Smooth Hoperator - Stoudts Brewing Co.

Hendry

Vermont

3.8/5  rDev -4.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Kinda bought Smooth Hoperator alongside Stoudt's IIPA on a whim. Not realizing this was a Dopplebock upon purchasing, the beauty of beer shopping with other people's money (splitting the cost with buddies for out-of-state-varieties) allows one to stretch out the budget with a wider variety with less risk (getting hung with mutiples that don't meet the credentials of a second purchase).

The rich,creamy two finger head that rests atop the deep ruby hue stays put until settling down to a permanent cap with average lacing in the snifter style glass.

The nose is aggressively sweet and yeasty, behaving like a concoction brewed closer to Belgium than Germany (more so than U.S.A. especially), which is the birthplace of the Dopplebock. There are indeed some malts present in the aroma, but this is a sort of hopped up mongrel that defies description.

The taste is sharp and very European in the way of yeast delivery, but again, I'm thinking about Brussels rather than Munich (certainly not Pennsylvania, U.S.A.). There is an immediate sweetness of malts followed by a confusing and unexpected blend of aggressive yeast and hops. The long yeasty aftertaste is slightly apple-cidery and unusual, if not unique.

For my taste, this is a Dopplebock that is unsure of it's own identity: the yeasty kick seems more trapist inspired rather than what one would typically imagine from a quality German Dopplebock (such as Ayinger). While worth a try for those that appreciate Belgian yeastiness, this is one of those beers that makes me appreciate splitting six packs with friends so I don't have to look at 5 more bottles for the next year.

Serving type: bottle

05-12-2013 04:14:31 | More by Hendry

Immortale25

Florida

3.73/5  rDev -6.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Poured into a Due South Brewing Co. snifter. No freshness date.

A- Pours a reddish dark amber color with a 3/4 inch tan head that retains pretty well before it works its way down to a thick ring around the edge of the glass and a mostly full sheet of surface foam. Sudsy lacing leaves a thin ring behind on the glass.

S- Fresh piney hop aroma with some faint citrus notes. Good cereal grain sweetness. Smells more like an IPA than a Doppelbock. Overall, quite earthy.

T- Bitterness comes on strong and has little malt backing it given the color. Taste is slightly metallic and one-dimensional. Just bitter hops that are redundant and lack the citrus and sweetness from the aroma.

M- Sticky, borderline syrupy with a harsh bite from the hops and not much body. Medium carbonation.

O- The aroma is such a tease considering the rest of the beer's characteristics are closer to mediocre. By the way, they totally missed the chance to call this Hoppelbock. That would be a better name since the hops in this are anything but smooth.

Serving type: bottle

04-10-2013 01:55:26 | More by Immortale25

shand

Florida

4.3/5  rDev +8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Grabbed this one blind expecting an IPA, didn't quite realize that the slick-ass dude on the cover was actually a dude-goat. Smooth Hoperator pours an amber-brown color with three fingers of very well retaining head. The aroma is very rich with caramel malts, but there's plenty of citrus and pine hops hanging out on the nose too. The taste is excellent, the malts rule the show at first, with some caramel and toasted malts up front, but the finish belongs to the citrus and pine hops. The mouthfeel is on the lighter side for a dopplebock, and the light carbonation is spot-on. Overall, Smooth Hoperator is a robust beer that should appeal to fans of maltier IPAs and dopplebocks alike.

Serving type: bottle

02-08-2013 22:26:32 | More by shand

babaracas

Florida

3.51/5  rDev -11.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pours a slightly hazy copper with huge cream colored head; settles slowly into a meringue-like cap with thick clumps of lace on the glass. Smell: floral with spicy, grassy, and sweet citrus notes. Sweet, slightly grainy. Taste: quite sweet... caramel, sweet apple, earthy, nectarine, herbal with a little orange citrus. Hoppy finish, but oddly drying and tannic. Miss, but if I was going to drink a ton of doppelbocks, I might throw one of these in from time to time for something different.

Serving type: bottle

01-16-2013 07:33:55 | More by babaracas

papat444

Quebec (Canada)

3.65/5  rDev -8.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a 123oz. bottle with no freshness info.

