Tonight’s “beer of the night” was Ayinger’s Celebrator Doppelbock. This beer is considered the grand-daddy of Doppelbocks, a true German classic.
The beer pours a thick dark brown color with a creamy light tan head. The beer smelled of chocolate and roasted malts with a slight metallic scent. The beer tastes like roasted chocolate malts with a thinner, but creamy and smooth mouthfeel. There’s also a slight caramel undertone to the flavor with an every so slight hops bitterness. This is a good drinkable beer and something any beer lover should try, being such a classic for this style.
The only other Doppelbock I have ever tried was Thomas Hooker’s Liberator Doppelbock. That one was a whole lot thicker with almost a motor oil feel to it. I wasn’t as crazy about that one, though I will definitely revisit it.
Tonight was a special tasting at Nikki’s, the fully line of Allagash beers (at least those available in RI). For those who don’t know, Allagash is a brewery in Portland, ME that specializes in Belgian style beers. They have a few standards that are standard Belgians, but they also have a series of barrel aged beers. All of these were available at the tasting, and in true form, I tried each of them.
The first was their White, a Witbier. It was one of the best Wits I’ve had. I’m not normally a fan of this style, but this one was excellent with flavor of orange peel and coriander. Following that was their Dubbel Reserve, obviously a Belgian style Dubbel. The only other Dubbel I have tried was the St. Bernardus Pater 6. I wasn’t overly crazy about that one, but the Allagash Dubbel was excellent. It had a malty flavor with some raisins and other fruit mixed in. Next was the Tripel Reserve, again obviously a Belgian style Tripel. This one was a bit less smooth with more of a dry flavor to it with a little bit of Belgian hops mixed in. The last of their regular lineup was the Grand Cru, a Tripel brewed with spices, making it a Belgian Strong Pale Ale. This is their winter seasonal. It was one of my favorites of the night.
Following those were their special barrel aged beers. The first of these was Fluxus. It’s a Strong Pale Ale made with rye malt and flavored with yarrow. I wasn’t overly crazy about it. It had kind of a piney flavor, but not something I really enjoyed. It was definitely different and interesting though. Then came the 11th Anniversary Ale. This is a Belgian Strong Dark Ale. Unfortunately, having had so many beers, I just don’t remember this one. Perhaps it was because the others were just better. Following that was the Musette. This breaks away from their Belgian style beers and is actually a Scotch Ale aged in Jim Beam barrels. This had a lot of the Jim Beam flavor and was really smooth. I liked this one and if you’re a fan of whiskey or bourbon, you would like this one. Next was the Curieux, a Tripel aged in Jim Beam barrels. I had tried this before. This was one good Tripel. The flavors worked really well together. Finally, we had the Interlude. This one was the most different, and my favorite of the night (I even bough a bottle for about $21). The flavor was a little tart, almost like a Flanders Red Ale, with a little of the oak flavor from the barrel aging and some winey fruitiness. Beer Advocate calls it a Belgian Strong Pale Ale, but it doesn’t really taste like most other beers in that style.
This was one of the busiest tastings I have been to, but I wasn’t surprised by that. We bought a whole bunch of beer that I’ll most definitely be writing about. It was another great night at Nikki’s.
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