Widmer Brothers Reserve Cherry Oak Doppelbock

Brewed by Widmer Brothers Brewing Company
Style: Doppelbock
Portland, Oregon USA

Dark brown with almost no head. Strong oak aroma with chocolate and cherry notes. A little too sweet up front, molasses, chocolate, cherry, and a really nice strong oak taste rounding the whole thing out. Decent.

22 oz. brown bomber bottle in a fancy cardboard box. Bottled on 9-09-09. Poured out a muddy reddish color, with barely any head at all. Aromas are of dark malts, rotted fruit, sour cheese. This isn’t going to be good. Very low carbonation, almost still. Flavors are mixed, muddied, nothing stands out, except a sour cheese note. Almost a drain pour. Just plain foul.

(22 oz. bottle via trade with BMan1113VR, thanks Andrew!) Pours dark golden ginger ale color with about half a finger of biege head that is fairly well-retained. Aroma is pretty mild and is mostly light caramel, possible hint of cherry. Mouthfeel is fairly smooth, a touch sticky. Nice weepy, light rings of lacing. Flavor of fairly mild caramel, perhaps lightly toasty. Light hints of the cherry and wood, but again, very light. A little hot, esp. as it warms. Not bad but nothing really jumps out in this beer - fairly tame all around.

22 oz. bottle. Pours a thin pale beige head, with some lacing, over a slightly cloudy, reddish, dark amber (SRM 15) body.......nose is bit of toffee/caramel, light cherry, bit of hop spice........taste is sweet malts (toffee) followed by light cherry, leading to molasses, vanilla, then slightly sharp terpenes, finishing dry.....mouth feel is medium, carbonation is tiny bubbled and creamy. This is an interesting brew. It is not quite as thick and chewy as many in this genre (the alcohol is at the upper end of the range for the style), the cherry is reasonably incorporated into the overall sensation, and the oak does not dominate. It is a bit bitter at the end, which is a combination of the rather high IBU’s for a Dopplebock, and the Oak Aging.

Name: Cherry Oak Doppelbock
Date: October 31, 2009
Mode: Bottle
Source: Hop City, Atlanta
Appearance: clear dark burgendany red, fine beige head, drippy bits of lace
Aroma: light chocolate and cherry aroma with a faint tartness, caramel sweetness
Flavor: rich malt flavor, caramel and cherry sweetness is balanced by lots of earthyness, touch of oak along with the earthyness, just a hint of any tartness
Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 12/20
Rating: 3.1/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: ** /4

This was alright. A nice bock that has a sweet yeast and malt, thats balanced by a little bit of cherry and oak bittering. Pretty too.

Bottled. pours out dark brown with a slight tan tint. Taste is great, matly, chocolate, coffee with a complex aftertaste combining characteristics of chocolate and coffee.

Sampled on 12/3/2009. This dopplebock pours a dark brown color from a 22oz bottle. Small to medium sized white foamy head. The aroma is malts, oak and cherries. Perhaps some vanilla. A medium bodied dopplebock. The malts are caramel, fruity and semi-sweet. The cherry flavors are semi sweet. Nice woody oakiness. A great balance of wood, caramel malt and cherries. Smooth taste. Nice carbonation. A very drinkable beer. Gonna put a few away to bottle age. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.