Appearance: A light copper color, murky a little but mostly clear. Head is huge and long lasting leaving spotted lacing everywhere. All around on the sides, huge air bubbles fill it up.

Smell: Sweet peaches mixed with malt, fruit-like hops and caramel malt.

Taste: Plump peaches with underlying malty caramel and a quite present hop-like character.

Mouthfeel: Light to medium body, not as thick as a doppelbock should be. Some bitterness lurks.

Overall: A different interpretation of a traditional style that didn't completely win me over.

Serving type: bottle

11-23-2012 12:25:36 | More by papat444

Darkmagus82

Montana

4/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Served on tap in a 10 oz snifter

Appearance – Served an amber colored brew with a half finger white head. The head faded over a moderate time to leave a decent level of lacing.

Smell – The aroma was heaviest of malt and some toffee and caramel sweetness. Mixed with these aromas were some good hoppy aromas of a grapefruit citrus as well as a pine aroma.

Taste – The taste begins with a sweet toffee and malty flavor with a good presence of a grapefruit hop flavor. As the taste moves more toward the middle there are flavors of a pine hop that come to the tongue. While this occurs some of the sweetness fades a bit. In the end the pine and grapefruit grow slightly stronger and in the end leave a hop bittered, but malt balanced flavor on the tongue.

Mouthfeel – The body of the beer is smooth and creamy with a carbonation level that is just about average. The smooth and creamier body is great for the hop flavors and really lets them shine through the flavor profile.

Overall – Quite nice. The beer has a great flavor profile, nice flavor transitions as well a good feel for the style . While not what I would consider a doppelbock, it is a god blend of doppel and IPA. Its very drinkable, flavorful, and very tasty.

Serving type: on-tap

10-26-2012 00:13:51 | More by Darkmagus82

cpolking

Iowa

3.5/5  rDev -12.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Shout out to tone77 for this beer! The beer pours a dark copper, deep amber and light brown to deep chestnut in color. There is a tall half-inch of thick and creamy off-white head.

The aroma is rich malt and fruity hops, a good amount of orange and a bit of floral. The taste is deep, rich malt, roasted and caramel, in near equipoise with orange fruit hops.

There is a spice and a tang in the finish, which is smooth and creamy. This is an interesting and tasty beer.

Serving type: bottle

10-19-2012 02:52:46 | More by cpolking

chefhatt

Pennsylvania

3.88/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This one had a nice amber color body with a 2' white head that hangs around for a bit and turns into a thin lace and stickyness along the top of the glass. The smell is of rich, sweet malt. The taste is kinda sweet up front then a little more bitter on the back of tongue. It has a little hop presence not to much though. The mouth feel is really nice, rolls off the tonuge really good and overall this is a good Doppelbock, specially after it warms up a little bit then the flavors really start to come out.

Serving type: bottle

10-11-2012 02:26:25 | More by chefhatt

kylehay2004

Florida

3.48/5  rDev -12.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A: minimal head on a hazy amber body. no lacing really.

S: very malty, burnt ambers, candied citrus.

T: caramel and toffee malts, candied citrus. pretty simple.

M: medium body and moderate carbonaton.

Overall: not sure if doppelbock is the right style for this one. I dont have much to say about this one other than where are the hops in the smooth HOPerator?

Serving type: bottle

09-11-2012 01:56:13 | More by kylehay2004

nickfl

Florida

3.08/5  rDev -22.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

A - Poured with a small head of white foam on top of a clear, amber colored body. The head dissipates quickly and leaves decent lace.

S - A malty aroma with a bit of toffee and some spicy hops in the background.

T - Sweet malt up front with some toffee. More fruity malt character in the middle with a finish of red apple, anise, and moderate bitterness with a lingering spicy hop note.

M - Medium body, moderate carbonation, and a balanced finish.

D - Drinkable enough, but I'm not that into it. The malt character is ok, but uninspiring and the beer just seems to be missing something.

