Samuel Adams Imperial Double Bock

Brewed by Boston Beer Company
Style: Doppelbock
Boston, Massachusetts USA

I had this last night with my Christmas meal. This stuff was great. Lots of caramel, and toffee notes. Not too sweet though. Very well balanced. I gotta say, I was pretty impressed with this being Sam Adams. Cheers!

Bottle. Of syrup. Pours clear brown with decent beige head. Nose is cloying toffee, sugar, and honey. Some hopes. Some fruit. All things sweet, but none of the more subtle coffee or chocolate notes I generally enjoy in the style. Meh.

Well-made beer here. Certainly stronger than most European doppelbocks but still quite drinkable. It is also sweeter than most, which gets rid of that nice chalky dryness that I associate with the euro versions, check out Andechs, but this is a very very fine winter beer from Sam Adams. It’s another well-typed "imperial" beer from this series.

Pours dark amber with no head that lasts long at all. Sweet toffee, some caramel, light dried dark fruits and some alcohol. Much the same in flavor with sweet toffee and caramel with a fairly strong alcoholic finish, a touch of hop bitterness. Heavy on the palate.

(Bottle) Pours dark golden-brown with a slight reddish hue. A bit hazy. Thin light amber head dissolves to mostly just a ring around edges. Aroma of honey and caramel, lightly fruity and maybe a touch of hay. Mouthfeel is smooth and sticky. Thin, weepy rings of lacing. Flavor is sweet and hot. Caramel and honey with some fruitiness. A little smoke in the finish and a light piney bitter bite. A little more aggressive and perhaps less dry than their other doppel. Fairly good.

Bottle:   Heavy amber, burnt orange hues, moderate foamy light beige head, nice lacing, very little carbonation.   Bready nose, faint alcohol and dark pitted fruit.   Smells rich.   Heavy maltiness on the tongue, bready, warming, fairly sweet but not cloying.   This is pretty good.   Simple, yet tasty.   Body and mouthfeel are both fairly heavy.   A little biscuit on the finish.   Fairly tasty as far as I am concerned.   Heavy, bready, with some biscuit and dark pitted fruit.   Very palatable.

12oz bottle. Pours transparent reddish brown, topped with a fairly large tan head that fades rapidly to a thin layer of bubbles. Aroma is quite sweet, with caramel dominating the aroma and alcohol and raisin in the background. Flavor is sweet as well, with caramel, raisin, plum, brown sugar, molasses, and brandy. Alcohol becomes more noticeable at the finish, and warms as it goes down. Decent sipper.

Chocolate and malt aromas. Smooth and balanced. Still a far cry from the true European Double Bocks, but a nice American Seasonal. Not sure if it was worth the $11 for a 4 pack but I figured I’d give it a shot.