Style – Doppelbock
Great Lakes Brewing Co. – Cleveland, OH
7.8% ABV

Our “Not WI” review period continues with the Great LakesBrewing Co. “The Dopplerock.” When Drew Carey declared week after week that “Cleveland Rocks!” he had to be talking about The Doppelrock. This malty wonderland is brewed in the tradition of the Reinheitsgebot and it shows, there is no pretensions. This is one of the best straight Doppelbocks I have ever had. It rivals the Ayinger Celebrator. It’s that good.

A month or so ago I had reported that this was being released, and wished that it would be brought to Wisconsin, as I had not yet seen any of their special releases other than the Christmas beer. Well, thanks to eriq’s expedition to a local Woodman’s, he found some!

This fully rich malty well balanced nectar  pours a nice clear ruby red color with a thick tan head that sicks around for awhile. The aroma is malty, sweet and caramely. The flavor greets you with a sweet, rich malty goodness, with a slight spice and hints of coffee and nuttiness. It’s a fairly potent beer at 7.8% but it doesn’t taste alcoholy, which is a good thing. Mouthfeel is velvety smooth with a slight carbonation. This is a very drinkable beer. I tasted the beer from cold to warm, and it carried all the way through, as any truly good beer should be able to do.

I hope Great Lakes starts to make this a regular, as it is such a satisfying brew. I can’t wait to find some more, as there is no Woodman’s near me. I had this from a bottle, I can only imagine how good it would be from the tap! This continues the tradition of Great Lakes making great beers. Hopefully their recent expansion will allow this.

Brittain – 5 of 5

Great Lakes Brewing Company is at it again! Thay have installed 5 more 300 barrel tanks after having just expanded the rest of the brewing facilities last summer. From their Facebook page:

Five 300-barrel stainless steel fermentation tanks installed in GLBC’s Tank Farm on 3-4-11. These tanks are crane-lifted off of Carroll Avenue in Ohio City and installed through the roof of GLBC’s Tank Farm.

Just last summer, GLBC’s brewing operations underwent a $7M expansion and upgrade that included a new centrifuge, brewhouse additions, filler, rinser, conveyors and packaging efficiency improvements, a new grain silo, flooring and piping and the installation of four additional storage and fermentation tanks. This installation represents the latest phase in the brewery’s overall expansion project. Read more »