Serving type: bottle

09-11-2012 01:55:58 | More by nickfl

micromaniac129

Pennsylvania

4.13/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A striking appearance witha deeply rubied amber colored ale and a tall tan head sitting on top.
Aromatics are quite enticing with lively citrus hops being the dominate aroma. Sweet malts with a slight toffee nuiance can also be scented.
Drinks more like an imp. red then a bock.
The first part has a more hoppy taste,after the beer starts warming you can get the bock taste. Sweet toffee and hints of roasted malts though very lite come through.
I liked this beer it was quite good. Drinks smooth and sweet. Feels a bit thin and washed out too, but worthy of many more.

Serving type: bottle

07-29-2012 13:07:05 | More by micromaniac129

dbrauneis

New Jersey

3.95/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A: Pours a crystal clear dark copper to amber in color with light amounts of visible carbonation. The beer has a finger tall creamy beige head that reduces slowly to a film covering the entire surface of the beer with a medium sized thicker patch and a thick ring at the edges of the glass. Moderate amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Moderate aromas of dark and caramel malts along with some citrus/grapefruit and lighter pine/resin hops.

T: A very pleasant combination of the malty doppelbock flavors and the IPA hoppy flavors - I enjoyed this blending of the tastes. There is a dark malt body with some lighter hints of caramel malts as well. For the hop flavors, there is a dominant citrus/grapefruit hop flavor along with some lighter notes of pine/resin hops.

M: On the fuller side of medium bodied with moderate to heavy amounts of carbonation.

O: A very interesting hybrid style - doppelbock and IPA - which I really enjoyed the addition of the hops. I found this to be enjoyable and easy to drink. A little too heavy to be sessionable in my opinion.

Serving type: bottle

07-07-2012 17:02:05 | More by dbrauneis

JRed

New Jersey

3.78/5  rDev -5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Reddish amber and cloudy in body with foamy white head that stays. Smells malty, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon skins, wet grass, and pine. Tastes of cinnamon, breadiness, nutty, light caramel, subtle grass, grapefruit, nice spices. The flavors are subtler than I was expecting and thats a good thing. Thick in body with light carbonation. Smooth and flavorful and filling.

Serving type: bottle

05-16-2012 23:01:06 | More by JRed

pburland23

Pennsylvania

4.03/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a growler into Portsmouth brewery tulip.

Appearance: Beer pours a deep, dark fiery autumnal orange with three full fingers of creamy oatmeal colored head. Quality head retention which produces some sticky lacing.

Smell: Mild aroma of sweet caramel malts begin the nose before giving way to some large flowery hops notes. Some lemony citrus notes as well. Doesn't have much of a doppelbock aroma but it's still a nice smelling beer.

Taste: Starts out with a sharp kick of hoppy bitterness and I expected to be overpowered by hops. But I was pleasantly surprised that there was a solid malt backbone which added some balance to the flavor. To me Smooth Hoperator tastes more like a hoppy red ale than a doppelbock. Still tasty though.

Mouthfeel: Surprisingly smooth despite its hoppiness. Fairly medium bodied and quite drinkable even at 7%.

Overall: It's not a doppelbock. It's still tasty and drinkable. I'd rate it higher if I wasn't rating against the style. Either way, I enjoyed it.

Serving type: growler

05-06-2012 21:39:36 | More by pburland23

barczar

Kentucky

4.03/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a brilliantly clear deep copper color with a solid 2 finger cream head that lingers indefinitely. Beautiful.

Aroma is led by sweet caramel malt, a hint of toast and nuttiness, with heavy floral hop. There's a hint of citrus at the end that comes out more as it warms, along with pine and resin.

Flavor is fairly sweet, caramel malt forming the backbone, with grapefruit pith and resin surfacing to carry through to the decidedly bitter hop finish. Lemon becomes evident.

Body is moderately heavy, with a fairly heavy amount of carbonation.

Overall, a very interesting beer. Not as much malt complexity shines through as with a typical doppelbock, but the hops keep flavors intriguing. Definitely hop heavy.

Serving type: bottle

04-19-2012 05:58:38 | More by barczar

Teleweizen2

New Jersey

4.18/5  rDev +5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

A - a very deep orange amber almost mahogany brown. a fingers worth of tightly packed tan foam. good retention. spotty lacing.

