Weltenburger Kloster Asam Bock

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

WONDERFUL chewy, chocolatey, woody maltiness with a smooth honey mouthfeel. There is just such a monstrous body here, and the perfectly rounded malt makes it very hard to set down. An attractive espresso nose and finish make this reminiscent of a very good stout, but keeps the mouthfeel just shy of amazing with that coffee acidity. I just may place this above Celebrator, or at least on the same playing field.

I saw this fine brew on the list of a beer festival about five years ago and quickly put it on my "to sample" list. But when I approached the appropriate table, the worker insisted that it wasn’t one of the beers at that booth. I never did find it. So imagine my pleasure when I finally saw this, in bottle, at a local store...after five long years and with a name that still came easily to mind, making it instantly recognizable. To build up such hopes...well, it can lead to disappointment. But not this time. This nice doppelbock pours a dark, burgundy tinged brown, with a large, light tan head. Nose is a nice interplay of sweetness from rich, dark fruits, roast and chocolate, and malt, of course. Flavor is much the same, with the roast and dark fruit flavors dominating, but very well rounded overall. Really, a lovely beer, and one that I’m happy to have found nearby (and at what I think is a pretty good price!). Well worth the wait!

500 ml. bottle. Pours a thick short lived mocha head, with slight lacing over a clear dark reddish brown (SRM 20) body....nose of roasted and caramel malts with toffee and molasses dominating, some raisin and cherry too....tastes of medium sweet malts with toffee, bit of molasses, dried fruits, including cherry withslight bitterinig towards the finish...mouth feel is thick and creamy, a lovely luscious brew.

Fricken hell - how does this rate so high!!?? Quite dark, clear with a well-retained greyish head. Toast, peanut butter, berry and soy sauce aroma - a bit weird. A bit too roasty, bitter and alcoholic and not overly malty. A bit sour and roasty with some broccoli. Not as bad as I make it sound but it’s not real good.

500 mL. Pours a deep ruby with a thin Coco-Cola like head fizzy head that dissipates quickly. Aroma is red licorice, malt, molasses, caramel, milk chocolate. Has a good dark malt backbone along with rye bread, chocolate, licorice, and good balancing hops. Oily mouthfeel. Lots of coating. Long, sweet finish. Best doppelbock aside from Celebrator that I have tried.

Pours with a quickly diminishing head; notes of soy sauce, molasses, and spicey hops overa deep malty base; viscous body with a lighty roasty, fairly chocolatey, somewhat raisony flavor; clean finish. Pretty nice.

31 Aug 2004 - Mega sweet malt aroma, good hop and malt balance aroma. Good head retention, dark black-brown colour and nice sheet lacing. Oppulent complex hop earth malt flavours. Lovely smooth gentle palate but I’d like a touch more malt.

A malt experience. Lighter body than expected with a smallish head but there is much to like. A complex sweet array of malt tones - some acidity helps to balance, but this smooth doppelbock is about sweetness, until the finish when it seems to lighten up.