Wednesday 7 January 2015

Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock

Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock
Style: Doppelbock
Alcohol Content: 6.7%
From: Aying, Germany
Purchased From: Noble Green Wines, Hampton Hill, United Kingdom

Recently, feeling in the festive spirit, Kevin and I decided to re-home a stray cat that had crossed our paths. Due to his ragged appearance, we decided to re name him Scrappy. After an emotional couple of weeks of caring and feeding the little chap, it was time for him to be rehomed in leafy Bury St.Edmunds. Feeling sad about his departure, we both decided we deserved a little treat, so we popped down to Hampton Hill Noble Green Wines (quickly becoming our favourite bottle shop) and picked up our Christmas beers. Whilst browsing the shelves, I came across a beer which was aptly named Celebrator. After buying a few bottles, we soon made for home to celebrate Scrappy's successful rehoming.

Personally, I'm very excited about this beer. So as I sat down with some delicious festive nibbles (Brie and Cranberry parcels from Marks and Spencers in particular), I began researching to help 'prep my palate'. Ratebeer.com suggests that; "Celebrator has a creamy head of tight bubbles contrasting beautifully with its profound dark robe.". A dark robe I ask you; perhaps this is an academic master in disguise?

Intrigued, i decided to perform a little more research on the Brewery. Ayinger is a is a medium-sized German brewery located in Aying, Bavaria, about 25 km outside of Munich. Founded in 1876 by Johann Liebhard, the brewery struggled during the Great Depression and almost closed it door due to the hyperinflation and falling property prices. However, as the economy stabilized, the brewery was also able to restructure its debts and slowly develop into the brewery we know today. 

Celebrator Doppelbock

Colour: Pours a deep, mocha brown, with a foamy  tan head that later clings to the edge of the glass. When I hold this bock up to the light, hardly any light penetrates through this dark, mysterious liquid.

Aroma: Surprisely, this beer smells like a blend of alpine apple strudel, Christmas cake and sweet custard. Once warmed, the drink slowly develops subtle hint of smokiness, cocoa nibs and dry fruit.

Body: A beautifully fully body, complete with a delicate carbonation that coats your mouth on every sip. Now I'm beginning to understand the what the "Dark Robe" is all about, it's just so silky in the mouth. Personally I am surprised how full bodied it actually felt. Despite having a relatively low alcohol content, the sweet caramel sweetness adds a thick denseness that i would normally associated with my beloved Barley Wines. Amazing stuff.

Taste: Very, very fruity. This beer is bursting bold flavours of rich, spiced fruit cake. The use of caramel malts help to deposit notes of sweet, sticky molasses and hints of chocolate and coffee. Yum! Yum! This is a drink that you could easily ruin if you try and coif too soon, so its worth sipping slowly and really savouring that fruit cake taste. This beer really is a pudding in a glass. P.s. Each bottle comes with a collectible goat trinket. Since we brought quite a few of these beers, I'm beginning to build quite a collection!

Celebrator Doppelbock
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1 comments:

dirkbreedveld said...

It's a excellent beer for grilled meat dishes

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