Pontificator

Brewery: Karbach Brewing Co.
Location: Houston, TX
Style: Smoked Doppelbock
ABV: 8%
Beer Apostle' Grade: B+

I often show love to Texas breweries on this site for two reasons: 1) I lived in Houston for 5 years, and 2) it's the place where I experienced my craft-beer-conversion (I am forever indebted to Saint Arnold's Spring Bock and Oktoberfest beers!).

Karbach Brewing opened at the tail end of my stay in Houston, preventing me from really getting to know them as a local brewery. Fortunately, I've had several opportunities to try their beer, even after moving to Florida, thanks to the Texas-sized generosity of the folks I left behind.

This particular bottle was sent to me by David, one of the Sales and Marketing guys at Karbach. I just can't speak highly enough about how classy these guys are, and am thankful for their generosity with this one. Cheers to good people who make good beer!

Speaking of the beer...I had never had Pontificator before this tasting, but had heard plenty of good things. I have one friend in Texas who swears by this beer and almost refuses to drink anything else.

Pontificator is a smoked doppelbock. Doppelbocks are strong and malty German lagers that are generally big-bodied beers with little-to-no bitterness. The smoked characteristic of this particular doppelbock comes from malts that Karbach smoked on some Cherry-wood. This should provide a bit of  dry and smoked flavor throughout the beer.

Appearance: Deep dark brown. A thick creamy head forms as this beer is poured into the glass.

Aroma: Pontificator gives off a sweet caramel scent that is accompanied by substantial smokiness. I also detect brown sugar and bready malts.

Taste: Similar to the nose, this beer prominently features the smoked malts, giving the beer a "meaty" flavor which helps to balance the equally prominent sugary notes. While the malt backbone is sweet, it's not overly done. There's raisin, brown sugar, fig, burnt caramel, and...is that BACON? I doubt any bacon was used in the brewing process, but let's go with it and move forward.

Mouthfeel: Pontificator is thick and chewy, full-bodied, complex, and medium carbonated.

Overall: This is an excellent beer for the style. Truth be told, I am not a huge fan of smoked beer. Sometimes the smoke is overdone and takes away from the other flavors. However, Karbach has done a nice job of maintaining balance and order in Pontificator. The smoke is a key player, but it never really trumps the dark fruit and caramel sweetness that hit nicely on the tongue.

Again, I want to thank the guys over at Karbach for sending this beer for me to sample. I thoroughly enjoyed Pontificator and hope to try more soon!

This is my third review of a Karbach brew! To see the others, click here!

Thanks for reading the Beer Apostle and for supporting craft beer! Join in on the discussion by following me on Twitter and Facebook! Cheers!

Cigar City/Terrapin Southern Slice

Brewery: Cigar City Brewing and Terrapin Beer Co.
Style: Doppelbock
ABV: 10%

Cigar City and Terrapin teamed up to collaborate on this dessert-in-a-glass. According to the commercial description, the breweries wanted to create an innovative beer that would also be familiar to folks from the South; thus, Southern Slice is a pecan pie themed lager.

There were limited bottles of Southern Slice distributed outside of the Tampa area, so when I got my hands on a bottle, I wasn't too sure whether I was going to cellar the beer or crack it open. As a rule of thumb, I really only cellar a beer if I have at least two bottles--one to drink and one to save for later. The decision was easy.

Knowing the bottle was a 750ml, I called in the reinforcements (a very willing @RadelRA), and began an impromptu tasting.

Southern Slice pours a dark brown in color with amber highlights. Actually, the beer looks a lot like cola. Dark brown with red hues when shown against a light.

The aroma was forgettable. I smelled molasses, malt, and an undetectable sweetness. I could sit here and tell you that I picked up caramel and vanilla notes, but that would just be me trying to impress you. And let's face it, that's hard enough to do when I'm being truthful.

The taste made up for the nose. Southern Slice is full of flavors. I first tasted vanilla (honestly, I did), butter, and caramel malts. Lots and lots of malt, As the beer traveled the palate, I picked up on chocolate and even more butter. This beer is sweet from beginning to end. Just like a slice of homemade pecan pie.

The mouthfeel is heavy. The butteriness of this beer leaves a slick and oily coating on the tongue. Little carbonation. Southern Slice is big and bold.

Overall, I enjoyed this beer, but I'm glad I had someone to share it with.It drinks more like a stout than a lager and I had to keep reminding myself that this wasn't a stout.

The best quality of this beer has nothing to do with the beer and everything to do with what it represent: Southern hospitality. This beer is heavy and filling. It belongs at in a dining room filled with family and friends and lots of food. Southern Slice is a comfort beer. I would love to pair this with a holiday meal next year.