Wagner Valley Sled Dog Trippelbock

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

My favorite of the wagner valley brews. Pours a clear medium brown color with a medium amount of froathy white head. Aroma is sweet caramel malts, rummy alcohol, and slight bitter roasted undertone. Flavor is caramely and sweet at first then a portish alcohol flavor followed by a slightly bitter finish. Overall, pretty decent.

This was a nice change of pace from the Sled Dog Doppelbock which I drank before this one. It is not as acidic. The aroma is a bit more subdued but the taste is more complex with flavorful notes which ask me how plums, raisons, and cherries would meld if out together. There is some sweet maltiness in here to accompany the fruit fare. I feel this has a medium body with a dry finish. The alcohol is pretty well hidden. I’ll get more of these when I visit the brewery this summer. I do dislike the aftertaste which seems to spark of bitter grapes and woody tones. (Bomber from Half Time)

It has a dark amber color with a sweet caramel taste. You can rely distinguish the flavor of malt. The high alcohol % was not that noticeable.

Nice dark orange color. Nice lacing on the head. Aroma-wise there is caramel , toffee, raisins and more that I can’t put my finger on. Palate-wise, it’s got that candy stick sweetness I love in my doppel/tripel bocks. It’s got the warming feel of alcohol but I can’t really detect it in the nose or palate. A fine fine beer. Bought a couple bottles. Wonder if I can bear to let the other one age a while? 11.11.07 - this one was cellared since May 06, so 19 months. Not much different with age. But very good still.

Gentle hiss as the cap comes off, settling in as garnet and semi-translucent. A bubble cloister is surrounded by thin tan sawdust to make up the head, but it leaves respectable cascading lace, and the final pour even yields a fluffy tan head.

Aroma is complex. Port, cooking sherry, brandy, pistachios basking in maraschino cherry juice and some fruity bubblegum. There’s also an aromatic precursor of the ABV content as well. Thick sluice cuts in for the flavor realm, creating caramel and a blend of amaretto-Irish cream-maple fudge. Residue sleeking off the cheek’s flesh signals the alcohol presence. Maraschinos and candied nuts. Golden raisins and brown sugar, well met with red currant over chewy dates. Subtle sweet toffee and a peppery fieriness blend together for an artesian butterscotch flavor. Brandy Alexanders and after dinner drinks. Heavy, thick and oily toss throughout the mouth with gentle carbonation and a dry-tongue feel. It’s first and foremost a malt expose, and it’s probably at its prime in terms of age. Pistachios and Puerto Rican rum join amaretto toffee and brandy juice with bottom dwelling maraschino cherries for the finish. Quite an original, with a big thanks to tpkenned for the big bottle!

Our mascot, shared at the Pre-Tap gathering. Poured mahogany with a small off-white head. Sweet aroma of brown sugar, vanilla and dark fruits. Taste is sweet upfront with caramel, fruit, and vanilla, with a slight dryness from the alcohol (and age... this one’s been to a few gatherings) that balances it out. Easy to drink for a beer its size. I enjoyed it. Farewell to a beloved mascot.

This poured a medium sized head of frothy of unnoted size mostly lasting off-white colored bubbles that left behind a fair lacing. The body contained no visible carbonation, was semi-transparent and caramel brown in color. Its aroma contained notes of mild vinous mild sweet malt . Its mouth feel is initially very tingly biting malt with a lingering very tingly palate and a strong vinous malt bite aftertaste. Its flavor contained mild sweet malty doppelbock notes overridden by the bite. An excellent beer that I would buy again.

Much thanks to dmeadows for grabbing this for me... Aged at least 1.5 years. Appears a dark mahogany with an ivory head that leaves scattered lacing and fades to a small collar. Smell is of maple and molasses touched, decocted batch with rich succulant malt. Touches of caramel, raisins, and chocolate. Taste is of the same aromas and I’m loving it. In my opinion, this one can play with some of the best Doppelbocks out there. Seems to be a resurgance of Americans coming through with this classic German style. Mouthfeel seems pretty rich and chewy. Lots of maple and molasses sweetness clinging around the palate. Mild touch of a dark and sour fruit. Nice!