggestions) develops in to a more balanced phenolic pepperiness, with some medicinal notes that ride on the carbonation and give the beer a crisp ending. Sweet, but not too much so, with juicy green hops on the finish that do not impart much bitterness (unlike the smoke jumper, which was just obnoxiously over-bittered). Malts are a bit hard, again, not soft and supple, though the sugars do soften things slightly (and begin to chip away at the crisp finish, replacing it with some syrupiness towards the end). Carbonation is moderate and somewhat loose at times. No alcohol in the flavor, no flaws. Caramel/toffee, woodsmoke and lightly juicy hops linger on in to the finish.