I have never had a doppelbock before, so when my beers of the month arrived the other day I decided I’d try the Emancipator first. I made a midnight snack of it with toast. I feel like a crazy person saying this, but I swear it smells like hops in the bottle. Unexpected. It has some nice not-too-sweet caramel, maple syrup, and molasses flavors and packs a nontrivial alcoholic wallop.
Speaking of doppelbocks, I brought some Bell’s Consecrator to a party the other night, but what I drank there was a Fat Tire. Baby’s first Fat Tire, can you believe it? And hey, that stuff’s not bad at all. Malt and hops, in that order, the way I prefer it. Smells a little flowery, tastes a little bready, not too much of anything. It’s nice. After birthday cake it needs a palate cleanser, and once it warms to room temperature it’s awful, but on the whole this is a tasty beer, one I’m glad to have made friends with because who drinks beer and doesn’t like a Fat Tire?
The other other night, I went to another party and had a Gosser Dark. This is really tasty. I imagine it’s a good gateway for people who fear dark beers; I finished mine almost before I knew it. Weirdly all the descriptors I can think of for the flavor profile don’t sound very good: brine, minerals, fancy sea salt, wood, good tap water. But I assure you I enjoyed it.
