Aroma: Moderate caramel malt is the dominant aroma with light toast and hints of fruit. Balanced citrus and minty hop aromas.
Appearance: Amber and crystal clear. Large, meringue-like, fluffy off-white head that will not go away.
Flavor: Huge caramel malt character with light toast and a late hit of roast. Malt dominates, but is balanced by an assertive bitterness and bold minty hop flavor that leaves a cooling sensation all the way down and finishes with a peppery spice. Finish has a dry, crisp, lager character but there is a beautiful lingering dark caramel that hangs around long after the swallow.
Mouthfeel: Medium body with a somewhat creamy texture. Dry and crisp. Medium-high carbonation.
Overall Impression: Fresh from the brewery and very tasty. I love the big caramel malt, but the roast that I’m getting seems high and distracting. Good balance with the hop flavor and bitterness. More hop aroma would make this an impressive all around sensory experience. I had it with a vegetarian meal of green salad, asparagus, and chive mashed potatoes, which it complemented well. Would also be great with saucy BBQ, sharp cheddar cheese or a creamy, young gouda.

Aroma: All hickory BBQ smoke. The smoke has a woody character instead of the meaty character of most traditional Beechwood smoked beers. Faint hints of caramel malt and dried dark fruits lurk way in the background.
Appearance: Dark mahogany with ruby highlights. Beautiful, thick off-white head that lasted a long time and left lace on the glass. Clear.
Flavor: That wonderful cherry wood smoke is the dominant flavor. Like the aroma, it’s a woody smoke instead of a meaty smoke. It has a charred BBQ pit quality that is very nice. Sweet caramelized raisin maltiness and dried cherry notes provide a solid counterpoint to the smoke. There is a faint spicy heat in the finish that reminds me of chipotles.
Mouthfeel: Crisp and well attenuated. Medium body but rich and creamy. Medium carbonation.
Overall Impression: A wonderful blend of dried dark fruits and woody BBQ smoke. Although I was assured that there were no chili peppers used, this has all the goodness of a dark sweet chipotle ale without the undrinkable heat that most often comes with those beers. This would go great with any BBQ.

Aroma: Toasted raisin bread with light caramel. There is a hint of alcohol and a trace of spicy hops.  Overall the aroma lacks complexity.
Appearance: Pours with a low, creamy, off-white head that dissipates quickly to a thin film on surface. It is easily roused but doesn’t last. Reddish mahogany color and clear.
Flavor: Raisins and brown sugar are the dominant flavors. While doppelbocks are sweet, this one seems overly so. It lacks the dry finish that I expect. Bitterness is also higher than expected, perhaps to counter the sweetness, with some black pepper hop flavors. Alcohols are slightly hot. Finishes quickly with some lingering sweetness and a slight metallic character.
Mouthfeel: Medium body. It seems a bit thin and watery. Alcohol warmth is noticeable and verging on hot. Medium-high carbonation.
Overall Impression: A fairly one dimensional doppelbock. Not unpleasant, but also not very complex. Could use more depth in the malt profile. The 6.7% alcohol is on the low end for the style making the hot alcohol a disappointing surprise.

Aroma: Bread and bread crust malt dominates with subtle spicy hop highlights. Light corny character.
Appearance: Golden and very clear. Fine white head that dissipated quickly.
Flavor: Grainy and bready malt with some light corn character is balanced by an assertive hop bitterness and spicy licorice hop flavor. Clean. Crisp. Finish lingers on grainy malt with some of those licorice notes hanging on. Well balanced between malt and hop bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied and crisp. Medium-high carbonation.
Overall Impression: Flavorful and refreshing with a crisp lager character. Nicely balanced. The malt wasn’t as deep and rich as I have experienced in some authentic examples from Germany, but this is a reasonably good example of a Dortmunder. Yellow lagers don’t have to be flavorless. I would love to drink this with smoked sausage and sauerkraut. It would also go well with pizza.

Aroma: Gentle bacony smoke rests on top of deep bread crust malt. Like home-baked white bread. Hints of slate, cool herbal hop, and cinnamon.
Appearance: Poured light golden and slightly hazy. The low, fine, white head dissipated quickly leaving gauze of tiny white bubbles on surface.
Flavor: Deep bready/bread crust malt and a mild greasy/meaty smoke are featured, but the smoke does not dominate as in the Schlenkerla smoked beers. A crisp and assertively bitter spicy/herbal hop shows up mid-palate to remind you that they are there. The quick finish fades back to bready, smoky malt with one last bite of bitterness on the swallow. Crisp and clean lager yeast character.
Mouthfeel: Crisp and snappy with medium-light body and medium-high carbonation. Slight greasy feeling that often comes with smoked beers.
Overall Impression: A great example of the Munich Helles style with the added bonus of gentle smoke. Brauerei Heller-Trum is renowned for the Schlenkerla Rauchbiers. While this beer uses no smoked malts, it gains a smoky character by being brewed and filtered with the same equipment as the other beers. That light smoke is the perfect addition to this classic style and is well supported by the stunning depth of malt character in this beer. A classic. Would be great with sausages, smoked/cured meats, or wood fire grilled veggies.

Aroma: Light bready pilsner malt sweetness with corny undertones. Hints of clove and wet stone. Slight cabbage vegetal character.
Appearance: Light gold and slightly hazy. Raised a low, fine, white head that dissipated quickly. Retains a lacy film on the surface of the beer.
Flavor: The tongue is greeted with a bitter, spritzy splash of spicy licorice and cool herbal German hops. This opens up in the center to a softly sweet, bready malt with notes of corn. The finish is mostly dry with a last bite of mineral hop bitterness giving way to lingering bready malt and cool herbal flavors. Crisp lager yeast character. This bottle displayed some cardboard oxidation and faint cabbage vegetal notes. In general the malt flavors seemed a little lifeless. It was likely an older bottle.
Mouthfeel: High carbonation gives a tingly bite on the tongue. Medium-light body.
Overall Impression: Snappy and refreshing, although malt character in this bottle seemed a little flat and one-dimensional. I think a fresher bottle would reveal a delectable, bready, pilsner malt focused beer, but one in which the malt dances with cool herbal hops. Serve this beer with light fish dishes and shellfish, sandwiches, or roast pork with dumplings.