Twelve beers of Christmas: #10

I've just realised that I've yet to christen the stein I bought during the summer from Beers Of Europe. As it's Andechs branded, the Schneider and Hacker-Pschorr can stay on the shelf and a doppelbock dunkel can come out to play.



This was the beer with which I celebrated my 1000th rating on ratebeer.com (ah, the halcyon days of rating like a madman). My impressions then were of a belting brown beer that had a 'sweetshop medley' of flavours. It certainly looked good in the stein, a billowing head collapsing to slick wisps with bready notes wafting upward. There's a smokey edge kept in check by fresh toffee, a sweetness through dried fruits. And that sweetshop is still there for me - liqourice nibbles, Scottish caramel, sugared almonds, honeycomb....

With an assertive malt finish and just enough alcohol heat, Andechs Doppelbock Dunkel was a joy to savour alongside a huge plate of schinkenwurst sarnies. A great beer of a style that I love yet don't drink as often as I should. I'l have to keep the stein out of the cupboard and fill it up on a regular basis.

One last thing - if you haven't already seen it, check out the 'brewery tour' on the Andechs website. I think it's one of the simplist, clearest illustrations of the brewing process that I've found on the internet.