Schell 1878 Einbecker Doppelbock

Formerly brewed at August Schell Brewing Company
Style: Doppelbock
New Ulm, Minnesota USA

On tap at the Blue Nile. Dark brown color with a thick head. Floral hop aroma and some caramel. Lots of sweet malt, caramel and fresh grain taste. Floral hops towards the end accompanied by a bit of honey. Schells’ finest offering, so far... I have high hopes for this anniversary series now.

Pretty damn good beer. Very well balanced. Poured with a nice fine light tan/ off white head and good lace. Brownish mahoganey color. Malty slightly roasty nose. A session beer. Good body and carbonation. Bittersweet with some bright sweet highlights. Great finish. Having a mug of this at Bodega Brew Pub downtown La Crosse, Wisconsin USA.

On draught during the Winterfest 2008 in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota. Pours a clear copper amber brew with a creamy off-white head that has some excellent retention and some spotty lacing. Aroma of multi-grain and bready malt, some flowery hops, a touch of toffee and some brown sugar. Taste is medium bodied, creamy, smooth drinking with flavors identical to its aroma, plus a slight white pepper and light herbal spice added. Finish has a nice semi-sweet bready aftertaste with a mild bitterness and slowly disappears after the finish. The brewery representative informed me that the brewmaster will be producing ten different anniversary for their 150 year celebration. So far, their first special brew of the series is off to a good start.

Draft at Winterfest ’08. Sweet aroma with cherries. Brownish amber body with hint of red. Some lace. Pretty solid brew. Malty and sweet; very good balance. Enough hops to keep things interesting. Very good.

On tap at Buster’s. Not a stereotypical dopplebock. Sweet carmel malt, some mild rasin. Rootbeer brown, light foam, and light carbonation. Very unique for Schell.

A real nice beer with breakfast. Okay so it was at 2PM brunch, but the Happy Gnome had it with a BLT. It had a nice malt coating and went well with the bacon.

Dark caramel-brown color, slim head. Sweet, caramel malt nose, toasty, deligthful...right on for style. Fills the mouth with malty goodness, rich and lovely. Light, but tasty, hops. Fairly full bodied, long, tasty, brown sugar-y malty finish. Sweet, but not overly so, and nearly sublime. Delicious. About 6.5 %, so not too daunting in the drinkability, low enough to let you grab another. I think I have to agree with other opinions, that this is probably the best Schell’s product I’ve had to date. I really like it. Yummy, yum, yum...I mean it, ...yum.

Tap at the Happy Gnome. Red-amber pour; crystal clarity and a clinging rim of beige. Aroma of raisins, caramel malt, cotton candy, molasses, and honey biscuits; malt character is robust and generous, if not unpredictable. Flavor is more bitter and quite dry, with immediate notes of apple peel, raspberry, and pear skin; burnt sugar cookie, fig, and licorice in alternate sweetness. Mid palate is very dry and earthy with a mulchy, almost papery grassy bitterness. Mouthfeel is medium and well rounded with high carbonation; finishes with lasting, wet sweetness of caramel, toffee, and licorice. Bready. Solid example.