It's tuesday, I have beer notes covering my desk at home, full fridge of beer, it's dark, and I'm wearing sunglasses. (movie reference) Going to make it a two for tuesday today and go with an imported beer and a domestic.
Our first gem comes from the old town portion of Dusseldorf, Germany (Dusseldorf-Altftadt). Uerige has been brewing since 1862 and is known as the longest bar in the world. Their lineup includes a standard alt, an unfiltered alt, the doppelsticke, and a weizen. In 2008 they began distilling their standard alt and the doppelsticke into whiskey. The doppelsticke is produced exclusively for US import, and can be classified as Germany's interpretation of a barley wine.
Since 2005, UERIGE has been brewing a special extra strong beer for the US market. Our DoppelSticke has an astonishing 8.5% abv and yet there’s no mistaking its taste: Dat is dat leckere Dröppke, as they say (that is the delicious droplet).
After the ‘gigantic herbal aroma of hops’ (Michael Jackson) that surprises the palate at the first tasting, aromatic sensations follow midway: caramelized sugar, malt and herbs, rich nuances of dark chocolate and rum, rounded off with a smooth and shimmering finish.
Apart from being sold in the USA, this rarity can only be obtained at our STICKUM bar – that is, if we have it in store. This beer also has a guaranteed minimum storage period of four weeks, but true aficionados take this to be a mere suggestion – they swear by storing their DoppelSticke in the cellar for another whole year. But then...!
Appearance: Pours a deep dark copper to dark brown. Thick brown head reduces to one finger with good lacing.
Aroma: Smells of dark fruit and molasses.
Flavor: Rich burnt sugar and molasses flavor up front with an array of herbal hops. This leads into dark fruit, somewhat reminding me of brandied fruitcake and black currant. Some hop bitterness is present throughout and it finishes sweet and rich.
Mouthfeel: High body with low carbonation, very thick and chewy.
Overall: I have nothing to judge this upon since I have never had a doppelsticke before. This reminds me of the barley wine style but it is richer and has less hop bitterness and flavor. Runs down the palate smooth, and is a great sipping beer. Something that would be great as an after dinner beer or on a cool fall night.
One excelent beer. Everry time when i go to Dusseldorf, the first stopped was made in to one beer house. Cheers UERIGE !
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