Great Divide Wolfgang
Originally called "liquid bread," the Dopplebock style guided monks through periods of penitent fasting. Wolfgang has heavenly notes of caramel, dark fruit, and toffee balanced by a subtle hop character. While its revered history evokes and appreciation of austerity and sacrifice, this Dopplebock is a rich luxury - no repentance required.
3.5
311 reviews
Denver, United States
Community reviews
Pours a bright, ruby color with a slim, tan head. Strong caramel and toffee notes. Very nice. Smooth taste with some smoked caramel and toffee notes. Dark fruit with some malty presence as well. Not overpowering, but very, very good.
Tan heads fades immediately. Aroma of toffee and caramel. Taste is more toffee, dark fruit, bread, sherry. Medium palate, slightly sticky. Excellent.
Mycket smakrik, fin rödbrun färg. En aning söt. En öl som ska upplevas i måttliga mängder.
Bottle @ Yespr. Pours clear amber with a near creamy white small diminishing head. Aroma is sweet, prune, wort, candy, sweet dark bread, caramel and toffee, Taste is moderate sweet and bitter. Body is medium, texture is viscous, carbonation is very soft. Finishes balanced.
Bottle 22fl.oz. @ [ Fastelavn Smagning - Carnival Tasting, Ulfborg ].
[ As Great Divide Wolfgang ].
Clear medium to dark red amber color with a average, frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, cookie, caramel, sweet malt, candy, caramelized malt. Flavour is moderate sweet and light bitter with a long duration, caramelized malt - malt extract, sweet malt. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft, finish feel is light alcoholic. [20140301]
650 ml bottle. Pours a murky dark brown color with a medium beige head that soon fades to a fine film. The aroma is mild with caramel, toffee and brown sugar. The taste, like the aroma, is a hodgepodge of dark malts, caramel, toffee and bitter hazelnuts. The palate is a bit thinner than I prefer and the carbonation is soft. Finishes medium in duration and dry. Overall: Tasty stuff.
Bottle @ home. Pours clear dark copper with a beige head. Nose is sweet with a deep caramel and toffee aroma nicely blended with nuttyness, dark fruits and some vinous notes, plus spices, vanilla and wood. Big mouth feel, soft low carbonation. Long lasting sweet taste of caramel, red fruits, marzipan, dark bread. Raisins and wood in the finish, notes of milk chocolate. Medium well integrated bitterness. I believe this one will become even better with some more aging.
Med ölföreningen julen 2013. Smak och doft av humle, malt, karamell, torkad frukt, marsipan, jäst, russin och chokladtoner. Tydlig beska. En aning spritig och hade tjänat på att lagras något år men redan nu finns här fina smaker att åtnjuta.
Bottle - Nutty, dark bread with some caramel and dark fruit. Dark caramel with a beige rich head. Lots of dark malts and bread, with a sweet raisin finish. Nice.
Dark brown with a thin tan head. Aroma is fresh baked bread, dark fruit and sweet malt. Thick bread mouth feel with a rich sweetness from the malt. Dark fruit and some raisin.
Wife: 3.9
Little bitter for my liking but last sips better than the first. Pleasing to the eye. Minimal amount of foam. I’d drink it again.
Bottle at Fastelavn Smagning 2014 @ J&C’s beer palace, Jutland Saturday Session 2 - 01/03/14.
Lightly hazed dark amber/chestnut brown with a good sized beige covering that thins to spottage.
Nose is toffee, brown sugars, dark fruit, light booze, spice rack.
Taste comprises dark toffee, musty fruit mash, brown sugars, bitter smacks, light booze.
Medium + bodiment, fine carbonation, sweet licks in the close.
I thought this was a little boring, failed to deliver any great flavour for the ABV and likely the poorest offering I’ve had from GD.
Bomber into a pint glass. Pours a clear dark copper/brown, with a moderate, fairly long lasting tan head. Fair lacing. Nose is medium roast malt and a hint of sweet bread. Taste is like slightly sweet sark wheat bread. Delicious. Medium carbonation and a long-lasting finish.
