Brewed By: Wagner Valley Brewing Company
Brewed In: Lodi, NY
Type: Doppelbock
ABV: 8.5%
Awards:

• 2002: Gold Medal – Tap New York “Best Craft Beer in New York State”
• 2005: Silver Medal – Great American Beer Festival German Style Strong Bock

What They Say: A true Bavarian style Doppel (Double) Bock specially brewed with only imported Munich Malts that provide this Bier with intense, yet exceptionally smooth dark caramel and molasses flavors. The huge up front malt character has a wonderfully smooth strong alcohol presence that is balanced by imported Tettnanger Noble hops, making this bier incredibly rich and complex.

Website: Wagner Valley’s website (and for a decent portion of the region’s other wineries) is done by Spider Graphics. The Spider Graphics website looks frighteningly similar to my short-lived and ill-fated web design firm INL Designs. Sadly, the images of mine have been lost in various computer copydowns, but the font, shape, and layout are incredibly similar. What this tells me is my business model — be the “go-to” web design consultant for as many local business websites as possible — probably would have worked. Ah, 2003 — back before this grand NYC experiment began. Regardless, this site is kind of what I’d expect from a small design firm. I’d guess that Spider Graphics has about 10 templates and they use them for every client. This layout, for example, is very early 2000 fantastic (confirmed by the calendar page which has a 2003 copyright mark and a “best viewed in Netscape(!) 7 or Internet Explorer 6(!) or later”. I have no real problem with this website other than it looks a little low-rent. The flashing “Buy Online!” button that creates a new menu is a little cheesy. I’m also generally not a huge fan of blue backgrounds and navigation all over creation. But, good for Spider Graphics. At least now I know if I want to retire to New England and fix up the terrible websites of Maine Bed n’ Breakfasts that the market is viable.

Why I Picked It: I found Wagner Valley on a recent trip to the Finger Lakes wineries (further outlined here). Their six-packs were a standard mix-n-match price at the brewery. I’ve never seen this brewery’s products outside Central New York, so I picked five different kinds. This is the beginning of a month-long series looking at Wagner Valley’s beers.

—–

Presentation: The labels on the website are not up to date with the current bottle’s labels. Honestly, I kind of like the old version (Spider Graphics gets them for hosting, too. Well done, gentlemen) a little better. That would have been a 3. The current incarnation is not. 2

Originality: I honestly don’t have much experience with bocks short of the Sam Adams version. I know that the “doppelbock” is a reasonably well-visited concept, but at least not by everyone. 2

Taste: With the description warning me of Munich malts with heavy caramel and molasses notes, I was expecting this to be a sweet explosion. Fortunately, it’s not quite as sweet as the ingredients suggest. As expected, the aftertaste was quite dry and bold, but that’s the style. Really, the sweetness from the caramel and molasses in the initial taste was plenty enough to counteract the bittery dry finish. Overall, a tremendously sweet, tasty beer. 8

Body: The dark-reddish malts color the beer. The beer pours to almost no head. The beer has a surprisingly bold carbonation for the complete and total lack of head. I expected a little more body but it was satisfying nonetheless. It was right on the border between heavy and light without ever committing. This beer could have made the mistake of going a little too syrupy with the big flavors and high alcohol-content and I commend them for preventing that. 7

Efficiency: A big, satisfying flavor at 8.5%. Efficiency perfection is almost tempered by a bold aftertaste and a dry tongue. But, a six-pack of this 8.5% goodness can be yours for $9.99. If you deliver me a high ABV beer for under $10 you have delivered me something that hits all the right notes on the efficiency rating. The only thing possibly more efficient than this is the Trippelbock, but I won’t hold the goodness of one beer against another. 10

Versatility: This beer is really more versatile than it has any right to be. The flavor is tremendous for the ABV and not so strong to scare off a casual drinker. Unfortunately, the sneaky ABV makes this something to be enjoyed in the comfort of your own home and not much else. 7

The Beer Snob Says: You should go to their website and order this. Unless you live in one of the banned states.

36 of 50 – Really good beer.

