Aventinus Doppelboch

Aventinus is brewed by Georg Schneider & Sohn in Kelheim, Germany. I got talked into this one while I was at a fall beer tasting at our local Wine, Beer and Cheese shop, Red White & Bleu.

While it’s a doppelbock, it’s also a weissbier, which I don’t usually care for. All the same, I thought I’d give it a spin, because the tasting notes sounded appealing and Harry, the shop’s beer guy and co-owner, thought I might like it based on my description of what I usually drink (dark, malty, sweeter, high-alcohol beers.)

I brought it home and chilled it, and I have it in front of me right now. The notes on the bottle say:

Aventinus, the world’s classic top-fermenting wheat-doppelbock, has received accolades for the perfect balance of fruity spiciness (banana, clove, vanilla) and notes of chocolate (crystal & dark malts). Unfiltered & unpasteurized, bottle-conditioned.

The beer pours a medium, cloudy brown (normal to dark for a beer of this type). The second you put your nose in the glass, there’s no question it’s a weissbier, as you get hit with the characteristic smell of banana on the nose. There’s also a hint of sweetness in the bouquet that tends toward caramel. The mixture of the two creates sort of a toned down bananas foster aroma.

The flavor is mild, but is consistent with the aroma. There are definitely cloves on the palate, though I don’t taste the vanilla. There’s just that same hint of sweetness, even less pronounced than it is in the smell, which pushes this into a more favorable direction for me.

As weissbiers go, this one is drinkable, and with an alcohol content of 8.2%, you’d only need a couple to last you the night. I’m still not a convert, however. I’ll take malted barley over malted wheat any day.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d give this beer a solid 6. If you like wheat beer, however, I could see how this one could easily become a chart-topper.