Review 117: Wehenstephaner Korbinian

Review 117

12/12/12

Weihenstephaner Korbinian: 7.4% abv

Here we go. We wanted to bring back the dopplebock beers for another go. The first dopplebock we tried had us so confused with life, it was hard to move forward (Charkoota Rye). As a reminder, a dopplebock is a heavier lager, generally darker in color. So let’s give this type of beer a better shot. 

On the nose, this one has dark, sweet notes like chocolate fudge, caramel, molasses, nutmeg, coffee, vanilla, roasted malt, cream, toffee and even oak. Besides this, you can find fruitiness and spiciness in blackberries, apple, red grape, and some cloves. The nose is complex and starts off with a musty sort of barnyard hay smell, which is unique, but not horribly off-putting. The arrival of the beer isn’t big, but it has sweet notes of molasses,  and caramel, with the addition of some oak, coffee and even tart citrus. 

The body contains a lot of woody notes, butterscotch, caramel, dry spices, apple and a mild coffee. This isn’t coffee like you’ll find in a stout, mind you. It is much milder, less rich, and more grainy of a flavor than what is found in a stout. The finish contains just said graininess, with dry malt, wheat and then continues with blueberry, chocolate, and coffee beans. 

Now, this may seem like a short list of tasting notes, and that’s because it is. Don’t be deterred though, friends. This beer is a lighter style to the heavier, more complex stout and IPAs in the world of beers. What this beer accomplishes, then, is the ability to have a light mouth-feel, lighter drinking experience while still offering the user a range of prominent flavors. For this, we recognize what a dopplebock is supposed to be. German beers generally don’t take the heavy, dark flavors that American beers do, so this makes it much more tolerable than for beginners or drinkers who want a lighter style beer. For that, we like this dopplebock. It doesn’t scare us as much as Charkoota. 

Score: 9.0/10

Review 58: New Holland Charkoota Rye

Review 58

6/12/12

New Holland Charkoota Rye: 7.79% abv

Yup, it's a lager. Not like lagers you would know though. Not like lagers anybody knows. This is a smoked dopplebock, so for the people out there who don't speak German, that's a heavy lager. That should be evident in it's color. And I'll be honest, this is probably the most unique beer we've ever tasted, good, bad or indifferent. 

Disclaimer: None of the tasting notes in this review have been exaggerated at all. Beware. Onto the nose. On the nose, the one that will punch you in the face is the smell of smoked mesquite, with further notes of chocolate, vanilla, raisons, cinnamon, sweet potato, coffee, rye, tartar sauce, nutmeg, smoked pig skin, and slight hay. Like I said, I wish I was making this up, but this is all part of what this beer smells like. Onto the taste, you'll be shocked to find it's just as bazaar. The taste is HUGELY smokey, with an oddly out of place creaminess to it, coffee, cherry, caramel, root beer, malt, molasses, and strawberry. Don't worry, it get's better in the finish. 

On the finish, there is root beer, spicy beef jerky, bacon, cherry and coffee. The finish is long and prominent, so you won't forget what you're tasting for a while. This beer is not BAD by any means, but chances are, you won't like it. It represents everything a beer should be: complex, unique, and of good quality. Just beware...We can't mark it down for being so darn outlandish, so we still gave it a mark for a high quality beer. 

Score: 8.5/10