Bottle courtesy of Jan at Craigs doing a Chris O tasting, Edingburgh (ta for the beer Jan) Friday 14th March Dark brown this does have that signature Great Divide taste I cannot say for sure or define what that is, but when I tasted this and was told it was Great Divide other beers from their cannon came straight into my
mind and there were distinct taste similarities. Some chocolate, soft and smooth roastiness, leaves a back bite, a furriness on roof of mouth. Its nice. A6 A4 T8 P4 Ov14 3.6
At home.... Deep brown... Thin tan lacing... Soft roast.. Dark malts... Soft roast malts... Soft toffee creamy malts
Off the tap at the tasting room. I don’t have my notes anymore, just the score. Great beer from GD.
Kobber skum råhvid
Vanilje citrus sukker tømmer nøddér
Bitter modrate sød lidt
Oile
@ f1
Bottle @ fonefan tasting. Clear dark amber with a lasting off-white head. Aroma is sweet, malty, caramel, dried fruit and light hoppy. Flavor is quite sweet and moderate bitter. Sweet finish with a little alcohol. 010314
Bottle @ fonefan tasting. Nice head with good duration. Color is amber. Aroma and taste are caramel, candy sugar, fruits, malt and hops. Quite sweet, Little bread as well.
Milk and dark chocolate aromas along with a fresh sea air component. Beautiful crystal clear copper/ruby color with a tan head. The chocolate shows up immediately with a light creaminess followed by a German lager component. A light sourness in the background offsets the candy sweetness in the body. There’s a nice alcohol bite near the end that enhances the taste. Finishes with milk chocolate on the tongue and a lasting lager flavor. Really delicious dopplebock!
Bottle, 11C. Clear brown with a beige head that fades to less than a coat. Aroma of raisins and praline, subtle spices. Sweet and nutty with raisins and prunes. Alcohol is pretty well hidden. Dries out discretely at the end where there’s a hint of spices and a bit more bitterness than you might expect. Although very sweet, it’s not all that rich - the sweetness is not justified by depth but rather dealt with by the finish. Kept thinking this isn’t quite what it purports to be but enjoying it anyway.
One of the hardest things to do from my perspective as a craft beer drinker and not necessarily a brewer is to brew a "big lager." Dopplebocks are basically big lagers, and I have found it hard to find a legitimate new world style dopplebock that holds a candle to the old world breweries (Ayinger et. al) mainly because it is extremely hard to lager a big beer and have it come off as balanced and big at the same time. In comes the typically excellent Great Divide with their entry into the big lager category with Wolfgang but alas it still has the shortcomings of other new world dopplebocks of being overly sugary & having a malt profile that feels forced and not very balanced. That said, this is probably one of the better US brewed dopplebocks that are available. Aroma is somewhat reserved and saturates quickly, but is inviting with a warm malt character and slight hints of yeast. Appearance is a little underwhelming with a small white head that quickly dissipates. Starts with a heavy nose that turns into a heavy nut profile on the finish. Quite a malt bomb, and not ashamed of it while being clumsy with the execution. Slight hints of alcohol linger along with a tacky mouthful of molasses/syrup. Overall a pretty decent beer, but still a few clicks behind the old world stalwarts.
Pours a deep red brown with a fizzy tan head. Smells of caramel, toast, sweet malts. Taste is sweet and moderately bitter - roasted malts dominate with a light hoppiness.
Very roasty-malty version of the style. Nose is concurrent of a lighter version than the look and palate would match with. Good but different than the standard but not in a way that stands it out as incredible.
Bottled from Systembolaget
Deep amber with a small head.
Sweet aroma and flavour with red berries.
Light to medium bitterness.
Poured from bomber. Dark brown color. Smells and tastes of caramel and toffee. Thin head dissipates quickly.
Bottle at Yespr’s - Thanks. Clear amber/brown - white head. Amber malts, ocoa, light coffee notes, ok hoppy, sweetness, ok malty, caramel, light ryebread. too sweet.
Bottle. Feels very american in all ways. Bygger and more aggressive campared to the average german bock. Heavy notes of chocolate and liquor.
Bottle from systembolaget.
Pours redish amber with a big head.
Malty taste with marzipan. An American twist of hoppyness.
Bottle. Pour is translucent brown with a small tan head. Aroma and flavor is of caramel, toffee, dark fruits, and doughy bread. Roasted finish.