Wagner Valley Sled Dog Doppelbock

Brewed by Wagner Valley Brewing Company
Style: Doppelbock
Lodi, New York USA

I had never heard of this brewer before today. And, I love the dopplebock style. This is NOT a good representation of it. It’s not bad, mind you, just not good. The aroma is fruits, bread, malts, true to the style. As is the appearance, rebuy red, white head. The aroma tended to be on the weak side. The flavor followed the aroma in all ways, including its weakness. The finish had a small bittering from hops, but was otherwise unremarkable, as if I had drank water. Medium mouthfeel, thin for the style.

Bottle. Dark bronze with some cloudiness and medium to small beige head. ARoma is sweet port, red fruit, plum, very pleasant. Flavor is sweet port with some alc, redh fruit, it has aged very nicely. Medium, viscous body wtih medium carbonation. Really nice, aged very well.

Bottle. Pours a mahogany body with a tan head. Sweet caramel malts and hints of berry type esters, sweet with a hint of citrus and a bitter chocolate finish but is quickly dispersed by alcohol latent fruit. Its so so.

Draft at Spuyten Duyvil. Poured a clear ruddy orange color with a thin off white head. Nice aromas of run, raisin, and toffee. Medium bodied and delicately sweet. the flavors followed the aromas. There was also a hint of grape candy that I occasionally find in lagers.

12oz bottle. I worked for Wagner’s for two years. During my 2 years, I spent much time at the fabled "House," where general cacophony occurred nightly. Upon exploring the basement of The House, a few coworkers and myself discovered several bottles of beer, aged nearly 5 years. These bottles, and The House, had belonged to the owner of Wanger’s- legendary Bill Wagner. We drank these beers like little regard for history, and soon regretted it. These beers had aged like a cheap Parisian trollop. 1 of these lethal brews was enough to cause fall-down drunkenness. Nevertheless, we soldiered on...

Pretty good. To style for the most part(if you are into that sort of thing), if a bit too bitter. Not a whole lot of malt complexity but there is a nice molassesey character that plays nicely with the strength of this brew.

bottle poured a dark amber color with a thin off white head leaving a ring on the glass. aroma has sweet dark malt, light chocolate, some odd dark fruit, and light alcohol. mouth feel is thin and the carbonation low. flavor has chocolate, malts, some minerals, and again the strange dark fruits. just seems a little all over the place.

Another in the NY goodie bag my wife brought back for me. This initially introduced itself with a very watery consistency and a slick, quickly dying head. Tthe aroma is vaguely chocolate-liquory. Thin body in the palate, too ... flavor is almost medicinal, same chocolate liquer thing from the aroma. Bit of a burnt edge. (#3471, 11/2008)