Ruby red doppelbock from Croatia not as rich and sultry as renowned Ayinger Celebrator, hiding its 7.5% ABV in a sea of dewily caramelized dried fruiting. Molasses-toasted date, raisin and fig gain prickly honeyed spicing in a serene setting.
On tap at Plank Pizza, richly creamed vanilla-daubed chocolate base solidifies fulsome doppel. Expectant raisin-prune-fig dried fruiting gains rummy caramel sweetness and wispy whiskey whir. Slight guava, mango and pineapple tropicalia deepens its spectral resolve.
In the can, creamily smooth cask conditioning serenades sweet molasses maple-dipped nuttiness and mild cocoa powdering plus tart raisin, cherry and purple grape notions to dry dark chocolate malting in pleasantly understated fashion.
On tap at Taphouse 15, sweet dark chocolate rye breading stays modest alongside mildly perfume-spiced dried fruiting, reaching dewy Vienna-Munich malt base in buttery lagered yeast setting.
On tap at Cloverleaf, Balinator dopplebock variant utilizes raw green Costa Rican coffee beans in lieu of hops. Milk-sugared coffee sweetness gains candied toffee spicing, mild peated dewiness, distant dried fruiting and buttery chestnut waver.
On tap at Jealous Monk, standard doppel places nutty toffee spicing and candied date sugaring above caramelized chocolate malting, contrasting its overall delicate sweetness with brown leaf foliage.
On tap at Ambulance, underwhelmingly thin doppelbock brings faded hazelnut, chestnut and praline subtleties to dewy molasses rye meadow leading to toasted brioche breading.
On tap at Hoover’s, waywardly hybridized doppelbock lacks sufficient richness, texture and coconut milking. Mild coconut adjunct lost to faded plum-dried toffee spicing and dewy peat moisture, picking up unusual soured cider sharpness.
Interesting (if not totally convincing) bock hybrid layers medium-roast Blue Moon coffee beans above coarsely dried-fruited peat malts, leaving sweet vanilla and dark chocolate tones in the lurch. Using green Bali coffee beans instead of dry hops, its subtle berry-cherry notions fade too quick while black licorice, cola nut and hazelnut illusions merely waver in an unbalanced mix that’ll satisfy coffee lovers only at the beginning.
On tap at Ambulance, rangy bock brings mild brown-sugared dried fruiting to caramelized Vienna malting, brown chocolate sweetness and dewy wood-soaked foliage. Spiced fig, date and plum tones crystallize at the finish.
On tap at Liberty Craft House, suspect doppel-hefe combo never truly connects both German styles. But its hefe-like banana breading and clove-cinnamon-nutmeg spicing and bock-like toffee-cocoa-pecan conflux offer pleasantries for sweet-toothed brewhounds.
On tap at Bronx Alehouse, stylishly complex off-dry amber-browned dunkel bock retains brown-sugared molasses breading and nutty cocoa malting. Latent citrus souring lags, but sharp hop bite lingers.
