Weltenburger Kloster Asam Bock

Brewed by Klosterbrauerei Weltenburg
Style: Doppelbock
Kelheim, Niederbayern, Germany

Dark mahogany with a thick tan head - impressive appearance. Aroma of caramel malt and honey. Some earthy yeast aromas when swirled. Flavor is dominated by sweet roasted malt and honey. A little bit of licorice in the aftertaste. Solid beer, but not crazy about the sweetness.

Bottle. Pours a dark brune body with an off white thin tan head. Malty chewy almost extract like sweetness, some dry roasted malt. Some roast y malt notes and caramel. Raisin and chocolate notes.

bottle 500 ml from Alko 3,45€ EXP 25 02 2010 dark brown transparent Taste sweet dark roasted malts bready bit sticky but decent bitterness in dryer aftertaste. Better than I expected .

Bottle and served in snifter, next to Kaufbeuren Buronator Doppelbock, Allgäuer Cambonator Doppelbock, and Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock (the baseline bier):

App: All three had a mahogany hue with the Buroator and Asam bocks displaying a bit more reddish highlights as well as a darker more tannish creamy head and better lacing. Cambonator gets the lowest score of 3, the others 4 each.

Aroma: Buronator, heavy caramel malt, bready and alcohol, some prune and fig along with a touch of peaty like smoke, brilliant. The Cambonator displays a walnut tone long with caramel, brown sugar and grape juice, interesting. The Asam bock has the weakest nose of the three with notes of caramel, wood, tobacco, grains, and a hint of raisin.

Taste: Rich and sweet caramel malt is front and center as expected in all three biers as is a hint of molasses. The differences are found with the undertones: Buronator has a figgy and roasty tone along with a dash of mineral water. It seems despite the heavy malt to be the most balanced of the three. The Cambonator has a very slight acidity (again grape juice) and some ashy notes. The Asam has more of a bakers chocolate tone and is more earthy and tobacco like, the most complex of the three.

Mouthfeel: Buronator, creamy and lively, Cambonator, lively and oily, a bit thinner, Asam lush and heavy, dry mineral finish.

Overall: While all three are well done and similar in the basics, the difference of enjoyment and complexity gives Buronator a slight advantage over Asam Bock with the Allgauer Cambonator my least favorite. This is interesting since the Buronator has the lowest ratebeer score of the three. Now when compared to the standard bearer of the style, and Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock ( 4.2), I found both the Buronator and Asam close companions but still a second cousin, The Cambonator was not even in the same zip code. Ahhh, the wonders of the horizontal tasting.

Poured from the bottle into a pint glass to drink. The beer had a somewhat clear dark amber-brown color with a creamy-foamy light tan head, which had moderate retention and cling. The beer had rich caramel malt aromas with floral and fruit aromas, some raisin and a bit of earthy hops. The beer had a sweet fruity taste with a bit of grainy bitterness to complement it. It was slightly creamy with average to light carbonation and a wet body with a good, clingy mouthfeel. A high quality beer, very much enjoyed.

07.11.2003, 0,5l Bottle. Ølet er mørkebrunt med gulbrunt skum. Ølet har en rik, fyldig smak med både sødme og bitterhet. Ølet er sterkt, noe som gir en utmerket kraft og fylde i smak og ettersmak. Very nice!!

Draft at Gourmet Haus Staudt in Redwood City, served in a stein. Very dark brown in color with a fairly large off-white head. Aroma is caramel, roast, and dark fruits. Flavor is lots of caramel malt, chocolate, roast, molasses, sweet toffee, raisins and other dark fruits. Palate medium-full and very smooth. A surprisingly awesome doppelbock.

Cola-brown beer with big and intensive beige head. Aroma is syrup-like sweet, some roastiness, and slightly sour. Sweet and malty flavour, but not too much, some chocolate and dryer aftertaste. Very smooth and slippery beer to drink. Good beer, where sweet malts are in the top, maybe even too much for my mouth...