Weihenstephaner Korbinian
October 19, 2008
When I spent a semester in Austria, one of my regular rituals was to walk down to the local Spar and grab two things: a Milka chocolate bar and a bottle or three of Kaiser Doppelmalz. Doppelmalz was everything all the American beer I’d ever had wasn’t – dark, sweet, malty and delicious.
I’ve never found Kaiser’s Doppelmalz since coming back to the States, which might be a good thing, based on some online reviews I’ve found. (Perhaps it’s better in memory than in reality). Until now, the closest I’d ever come was the pretty damn good but not quite great Celebrator Doppelboch.
Today, on a walk with the family, we stopped into the German Gourmet, where I picked up a Milka bar, a sampler of German cold cuts (including some outstanding blood sausages, one with beef tongue, which was really tasty) and a single bottle of Weihenstephaner Korbinian. I could only get a single bottle, in fact, because for some reason it was the only one in the store. I took one look at it, and realized that the force was strong with it.
Let me just say that with this double bock beer, it was love at first taste. Suddenly, memories of Austria in the Fall of 1999 came rushing back, and I saw myself loading up on beer and chocolate for the hike back to the Kartause.
Having long-since finished the bottle, my tasting notes will be brief. Suffice to say this is a dark, thickish sort of beer with (for someone of my tastes) a nice, borderline heavy sweetness that comes through as a bit caramel and a bit molasses. There’s dark, sun-dried fruit in there too, though it’s hard to put your finger on them – dates? Figs? Raisins? Something that’s perhaps a hybrid of all three.
I can’t recommend this beer strongly enough if you like your beers dark, malty and a bit sweet. This is a new favorite of mine, and while the German Gourmet is walking distance from the house, I may need to find a supplier who’ll have more than one bottle in stock at at time.
(Total Wine & More; $2.99)
