Thomas Hooker Liberator Doppelbock

Bottle shared by Thickfreakness. Thanks dude!
Pours a clearish dark brown color with a very light head that dissipates quickly. Smell is tart, toasty caramel and bordering on almost soy sauce malt. Taste is the same and is pretty smooth and mild. Slightly sweet caramel soy sauce flavor. Nice, but not as great as I thought it was going to be.

Beer # 7500, that’s 3/4 of the way to Eternal Ticking Glory, ladies and gentlemen. I decided to toast this momentous occasion with one of the most well-respected lagers in America today, the Liberator Doppelbock from Thomas Hooker. This was a 2006 bottle and the result was, well, interesting. Thankfully I can say that I’ve had few, if any, beers quite like this particular bottle, which makes it a fitting beer to have on the occasion.

Dark brown colour. Chewy, smokey, plummy aroma shows some oxidation. Deep plums on the palate, again the product of oxidation, but I don’t mind it at all. There’s a light smokiness, some pear, and some burnt sugars. To me, this has developed well, although I’m sure this much oxidation and fruitiness in a doppelbock would turn just as many people off as on. Sweet and tart finish, an eclectic product of age, rendered upon a beer that may not handle such things as well as it should. But it works anyway, and that’s the fun of trying different beers.

Malt, malt and malt!!! A truely saturated roasty feast. By all doppel standards a classic. Rich warm mayo malty aroma. Darker beer for the style with small lasting head. Taste is of pure, rich malty goodness and just a little bit of tangy sweetness. No carbonation which is appropriate. Mouthfeel is luxorious and full. Overall a great beer to enjoy at a higher temp, and a great substitute for a hot choco. Beats the flimsy pants off of Ayinger Celebrator. More Ovaltine please.

Pours a robust brownish auburn shade with a minimal bubbly head. Rich malty aroma, of caramel and toffee, with just the slightest hint of licorice. Slightly sweet, with a bit of toasted nuttiness. Chocolate syrup and butter pecan notes as well. I would love to be able to drink this all the time. Finishes with loads of rich caramelly nuttiness. Quite delicious.

2006 bottle from jjpm74. Pours a deep dark brown with coarse tan head. Aroma of lager yeast, berries, and bready malts. Medium bodied with a slight creamy texture. Flavor flavor vienna malts, caramel, and vanilla. Finish is offputting, with an annoying sour tang joined by husky grains, leather, and yeast. I wonder if this was past it’s prime, because this was off.

2006 500ml swing top bottle. Pours a deep dark brown with a small tan head. Nose is molasses & brown sugar. Palate is smooth, sweet & lightly carbonated. Flavor is a sweet mix of the aforementioned brown sugar, molasses, toffee & a ton of malt. This was a sweet, wonderful brew.

Bottle pours an almost black color with off white head. Has a nice aroma that is more subtle than I like. Mouthfeel is medium. Has a nice smooth creamy texture. Has a more malt taste that is sweet with a slight hop flavor on the backend. Nice brew.

500mL swing top bottle with no date, thanks to BrianK for this. Very deep clear brown with ruby brown edges and a small beige head that faded to a ring and sparse film. Loads of caramel and chewy toffee notes atop toasted nuts and malts and raisins. Nosing it a little more, brown sugar and vanilla are also present. Flavor is much more roasty and dry than the aroma led on, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. If it had been, it possibly would’ve been a little cloying for 500mL. It’s kind of hard to pick up on the caramel and toffee since the roast overpowers a lot of what’s in here. Only hints of raisins and vanilla in the flavor. I do have to admit it sweetens a little upon warming, though the beer was probably in the lower 50’s when I started drinking it. Roasty semi-dry finish with bitterness peaking around a 2. Alcohol is masked well. Silky full body with little pin pricks of carbonation. As this warms up, some lightly smoky notes show up in the aroma and the flavor. I ended up liking this more as I got through the bottle. I maybe could have gone for a bit more sweetness in the flavor, but not much.