Hooray for our side! We, after all, scored a bottle of Heavy Seas/Troegs Hoppelbock, an entry in the Heavy Seas Partner Ships series of beers made in cooperation with a changing array of other breweries. So far, I’ve only seen the one release, the Hoppelbock. There have been four according to the brewery website, and they say that the Hoppelbock is Extremely Limited in its availability. Hoppelbock is kind of a hoppy doppelbock, so if I had to find just one of these beers, this is the one for me, doppelbocks being my favorite style…in the world!

And hey, if you’re going to brew a doppelbock with another brewery, then Troegs is an excellent choice. You could argue for Victory as well if you’re trying to keep it to the Mid-Atlantic area, but Troegs, makers of the wonderful Troegenator, is a perfect choice. They know doppelbock folks. Not many American brewers do. You can, however, count Heavy Seas amongst those few; their Plank II Doppelbock was a very nice rendition of the style indeed.

From the label, about the Partner Ships series:

The Partner Ships are bold and unique beers brewed at Heavy Seas Beer in Baltimore, MD, in collaboration with some of our most esteemed colleagues. Born of friendship, creativity, and a boundless sense of adventure, the Partner Ships celebrate the spirit of American craft beer today.

They say this about the Hoppelbock in particular:

We’ve added copious amounts of spicy, floral German hops to a bready, rich malt base to create this expression of regional collaborative ingenuity. Employing a generous dose of locally malted barley and massive dry-hopping, this lager can only be categorized as a “Hoppelbck.”

Ingredients from the website:

Hops Blend of German and American Hops

Malts Floor malted German Pilsen malt, Local Vienna malt (MD), Local

Heavy Seas/Troegs Hoppelbck has an alcohol content of 8% by volume with 50 IBUs. It was reasonably priced at $7.99 for a bomber bottle, too. My bottle says best by October of 2016, and I drank mine on August 25^th.

Heavy Seas Troegs Hoppelbock pours to a deep amber color with a thick creamy head of foam and a finely intertwined nose of toasty malts and earthy grassy hops. Taking a sip, the beer has rich toasty nutty melanoidin rich malty notes infused with earthy, perfumey floral, herbal hop aroma. The beer finishes on the hoppy side for the style, grassy bitter and lingering long dry and bitter.

What a different and delicious treat! I’ll confess I appreciate the traditional maltiness of a doppelbock, but I do appreciate the robust German hop character here married to the deeply toasted malts. This, my friends, is one Partner Ship that I surely hope sails again. I’ll give it 4 stars on merit, adherence to style (except for the hops) and hedonistically with a bonus half star for originality and reasonable price.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft



Home