Rock Bottom Chicago Bourbon Barrel Doppelbock

Brewed by Rock Bottom Chicago
Style: Doppelbock
Chicago, Illinois USA

The Bourbon rules this drink, a murky, brown beer with ruby highlights and a tan ring in lieu of a head. The aroma is practically all whiskey with a trace of sweet malts and a hint of dark cherries. The body is flat but creamy. The taste gets the addition of vanilla, pepper, and oak. A nice warming drink for the so-called Spring days that we’re having.

<font size=-4><a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Bottom Chicago, Chicago, IL<font size=-1>

On tap at RB Chicago. Thought this was gonna be too sweet... but it really worked. Poured a very deep brown with a short-lived beige head... intricate lacing followed it down. Nose started off with sweet bourbon over rich, dark fruit sugars... molasses and caramel were not far behind. Bourbon was better-integrated in the flavor... raisins, plums, molasses, sweet chocolate, vanilla, and oak provided some significant sweetness along with the bourbon, but somehow kept from being cloying. Medium-bodied with a smooth middle and nice bourbon highlights. Left stickiness all around the mouth and was warming going down. Very good brew!

This stuff is amazing. Served in a medium sized goblet filled to the brim! Pours a beautiful ruby red, slightly hazy and a thin film of a head that dissapears into nothing. Carbonation is very nice and mild which adds to its smoothness. Aroma is loaded with bourbon, brandy, oak and then followed by tons of sweet caramel and toasted malts. Slightly nutty flavor, some chocolate, tons of sweet caramel malt, and lots of bourbon, and oak followed by a hint of smoke. Mouthfeel is smooth and sweet but not cloying, and doesnt get medicinal like many other high grav doppelbocks. This was absolutely outstanding, but it is just a shame that the bartender wouldnt let me take a growler home to share with others.

cloudy brown pour small tan head sweet carmel aromas w/ lots of bourobn (over done actually) full creamy well coated palated. Flavor dominated by bourbon some sweet touches of vanilla and carmel. Too 1 dimensional over done on the barreling.

Chicago. Hazy, muddy medium brown in color with a creamy off-white head in the form of a thick film across the surface. Whisky and rye protrude in the aroma, closely followed by spiced rum and buttery, peppered toffee. Conglomerate of flavor. Jim Beam is stiff and steady. Harsh elemental onset, which is chastised at first, leads to thinning and disparaging sentiments of the leading doppelbock traits. What once was chewy chocolate is now skim chocolate milk with ice cubes. Subtle accents of lightly salted, rye dinner rolls. Spicy, rummy toffee and prickly pumpernickel juxtapose a boozy, rail liquor experiment, and situates itself prominently in the finish as well, second, of course, to the spicy bourbon that emasculates the entire episode. Worlds apart from their standard doppelbock offering, which could duke it out with the best of ’em.

My 200th Illinois Beer!

Served a heavy mahagony (seemingly opaque) with a thin halo and thick, slow legs that presage its strength. Clay/Play-Doh aromas are persistent with plenty of whisky and latex house paint (enjoyably intriguing, though). Very rich flavor finds Jack Daniels above coffee malts with caramel-candy sweetness. Expect an ABV and texture akin to Utopias, with alcohol that is warming, numbing, a little overpowering but surprisingly not "hot". I can gladly still find traces of a beer beneath.

<font size=-4>On tap at <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Place/illinois/chicag Bottom, Chicago, IL 60610<font size=-1>

Dark brown with a thick, dense head. Interesting aroma of chocolate, vanilla, whole grains, coconut, maple syrup and some light oak. It seems that it hasn’t been bludgeoned by spending six months in barrels, but only a little time to lend a mild bourbon component. The body is full and smooth and doesn’t lack in carbonation. The flavor is good, a bit drier and more subtle, the beer over. The aging seems to take away from the natural beer here, leaving a more boring example. I’m not too familiar with many bourbon-barrel aged doppelbocks, so it was cool to try one, but I don’t look forward to future examples. Thanks, Pete; better luck next time.

Draught, served very cold in a snifter: Dark ruby-brown…malty vanilla bean and alcohol aroma with anise and whiskey. The aroma is decently rich and has some complexities that the original version didn’t: coconut, sweet can sugar, light colored caramel…flavours don’t even come close to keeping up with the aroma – it seems that the barrel has taken all of the deep maltiness from the lager and completely subdued it into a bland and mostly tasteless brew…amazing – never would have thought this would be the result of what seemed like a pretty cool thing to try.