Samuel Adams Double Bock (Imperial Series)

Brewed By: Boston Beer Company in Boston, Massachusetts
Purchased: Single bottle (12oz) from a 4-pack bought at Jewel in Chicago, IL; 2012
Style/ABV: Doppelbock, 9.50%

Tonight I'm wrapping up the Sam Adams Imperial Series of beers, at least for now. I haven't picked up their Imperial Stout, but I've had it in the past and it is okay (probably a strong Average beer for me). I do have another Sam Adams' beer coming down the line, but it is from their barrel series

Samuel Adams was founded in 1984 by Jim Koch, and currently the Boston Beer Company is the largest American-owned beer company in the United States. Sam Adams is also the largest craft brewer in America, with over a million barrels of beer being produced annually. You can check out the Sam Adam's website for more info.

Tonight's beer is a straight up German-style, Doppelbock. The German Beer Institute does a nice write-up on the style of beer, but there's a few basic tenets you should know. Bocks are dark, malty, lightly hopped ales originating from 14th century Germany, from the brewers in the Hanseatic town of Einbeck. The style of beer from Einbeck was adopted by Munich brewers in the 17th century, and adapted to the new lager style of brewing. Due to the Bavarian accent that the citizens of Munich had, they called the beer "Einbeck" as "ein Bock," or ("a billy goat"), and thus the beer became known as "bock," and remains that way to this day. Doppel means "double." Thus, a "Doppelbock" is literally a "double bock."

Doppelbocks emerged in the late 18th century as a big lager variant of old monastic strong beer, which was dubbed the monk's "liquid bread." This "liquid bread" was traditionally brewed for the Lenten season when the monks would fast, and they were not allowed to eat any solid food. The monks believed that liquids cleansed the body and soul, and would drink the beer for sustenance in place of the food they could not eat. The secular version of the strong beer was called "Bockbier." The first Lenten strong beer was brewed by the monks at Paulaner at Cloister Neudeck ob der Au in Munich. The German Beer institute shares this wonderfully amusing historical piece:

"The Paulaners had arrived in Munich from Italy in 1627. They began brewing beer for their own comsumption shortly thereafter—exactly when is not clear. Depending on which documents one can trust, the year was 1630, 1651 or 1670. The Paulaners felt, however, that such a strong brew with such delightful qualities might be just a bit too much of an indulgence for Lent. So they decided to ask the Holy Father in Rome for a special dispensation so that they could continued to brew it with a clear conscience. The Paulaners dispatched a cask of Lenten beer to Rome for the pope to try and to pass judgment. During its transport across the Alps and along the burning sun of Italy, unfortunately—or fortunately—the cask tossed and turned, and heated for several weeks—a classic condition for causing beer to turn sour and undrinkable. So when the Holy Father tasted the much-praised stuff from Munich, he found it (appropriately) disgusting. His decision: Because the brew was so vile, it was probably beneficial for the souls of the Munich monks to make and drink as much of it as they could. Therefore, he willingly gave the brewing of this new, allegedly rotten, beer style his blessing. Little did he know...!"

Doppelbocks tend to be high in alcohol and sweet, with a large, creamy head, huge malt aromas, toasty notes and aromas, and a rich and malty flavor. There may be some dark fruits in the mix. If you check out Sam Adams' Double Bock page, you can find out all about this beer. This beer uses half a pound of malts per bottle, and doesn't use any black malts to avoid any burnt malt characters. The beer is brewed with pale and caramel malts, and features Tettnang Tettnanger and Hallertau Mittelfrueh Noble hops (for support). This beer was first brewed by Sam Adams in 1988 (!!!! I find that surprising!), and clocks in at a giant 9.5% ABV, 25 IBUs, and will increase your waistline by 323 calories per 12oz bottle. This is liquid bread, bitches.

Samuel Adams Double Bock

The beer pours a dark, caramel/brown/red color in low light, with 3-fingers of foamy, thick, root beer float-looking head. The head has a nice caramel/tan color. There is a ton of carbonation in the form of tiny bubbles in this, and the beer looks to be filtered. The beer is dark enough that you can't really see through it, even in bright light. In bright light, the beer is more ruby red/brown, with an eggnog head. The head dissolved fairly quick, but there is about a half pinky's worth of head hanging around. I'm not getting alcohol legs, but I am getting lacing as the super creamy/sticky head hangs to the side of my glass.

It's the damnedest thing with the aroma...this totally uses the same malts or yeast that the Imperial White uses. I get big malts on this, with some caramel, molasses, astringent malt sweetness that is manifesting as Twizzlers and BIG soy sauce. There's some slight toast, and some elusive dark fruits like plums or figs. This is probably an aging bottle, so maybe the alcohol has had some time to settle down, but there is just a hint of booze in the nose.

Ah...finally, the payoff with that huge, thick mouthfeel. The Imperial White and the Wee Heavy both have sticky/dense mouthfeels, probably to a fault. But here, I welcome it. And there is some huge warming on the back end. This opens up with ultra creamy and smooth carbonation, and huge caramel malts, kettle malts, malt sugars, and underlying dark fruits. This rolls into more sweet malts and some toast. The finish is huge, boozy, and you get some nice hints of plums and figs in the mix with the caramelized malts. I'm also getting a hint of spice in the back end of this, maybe from the alcohol? There's some bready/banana/raisin hints in here as well. Overall, hugely malty, dense, creamy, smooth, and nicely warming on the back end. This would make a great Autumn or Winter warmer.

This isn't the most refined Doppelbock I've had, but it's pretty damn accomplished. The mouthfeel is full, sticky, and dense; but also creamy and smooth. I'd say this is a full beer, as it should be. Palate depth is great, and complexity is moderate. Up front is smooth, creamy sweet malt goodness; the middle rolls into malts and toast; the back end is hints of dark fruits, malts, spice, and some big burly warming.

Rating: Above-Average

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. Finally, a beer from the Sam Adams Imperial Series that really owns that huge, sticky mouthfeel. The alcohol is so mellow on this, and you get huge caramel malts, dark fruits, toast, and maybe even some bready-ness. This is worthy of being called "liquid bread." But really, this is just a nice take on a style of beer that I really enjoy. I'd dig this is as a late Fall beer, or an anytime-Winter beer. I'd pair this with a hearty meal, probably dark or red meats or heavy chicken. Really good stuff here, and probably my current favorite from Sam Adams' Imperial Series.