Back in July of 2012, I celebrated the 300^th beer of my Taco Mac Brewniversity studies with a delicious glass of Great Divide Wolfgang Doppelbock. This was, of course, only fitting, since doppelbocks are my favorite style of beer. Given that I’ve been enjoying great craft beer for 30 years now, I’m often asked what my favorite beer is. I truly can’t say as there are just too many I love; naming my favorite style is about as close as you’re ever going to get to that answer.

Anyway, around the same time that I tried the beer on draft at Taco mac, I also bought a bottle and socked it away for future reference. Both purchases were reasonable in price, at least as beer goes these days. The draft glass was $6 for an 11 ounce short pour, while the 22 ounce bomber bottle was $7.99.

My bottle was packaged on June 25^th, 2012, so it was quite fresh indeed when I bought it. The beer has 8% alcohol by volume, just about right for the style. It is indeed a lager beer. Great Divide describes it as follows on the label:

Originally called “liquid bread,” the Doppelbock style sustained monks through periods of penitent fasting. WOLFGANG has heavenly notes of caramel, dark fruit, and toffee balanced by a subtle hop character. While its revered history evokes an appreciation of austerity and sacrifice, this Doppelbock is a rich luxury—no repentance required.

Now let’s see how I describe it, shall we?

Great Divide Wolfgang Doppelbock pours to a rich mahogany color with a light creamy tan head formation and a lightly sweet malt and toasted nut nose. Taking a sip, I’m immediately impressed with the dark malty, nutty-toasty melanoidin character of the beer. It hits you right away as you sip and intensifies right on into the finish. Do I get a little molasses flavor? I do. The beer finishes slightly sweet, but a last minute dose of grassy German hops keeps it from being too sweet; a little alcohol warmth also helps with that.

An excellent doppel, very impressive, well suited for cold weather though I confess I am sipping and enjoying it on a warm spring evening. It’s nice indeed to see more American brewers cranking out doppelbocks these days, and I think Wolfgang will rank up there with the better ones. Along with Jailhouse’s Dead Man Walking, this is one of my favorite recent examples of the style.

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