Maui Brewing Co. - "Dopple Shot Doublebock" doppelbock

Today's beer immediately caught my attention at Whole Foods here in DC. It's Maui Brewing Co.'s "Dopple Shot Doublebock," a dopplebock-style ale made with coffee. And while you may recall me saying that I try to avoid coffee beers (after having had so many of them) I couldn't pass this one up.

A "bock" is a German term for a kind of strong lager, of which there are several kinds, including a maibock (or "May bock"), helles bock, eisbock (an ice beer) and dopplebock. Dopplebock is simply German for "double bock" and, like today's example, are darker and stronger than your typical bock bieren. This one is an 8.2% example, made with Yellow Caturra coffee grown in Ka'anapali, Maui, Hawaii. It's Maui Brewing Co.'s limited release (brewed once, I have read.)

Cracked a can open and poured into a pint glass. Immediately it projected a strong aroma of ground coffee beans, and not much else. Really cool, like sticking your face in a freshly-ground bag of coffee. A+ in the aroma department, as far as I'm concerned.

The color is a hazy orange, which is also really cool. Also cool - the flavor. It's spot-on for coffee, holding a strong initial burst, but gives way to a much more balanced finished, with discernible hops and malts making appearances. I like how it's "carefully coffee" - it's not overpowering, and the coffee elements are very particularly presented. Some coffee beers smash you over the head with it, or claim it's coffee but end up having little coffee flavor whatsoever. This beer reminds me of the Fort George's Java The Hop, although maltier. And both JTH and the Dopple Shot have that unexpectedly-light coloring and unexpectedly-light flavor, coupled with delicious coffee notes, that make it a pleasure to drink.

My only concern with Maui's offerings is the cost, and this is somewhat understandable due to the distance such a beer must travel. I'm told that raw ingredients can get costly on the islands, so perhaps this contributes to the cost. Much of what Maui sells is a few bucks above average, and I've even seen their Lemongrass Saison (which I had the misfortune of not trying) for $17.99 a six-pack. So aside from that, everything I've had from Maui has been very good and the Dopple Shot is no exception.