Thomas Hooker Liberator Doppelbock

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

10’s across the board for this one. I’m proud to say that the world’s best doppelbock comes from my home state of CT. This puts Celebrator and Optimator to shame. Roasty aroma and taste, sweet on the palate, with an insanely complex flavor. Caramel, roasted barley, and chocolate all hit the palate at the same time. Well balanced and just a perfect doppelbock. At the halfway point of the bottle, the caramel and chocolate notes really come through, along with a smoky/coffee flavor. Superb

Bottled in 2006/SwingTop Poured into a chalice a nice dark brown color, nice carbonation, an an amazing creamy one-finger plus tan head, which lasted forever, now some nice little islands and sticky lacing throughout the drink. The nose is of sweet malts, vanilla, and toffee/caramel. The taste is sweet and slightly bitter malts, nice touch of vanilla, lots of toffee/caramel. Medium body, smooth/thick with a nice chewy body. Very drinkable, man this is an awesome Doppelbock, probably the best I’ve had to date, quite different, highly recommended.

all I can say is wow. A guy stocking the shelves at one of my favorite beer stores asked me if I tried it yet. Great suggestion. 1 liter bottle with a nifty re-sealable cap. Poured dark with a nice head. The aroma was nutty and pleasant. The body was medium, but the flavor was nice and full. Very malty, chocolaty, toffee goodness. Great beer.

This was an outstanding doppelbock. The beer poured a dark brown from the one liter swing-top bottle and had a thin cream colored head. The taste was very smooth, malty, and superbly balanced. Highly recommended.

It pours a nice dark brown to black color with a 2 finger tan head that falls to a finger. The nose is really nice, with a big roasted tone to it. There is a slight chocolate sweetness, but mostly roasty. The flavor is awesome, with a big coffee tone upfront, followed by a sweet chocolate that moves to even more sweet chocolate on the finish. Damn, I like this. The feel is thick and creamy, just robust and awesome. Overall, I will have to seek out this beer again. The flavor and nose and feel just work so well together. Very nice beer here folks.

Big 1 liter bottle with a ceramic swing top was an imposing sight. The top came out with a nice popping sound effect, and the beer was poured into the goblet. The color was dark reddish black with an inner glow that exuded charm. The head was small and fleeting, and the lace was minimal. The aroma was sweet and roasty malt that gave off delicate fig, and chocolate notes. The hops had that distinctly Germanic grassy tone to them. The taste was sweet and malty, like a dopplebock should be. There were raisin, fig, apple, and toffee flavors to be enjoyed here. There was also an earthy herbal spiciness to the hops. Creamy and dry at the same time, the mouthfeel was enticing and the drinkability was enormous. This was a very beautiful part of a package that came to me from mikeys01 of beeradvocate.

When we opened it, this thing erupted with a caramel colored foam, wanted to towel it up and wring it into my glass, it smelled so good. On pouring I was greeted with a solid 3 inch head that took a good 30 seconds to sink back to around an inch of head. The body is like coffee with a hint of cream, just a meer hint only, with a burnt sienna halo around the outside. The smell is strong with coffee, chocolate, and unsweetened butter. The taste delivers with buttery chocolate, english toffee, cashews, and a creamy finish, it almost gets even better as it warms up. The mouthfeel is slightly bitter, with a light tang. Mild carbonation rounds it out. Over all, this beer is amazing!

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!