Thomas Hooker Liberator Doppelbock

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

Dark mahogany body topped by a long-lasting medium tan head. Very creamy body with small and soft bubbles. Flavours of earthy caramel and soft molasses poured over berries and raisins. Overall pancake feeling. The fresh leafy hops work very well with the rest of the beer. I expected an intense heavy beer but I got the exact opposite. Complex and subtle soft flavours. I liked it a lot. The top of the Thomas Hooker line-up. My friends look at me funny when I tell them that I treated myself with a high-end Hooker and it was worth it.

Solid black color. Tan layer of foam that coats glass. Aroma not strong and bready. Multiple layers of flavor on the tongue Starts out with with sweet malty notes than switches to a roasted espresso finish.

Deep brown with a creamy brown head. Roasty malty caramel nose, a hint of smokiness - but just a hint. Flavor is baking chocolate and caramel over a creamy body. I am really starting to warm to doppels!

Bottle: Very dark brown in color with an off white head. Aroma, roasted malts, caramel, brown sugar, some molasses, and some earthy notes. Very malt forward. Flavor, toasted malts, some caramel, molasses, roasted notes, a bit nutty, and a slight smokiness. Very smooth, easy drinking, good stuff.

Very dark color with no head. Chocolate, licorice aroma with hints of coffee. Tastes of chocolate, caramel and hints of coffee.

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.

2006 bottle. Pours a dark dark brown with a nice light tan head. Big sweet malt, though not cloying. Toast and a slight amount of caramel, alcohol, and fruity to peppery hops. A nice balance. Slight hints of honey and cinnamon. Thick and creamy in the mouth, with perhaps a bit of grit, but not offensive, only giving this some more weight, very nice. About perfect. Tastes great too. Sweet, round malt. Toast and caramel round out this treat. Alcohol and roast are present at a greater level than I expect in the style, but I’m certainly not complaining. this is a nice beer indeed. A slight hint of chocolate in the finish, over the alcohol and spicy hops. the finish is very dry and dark though. I may just buy another bottle when I head back to Connecticut again. Warming brought more fruit and realy had me convinced this wasn’t quite to style so I dropped my rating of overall to 4.1... though I have my doubts.

Thanks to boboski for opening this brew from one of those cool looking flip top liter bottles. Pours a nice dark brown cup o’ coffee with off white head. Wow! This has an amazing initial mouth watering lip smackin’ aroma with roasty malts, rich molasses, brewing pre hoped wort percolating over the flame and caramel. In time the aroma did subside in intensity but was still very nice. The flavors were roasty to slightly burnt malts, rich molasses, caramel candy, nice chunk of pale maltiness. Then I get a chocolate maltiness and hints of coffee. Very nice.