After releasing their Imperial Japanese Lager in late 2022, Heads of Noosa are back with an Imperial German Lager. They’ve given the beer this friendly name to communicates a few things to anyone not steeped in beer nerdery: this is a lager; it’s a German lager, so you may expect it to be different from your standard Aussie lager (in this case, darker and maltier); it’s imperial, so it will be stronger in flavour and alcohol. For anyone more interested in beer lingo: this is a doppelbock.
To call this Heads of Noosa’s "new" beer wouldn’t quite capture it, since this brew has been on the cards for quite some time. (And that’s without getting into the history of the style, with doppelbocks being around since Bavarian monks started making them in the 17th century.) The HoN founders have had doppelbock on the brain since before they opened their brewery.
“This one takes from our experiences when we were setting up the brewery with state-of-the-art German ‘Brauhaus’ equipment,” says co-founder and head brewer Lance Masterton.
"I went to Germany to do the factory acceptance test on our new brewhouse and stumbled across this Doppelbock in a little town called Treuchtlingen in Southern Germany. I was able to bring some bottles home for [brother and co-owner] Craig to drink with me and this limited release is our take on that amazing beer.
“It’s something that sticks with us to this day. I’ve literally got goosebumps talking about it!”
Finally, Lance and Craig are sharing their doppelbock dream by releasing this Imperial German Lager. In the glass it’s cola brown with a rusty red edging where it catches the light. Complex aromas show off the layers of premium malts: the rich stickiness of caramel tart is balanced by dark brown toast, with the noble hops bringing dainty notes of black tea. From the first sip these flavours deepen further with chocolate notes. The clean fermentation and dryness on the palate make for a fairly brief finish; the flavours don’t disappear instantly but don’t overstay their welcome either, making this beer surprisingly easy to sink for a 7.8 percenter.
Mick Wüst
Published March 28, 2023 2023-03-28 00:00:00
