McKenzie Fünf

Formerly brewed at McKenzie Brew House
Style: Doppelbock
Glen Mills, Pennsylvania USA

Poured a deeper brown color with a large sized off white head. Aromas of smoked meat (bacon), caramel, and light cocoa. Tastes of smoke, caramel, roast and a little nutty. Light alcohol in the finish. I found the smoke done well. It complimented the beer and went well with the other aromas and tastes.

Poured a lightly hazy, brownish amber color with a medium sized, light tan head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of nuts, caramel malts, light cocoa, and meaty smoke. Taste was roasty, with caramel malts, dry smokiness, wood, tobacco, and more nuts as well. Faint alcohol in the finish.

Draught samples at Kennett Fest, 10/7/06
Very frothy, large, aerated head is a light cappucino color, providing excellent, sticky lace down the glass. Medium to medium-high retention. Tobacco/maple brown body shows low clarity and has some rust and beige tints.
Dry smoke in the nose is not overly meaty (salt, bacon, sausage) relative to a Schlenkerla, but shows a more reserved woodsmoke/tobacco/char aroma. Medium dry chocolate malt notes are intersparsed, delightfully, with dry coffee-like roast and soft vanilla-toffee hints. A very faint note of yellow raisins can even be found on the finish. Medium to medium-high strength of aroma, with no alcohol apparency. Very dry for a doppelbock, with some hints of lager yeast on the finish. Clean and properly lagered.
Dry chocolate and coffee bean crunchiness initially strips the palate, and only gradually is a light vanilla-cream and raisin-like sweetness added back. With warming, some base malts mix with the chocolate malts but also mingle with the oak-hickory-like smokiness and do not fully sweeten. Tobacco and some breadiness (perhaps paperiness) sit on the end, dryly, while light raisin and vanilla chewiness collects. A fair amount of acidity (smoked malt and/or dark malt phenol?) definitely builds up as well, unfortunately, and somewhat distracts from the drinkability (but does add an interesting dark berry-skin note). Carbonation is a bit loose and the beer has moments of wateriness on the finish. But even if the palate/mouthfeel are not quite up to par, the array of flavors and utter lack of any brewing flaws certainly wins back support. Yeast presence is low; some sparkle of lager yeast crispness is evident on the finish, but is minimal.

KSBF 06. Pours a deep woody amber, slight haze, and an awesome sticky tight off white head. Aroma is campfire smoke, sweet and caramelly with some chocolate, smoked salted meats, and some light plasticy phenols. More meaty smoke and woody burnt malts in the flavor with a slight saltiness, sweet caramel malts. Full mouthfeel and sticky sweet. Good toasty smoky almond lingering finish. Real smooth.

KSBF 2006. Pours a translucent brown amber with a foamy light tan large head. Aroma of light smoke, smoked meats and a grainy maltiness. Flavor of smoke, sweet malts, cereal and various grains.

On tap, Kennett Square Fest 2006. Pours a slightly hazy dark brown colored body with a good sized fizzy beige head that took a while to settle. Aroma was caramel and toffee maltiness with some light nuttiness and a little bit of smoke in the background. The flavor was similar to aroma, mostly toffee and caramel maltiness, with the smoke being rather restrained. Finishes with some light roast, nuttiness, alcohol, and again, light smoke. Minimal noticable alcohol. Mouthfeel was medium to full bodied with a good dose of fizzy carbonation. Overall, this was a decent Doppelbock, but I would have liked the smoke to have played a more central role. It was billed as a Rauch Doppelbock, but I think that was overstating the smoke influence.

Poured a ruby-light brownish in color, decent head for the style, average lacing. The aroma was raisins, some dough, and roasted malts. The flavor was raisins first, as well as some American hoppiness (pineapples and grapefruits, interesting in this style). As temperature increased, some coffee notes came out. Mouthfeel was a bit thin and acidic, somewhat of an astringent note. An intersting take on the style, but not my cup of tea.

20061007 Tap at Kennett 06. Liked this one quite a bit. Medium brown with much head, thick and tan. Smoky tobacco and distant forest fire. Full, sticky body, rich and savory. Complex and sweet with nice mingling of smoke and dark honey malts. Finishes with more nuttiness, sticky, dark toffee, lingering. Delicious - I’m a sucker for smoky doppelbocks.