Livery Cask Aged Hoppelbock

Brewed by The Livery
Style: Doppelbock
Benton Harbor, Michigan USA

Draft @ the Brewery. Had this one later on so it didn’t wow me, but still a good brew. Hazy amber coloring with a medium head. Aroma is rather hoppy to go along with typical bock smells. Flavor is rather heavily hopped - mostly citrus, which plays off the heavier malts well. Unique and tasty - hoping to try this one again.

Pours copper, with almost no head. Aroma is hops and caramel. Flavor is hops, caramel, and a bit of fruit. Low carbonation hurts the palate. interesting, but not a standout.

GTMW 2007. Brewery description in the festival program reads as follows: Copper colored Czech-style Doppelbock dry hopped twice with Saaz and aged for 4 months in a second use brany cask. 34 IBU, 8%. Poured a hazy orange color. Head was soapy and off white. Aroma was of buttery caramel, noble hops, and wood. Smooth mouth feel with carbonation on the low end of the spectrum. Very leafy tasting with some crisp green veggies as well. There was also vanilla and subdued malty caramel accented by mild hop bitterness at then end. Pretty good.

Draught samples at ABF on 6/16/07
A heller bock malt profile, with czech pils hopping and dry-hopping, it actually smelled somewhat on par with a czech pils, though the hopping rate is quite a good deal higher than a traditional pils, not surprisingly. Incredibly herbal, leafy, spicy hops are soaked in honey and sweet cookie dough-like malts, as an odd cotton candy and bubble gum-meets-pineapple note emerges. Wow, that’s certainly unique. Not very bock-like, with, perhaps, only a touch of yeast dryness on the finish. Sweet and spicy, with just tons of soft bubble gum and pineapple. It almost melds together to give off a note of maraschino cherries. Very high strength of aroma, and certainly very interesting, though I have no idea if this was intended. No alcohol, anyways, and it didnt seem overly sweet for what was there.
Soft, honeyish and bready malts comfort the palate, as some hop dryness begins to balance. A touch of passing earthiness follows, and quickly transitions in to a hugely fruity (cherry, pineapple, apple, pear) finish dotted with strong herbal hop notes. Very low carbonation, leading to a bit too much stickiness. Definitely would like to see more dryness and even more hop bitterness to balance this odd mix of malt and ester sweetness. Alcohol well-concealed. Very unique, that’s for sure. I suppose the barrel could be the culprit for creating all of these esters? Perhaps it sat warm at some point and the yeast went crazy? The only problem with that theory is that the beer isnt all that much attenuated. Hmmm, I dont know.
Deep golden with a fiery orange hue and a medium amount of off-white head that is fairly quick to recede to ring, leaving moderate lacing.

On tap: The aroma is a combination of pineaoole, pine, and oak. It’s a cloudy orangish-brown with a small off-white head. The flavor starts with pineapple and faint caramel. There is some faint raisin and sour fruit in the background. It finishes with some pine and lots of grapefruit hops.

Growler: Murky deep copper hue with a fading fizzy head but some oily legs upon my NB worthy glass. The nose detects equal parts aromatic noble hop and ripened melon. Plenty of caramel and earthy malts in addition to just a hint of oaky tannin cask vapours. The taste starts surprisingly fruity with notes of melon and strawberry on top a a rich layer of caramelized malts. There is a nice dash of grassy hop on the finish before you get a hit of the cask characteristics. The mouth feel is smooth and medium-bodied, oily but not syrupy. Another well crafted beer by Steve would really it rocking with his Barrel and Cask aged beer lately.

Draft sample at MBGF07. Poured a hazy copper color with an average frothy off-white head that diminished slowly with fair lacing. Moderate sour citrus hop aroma. Medium body with a slick texture. Medium bittersweet flavor with a medium bitter finish of moderate duration. Drinkable brew that I would recommend to a freind.

On tap at the brewpub. Light brown with a small have and thin white bit of a head. A nice strawberry to fruit general hop bitterness. A bit sweet with good restraint and a nice round malt body. Creamy, nice full body, not at all watery. Big apple to strawberry as well as straw sort of hop character. A bit of caramel malt. The brandy barrel aging really seems to come out in particular in the long vinous tannic finish. I can only imagine what this is like pre-aging, but I’m sure it’s a different beast from the ratings!