I have spent the last few months focused on drinking and reviewing malty beers, especially malty lagers. My frequent readers might notice that there is one style I haven’t touched upon, the dopplebock. I love dopplebocks, bold and malty, but still smooth and drinkable, they are one of my favorite styles of lager. Dopplebocks are an especially great selection for the late fall/early winter. The full flavor holds up well with hearty food and the higher ABV helps combat the falling temperatures. I admit, I have been holding out a little! I bought a number of dopplebocks and sampled them over the last few weeks so this week I’ll focus my beer reviews on a few of my favorites. Hoppy Boston Dopplebock Week begins with a review of Troegs Brewing Company’s highly regarded dopplebock, which is fittingly named, Troegenator (the -ator suffix is common for traditional German dopplebocks). Troegs brews this dopplebock year round using a combination of Pilsner, Munich and Chocolate malts along with Magnum and German Northern Brewer hops. It is sold on draft, in 12 and 22 oz. bottles and 16 oz. cans.
Troegs Troegenator Dopplebock pours cola brown with a moderate off-white head. The scent is a mixture of bready dark malts and a little boozy alcohol. The flavor is very malt forward, roasted grains, whole wheat toast, dark fruits like plum and raisin, and just a bit of chocolate. There is minimal hop flavor and just a bit of bitterness at the end. The beer is clean and drinkable, with a little lingering alcohol in the flavor. Troegenator drinks pretty easy for a bigger beer, but with a full 8.2% ABV it is a beer made for sipping. Overall this is a very solid version of the dopplebock style, big malt flavor combined with the drinkability that you expect from a lager. Hoppy Boston score: 4.25/5.
Previous Troegs reviews:
Hoppy Boston 
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