Great American Beer Festival 2010
Top Tastings 2010
ABV: 8.2%
Origin: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA
Website: http://www.troegs.com
Tröegs Troegenator Doublebock Beer
Most of the more celebrated American craft brews are warm fermented ales, but here’s an East Coast microbrewer making a very convincing fist of an original European extreme lager style, the Doppelbock. The name of the brewery exemplifies the delightfully dilettantish multiculturalism of the US craft brewing scene: it’s partly derived from the family name of brothers John and Chris Trogner, who founded the brewery in 1996, but blended with Dutch ‘kroeg’, pub, with the intrusion of a completely unwarranted Scandinavian-style umlaut.
The beer name, meanwhile, apes the German tradition of back-forming Bock brand names with ‘-ator’ on the model of Paulaner’s Salvator. It’s made with Pilsner, Munich and chocolate malts and a relatively modest dose of imported Hallertau and Žatec hops.
This amber beer has a fine yellowy off-white head and a surprisingly light malty aroma. A crisp and biscuity malty palate tastes authentically Bock-like but turns quite dry and yeasty with fruity esters and a chewy nutty note. It’s obviously strong but not overbearingly so. A smooth, tasty, creamy and lightly nutty finish signs the beer off in a well-integrated flourish. Worthy of consideration alongside its German models.
Read more about this beer at ratebeer.com: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/troegs-troegenator-doublebock/13174/
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