Thomas Hooker Liberator Doppelbock

Brewed by Thomas Hooker Brewing Company
Style: Doppelbock
Bloomfield, Connecticut USA

Draft. Dark brown pour with light head. Strong roasted malt aroma that is sweet and rather inviting. Sweet grainy taste with plenty of roasted malts. The best doppelbock I’ve tried, although I’ve never been tremendously big on the style.

opaque brown pour thick tan well laced head. SPicy wheat aroma w/ lots of sweet malts some light chocolates carmels and light alcohol. Thick well coated lightly creamy. Flavor is very sweet roast malt & wheat some brown sugar and a touch of light spice. Very nice well roasted nearly a stout.

Thanks Chuck. The beer pours to a black body with a tan head and nice lacing in my shaker glass. The aroma is powdered sugar and is pretty bocky. The flavor has some black licorice, roasty chocolate stout malts, chestnuts. The palate is sugary, sticky with a nice full mouth feel. A good beer, but I’m still not a fan of this style.

1L swingtop bottle: 05 vintage, courtesy of swededog awhile back. Pours a large brown head that settles into a thin covering on top of a clear amber hued brew. Retention is good. Mildly sweet malt nose, honey with a faint fruitiness and a light mustiness. Body is med/full, lightly oily and a bit grainy. Medium sweet malts, chocolate, honey, raisin and licorice. Finish is medium sweet with a touch of roast. Thanks Jeff!

honeyed malty brownsugar sea goodness in the aroma. deep mahogany brown beer with big malty tufty beige head. mild chocolaty malt flavor milkshake creamy. tick palate.

sweet malty brown sugar aroma. dark amber colored with tan head. flavor is lightly smoked(peaty) and sweet with plenty of malts. excellent balance. very enjoyable. chewy, sticky mouthfeel.

The beer pours very dark brown, dark amber shine through if held up to the light, with a very fine, light tan head. The aroma smells malty - some caramel and some vanilla, with some roasted smells too (bitter chocolate, freshly ground coffee beans). The flavor is very nice: lots of sweet malts, some spicey hops, and some other flavors - caramel, maple, coffee. The alcohol is detectable in the flavor, too - though it is minimal. The balance of the beer is very nice - and very appropriate for the style (i.e. good bit maltier than it is hoppy). The mouthfeel is a little thick. The beer finishes with some cloying sweetness, hints of acidity (I presume from the carbonation), and a soft bitterness.

When I popped the top of this 2006 swing top bottle it opened with a quick “squeak”. Once in my glass, I was a magnificent dark brown and burgundy with an uneven oatmeal-like head. Smells of brown, woody chocolate with a slight lime rind hiding behind it with a pinch of brown sugar. Tastes of a great combination of woody chocolate and barley that winds its way around a welcome alcohol that effervesces up into my nose with a sweet milk chocolate and a light, fantastically paired woody hops that is left in my mouth in the finish. The mouth feel is medium to heavy bodied with a great swarm of micro-bubbles that give this beer a pudding-like feel. The dynamics of this one are off the charts and the chocolate is really something else. I haven’t had a beer this good in ages. Find this one for sure!