Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock

Brewed By: Brauerei Aying in Aying, Germany

Purchased: Single 11.2oz bottle bought at Binny's in IL; 2011

Style/ABV: Doppelbock, 6.7%

 

Do I love Ayinger or what? Ayinger is a German brewery that has been around since 1877 and is located a couple miles away from Munich. Their website can be found here. I'm a big fan of the Ayinger Bräu-Weisse Hefeweizen, but today I am drinking their Doppelbock.

Doppelbock means "double Bock." Bocks are a strong lager that originate from Germany, primarily consumed during the spring months to celebrate the end of winter. Bock means "billy-goat" in German, and there are several theories as to why this style of beer is named as such. I won't go into all those theories, but if you see artwork that portrays goats on Bock beers, you now know why. Of course this is a "double" Bock, so it is going to be slightly stronger than a standard Bock. Doppelbocks are known to be quite malty and to be decently potent in terms of ABV. Ayinger's Celebrator is one of the top rated Doppelbocks, so bottoms up.

 

The pour yields a dark beer with a nice 2-finger tan/brown head. The head is surprisingly thick and has good density to it. The head is receding fairly quickly, and I have to image that the 6.7% ABV is the contributing factor there. This is a big ABV beer, especially considering the style and ingredients. The body of this beer looks deceptively darker in low light, but it is actually a very dark purple-brown-red color. Hints of red, brown, and purple escape off the sides of my glass when the beer is held up to light. You can actually kind of see into the center of this beer; the beer is reacting favorably to the nucleation site on my glass.

Beer and Twizzlers...a match made in heaven

I love dark malty beers. This beer has all sorts of cool phenols and aromas, but let me talk about the big one. I am getting huge Twizzler notes from the aroma of this beer. That's right...Twizzler. This beer smells a lot like Twizzler candy. There is also some burnt toast and some caramel; lots of dark fruits like figs, prunes and even plums. There are aromas similar to molasses; and pulls towards fruit cake. I'm picking up a steamed vegetable note as well.

 

This is really complex based on my first taste. I want my beer to warm up, so let me put some thoughts on the complexity of this beer out there. This is a very carbonated beer, right up front you get good carbonation. The beer smooths out big time, and really reaches nice depths on your palate. The back end finishes off with toasted notes, and even a slight smoked quality. There is some warming and some booze. At 6.7% you would expect it. But the alcohol really mellows out when held against the dark fruit notes and big malts. 

Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock

There is a lot of caramel, sweet malts, and molasses in this beer. All of these flavors are enhanced by a silky smokey quality. There are definite pulls towards things like fruit cake, figs and raisins, and other dark fruits as well. You do taste the alcohol a bit as well. And Twizzlers! Again, I am getting manifestations of Twizzlers in the flavor profile of this beer. It's not a bad thing because I love Twizzlers, so there you go.

The front end is carbonated and sweet: you get some malts and some dark fruits. The middle rolls into more dark fruits and some smokiness. The back is toasty, bread-like, smokey, boozy, warming, and quite nice. This is a complex beer with moderate to deep depth on the palate. This is a medium-full beer that is surprisingly drinkable (...and low-calories: apparently 150ish for a bottle? Not sure I believe that.) despite its big flavor profile and ABV.

 

Rating: Divine Brew 

Score: 96% 

 

I love this beer. This is a brilliantly executed beer. This is also top-shelf stuff as far as Doppelbocks are concerned. But this isn't just a great Doppelbock; this is a great "any style" beer. I'm really enjoying the back-end of this beer. This beer has a nice warming effect and you can feel the alcohol. This is truly a beer meant to be consumed on a cold spring day when it feels more like winter outside than spring.

 

In summary, here is why this beer kicks ass: it's not too expensive, it pours beautifully. It smells really aromatic and complex, and it tastes complex. There are some great dark fruit and dark malt flavors being bounced around in here. All these great flavors do not come at the expense of drinkability - this is a highly drinkable beer - and yet this beer is still complex and has great depth on the palate.

 

Oh and because of Twizzlers. That's why. So don't hesitate to pick this beer up.