Thomas Hooker Liberator Doppelbock

1 litre swingtop bottle via trade with IMtheOptimator - Thanks Andrew!! Pours dark brown with a creamy tan head that lingers and laces very well. Aromas of caramel, chocolate, molassess and a little bit of roasted nuts. The flavor is quite decadant.. chocolate, roasted malts, caramel, some raisins, and a bit of nuts.. A touch of nice german hops come through at the end but are soon left with a nice chocolatey aftertaste that is divine. Palate is so smooth and creamy. Carbonated just enough to make this fill your mouth with smooth creamy delicious beer. This is good stuff. I think I like it better than celebrator actually.. And you have to love the 1 liter bottle that lasted the whole baseball game!!

one liter swing top bottle thanks to OldGrowth. ahhh...liquid bread! pours a reddish mahogany with a beautiful creamy, frothy tan head that takes awhile to settle to even more beautiful creamy lace. aroma is of dark, rich malt with a hint of sour hop bitterness. first sip seems like there is a bit of fizzy carbonation, but once this doppelbock warms slightly its just very smooth. this is about as full-bodied a doppel as I’ve had. very nice mouthfeel. flavor is of roasted malt, german chocolate with hints of caramel, toffee & dark fruit. upon the first taste there seemed to be some sour notes or bitterness, but after a couple of sips everything is in perfect balance. the alcohol is not even noticed until I’m on my second snifter full. thanks Tom, this is a good one and one I hope to try again & again & again.....

Pours a deep mahogany brown with a nice beige head. Aroma is very malty, bready, munich, vienna, toasted malts, some chocolate and toffee, with some fruitiness as well. Flaovr is loaded with caramunich malts and some chocolate, and finished off with a little bitterness, but mostly sweet. Definitely worthy of being grouped with the best doppelbocks in the world. Its hard to say if there is a better example made in the US.

Bottle: Chocolate brown, very dark, huge rocky light brown head, web like lacing.   Slight sweet & sour nose, subtle breadiness, cereal, pale cocoa.   Much more bready on the tongue, slight dark pitted fruit, and oddly enough, a sort of belgian yeast like quality.   Mouthfeel is slightly airy, body is moderate.   Soft hop finish, subtle sourness in the back, the breadiness has disipated for the most part.   A real odd duck, its like a lager with ale yeast or something.   Definitely not as heavy as other examples, which I like.   But at the same time, it doesn’t seem all that lagerish, at least to me.   Good albeit a little different.   Thanks John!

Sampled last night at a meeting of the Champaign-Urbana Beer Club. I thought at first bacteria had gotten into the bottle because the beer gave off this sweet-sour funkiness almost in the Belgian style. Scrolling down through the ratings, I believe this was intended. The flavor wasn’t bad in any sense, merely highly peculiar. But Doppelbocks can be funky as several others noted, so I think this one is alright. I’ll rerate later if necessary. Concerning the beer, an impressive mix of flavors ranging from sweet cherry and apricot to fudge and dark bread. Finishes with a decidedly yeasty wheatness. Tasty, not my first choice of flavors, but complex indeed.

1 Liter bottle- Plaza wines & liquor - Naugatuck, CT. Looks wonderful on the pour, thick rocky light brown head with good retention, appears slightly cloudy, deep ruby/tawney color, reminds me of varnished mahogany. Nice aroma of cereal grains with some hops. The mouthfeel on this one is wonderful, very full bodied and creamy with a great finish. Very well balanced between the malt and the bitter. As I go thru the bottle I find I like it much better as it warms up closer to cellar temp, don’t ice this guy down. I think I’d be ok with fasting for lent with this badboy beside me. Sometimes these big bottles can be a chore for me to finish by myself but not this time. I’m actually happy to not be sharing this one. Highly recommended.

1 liter bottle thanks to Swededog. Dark brown color with a small tan head. Mild roasted malt aroma with some dark fruits and yeast. Flavor of dark malts, dried fruits and freshly baked pumpernickle bread. Very smooth and creamy palate with the alcohol extremely well hidden.

08.06.05 1L brown swingtop. Medium brown with beige head. Nice oatmeal nose with raisins and bananas and cream. Soft bodied and lithe on the palate, more eff than expected from a doppelbock. Nutty. Yum--whole grain banana bread. Finishes very dry and a bit yeasty/doughy. Thanks to someone, I think Joe or Jim, for this treat.