What They Say: “Samuel Adams® Double Bock was first brewed 20 years ago as the first of our Samuel Adams® seasonal offerings, and it is now one of our most acclaimed beers. Double Bock became one the first big beers to be brewed here in the US, and we are now happy to offer it year round.

We use an enormous amount of malted barley, half a pound per bottle, to brew this intensely rich lager. Its deep mahogany color and velvet smooth flavor is a testament to the beer’s high quality two-row malted barley.”

Website: Sam Adams (The Boston Beer Company) is currently the largest domestic producer of beer in the country (now that Budweiser has become a Fine Belgian Ale™). As you would expect, there’s a pretty huge marketing budget, and this is seen in the site as well. Enter your date of birth, confirm the year in a 2nd screen (annoying), and it’s cleanly laid out from there. Under the “World Of Beer” umbrella, there’s sections for Beer Styles, Brewery Tour (virtual tour—under construction), Beer Encyclopedia, and a Food & Beer pairing section. Beer styles are broken down by type (year-round, seasonal, imperial styles, etc.) making finding the info on a specific beer quite easy.

Why this one, Show?: Though Sam claims this beer is 20 years old, it was new to me. I’m a sucker for any sort of new strong offering from Sam Adams, because they tend to be surprisingly drinkable. Plus, I’m not going to be able to go to the $125-a-plate MA brewer’s beer dinner to try it there. Very malty, according to the label, and I’m always down with that.

Presentation (5): Breaking from the usual tradition of bright label colors, this is a black label with a brown accent. Dark brown bottle, black cap, “Imperial Series” in a banner below the Samuel Adams logo, Sam Adams the man has been relegated to the bottom of the label, poking his head up to cheers us with his perpetual pewter mug. The small label on the back tells us that this is brewed with almost as much malt as a loaf of bread (a half pound). Beer pours very dark amber/mahogany, and there’s malt very evident in the nose. There’s a decent but quickly-dissipating head. By sight and smell, this beer makes me want to drink it. (4)

Originality (5): As a double bock (doppelbock), there’s a few of them out there, but the style can be seasonal. As a Sam Adams, it’s a strong lager, and they don’t do the high-octane stuff very often. I’ll split the difference. (3)

Body (10):  As you sip, the malt presence is very evident. There is very little hop bitterness (almost nonexistent), which makes sense given the sheer amount of malt in the brew. But this is a Sam Adams, make no mistake. Like some Sam beers, once the initial taste is felt, the rest of the sip goes down with almost no body at all, to the point that there’s nearly no finish. I was hoping there would be more of a 2nd half to the mouthfeel, but it’s just not there. True to form, this is a drinkable beer, even with the impressive alcohol level. (5)

Taste (10): Tastes like a malty lager, and that’s good. Due to the malts, there are sweet notes there, which make their presence felt right from the get-go. Also due to the malt, there’s very little (if any) hop bitterness. As the sip glides through the mouth, however, as it loses its body it also loses some of its flavor. Sad to say, but it’s hard to get any taste past the mid-point of the swallow. Is it good? Yes. Is it a good bock? Ehhh, kind of. I did find that as my taste buds deadened with each new beer, a slight syrupy, sweet, taste began to emerge at the back of the throat as I sipped. (6)

Efficiency (10): Most beers labeled “Imperial [Brew Style]” will succeed here, and this beer is no exception. With not a lot of body, no hop bite, and a very impressive (Sam Adams brew or not) ABV of 9.5%, this beer will sneak up on you before you realize it. Sam Adams very kindly packages this in 4-packs of 12-oz. Bottles, and that’s all you really need. You can even give one away and still come away very pleasantly glowy. Very efficient beer. (9)

Versatility (10): This beer works from a versatile standpoint, more or less. You can bring a 4-pack with you someplace, and you’re set for the evening. If you’re bringing this someplace for poker, football, et. al., you’d be wise to spread them out over the evening. On the other side, this beer doesn’t really work so much for drinking games or the like. Well, not if you want to play for more than an hour or so. (7)

Final grade: 34 (out of 50) – Good beer