S - nose is subtle but pleasant. grainy malt profile with notes of whole wheat toast. a leafy herbal hop profile with bright notes of lemon zest.

T - sweet toasty malts up front. earthy hops enter back in the mid palate along with a note of citrus rind. bitterness lasts well after the finish.

M - incredibly smooth texture. almost decadent. medium bodied verging on full, with a creamy medium carbonation.

O - it sure lives up to its name. velvety smooth and very well hopped a very nice example of an Americanized doppelbock.

Serving type: on-tap

04-14-2012 14:52:58 | More by Teleweizen2

TheBigE5

Georgia

3.9/5  rDev -2%
look: 5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

A - Poured from a bottle into a chalice. Finger of off-white head. Perfectly clear amber coloring

S - Smell is balanced with both malt and hop notes. Floral grassy and sweet.

T - More hops come through in the taste profile but sweet malts are still present in the background. Spicy finish.

M - Very smooth, minimal carbonation

O - True to the name, this beer is extremely smooth. It is definitely hoppy but is also balanced out with some sweet malts and spicy notes.

Serving type: bottle

03-23-2012 23:33:15 | More by TheBigE5

chodinheaven

Maryland

3.6/5  rDev -9.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A hazy burnt orange colored beer with a 2-finger and sea foamy off-white head on top. It dissapates very slowly and leaves a patchwork of lacing with it. The aroma holds some caramel tones underneath a resiny earthy hop character with a definite touch of herbal and grassy notes as well. Not incredibly aromatic, but well-rounded and pleasant.

A sharp resiny twang runs through the palate of this one, definitely a bit of earth in the hops as well. A thick caramel malt lends more feel than flavor, but there is a faint sweetness from caramel and toffee. The resiny taste has a tobacco quality that is strong, taking over the balance of this beer to the point where its close to overbearing. Not bad in reality, but it does seem to overpower other flavors that are a bit more subtle. Definitely a generous use of the hops, but a lack of really great balance affects my view on this one. Worth a try though.

Serving type: bottle

03-15-2012 21:43:53 | More by chodinheaven

jbphoto88

Texas

3.38/5  rDev -15.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Reddish orange beer that is a few degrees from ruby. The beer pours with a crackle and a quick to form tan head. The bubbles recede quickly and stain the sides of the glass with leftover suds.

The smell is malty sweet with hints of white pepper. Not much in the way of hops but it is a pleasant nose.

Taste is quite nice. The malts are for sure the dominating component of this brew with a sweet, bready presence. Again no trace of a hop except for a mild bittering in the finish.

To me the mouthfeel is the best part. I dig the smooth texture of this one and the slight carbonation. There is a subtle hop pinch finally here that could have been around in the scent and taste but then that wouldn't be true to style. All in all a tasty beverage but not much more then average. Easy to drink but not very exciting.

Serving type: bottle

03-01-2012 23:57:18 | More by jbphoto88

kennylopez

New Jersey

4.33/5  rDev +8.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 12oz bottle a globe glass.
Appearance: a slightly hazy amber with a off white head that leaves beautiful lacing.
Smells: a mild toasted malt with a bold floral hop
Tastes: a flavorful bread like malt with a light pine and bigger floral hop that blends with a sweet candied finish.
Mouthfeel: the 7% is super easy and enjoyably SMOOTH. Good carbonation.
Overall: a $14 six pack is a bit pricey for me but the pack I did get was great.

Serving type: bottle

02-28-2012 22:32:25 | More by kennylopez

Spider889

Ohio

3.28/5  rDev -17.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

On draft at Bodega, served in a shaker pint. Eh...

A - Head is short but has excellent retention and is super thick and clingy. Very nice clarity as well. This was a 4.5 appearance at best, but with a proper pour I am confident that this beer can produce a "5" rated appearance score.

S - Hoppy. Well it is what this beer is meant to be, I guess. No semblance of a doppelbock in the aroma though which greatly disappointed me. Amarillo-type sweetness and fruit with a Cascade-like citrus kick and earthy/spicy bite. Green and leafy at times with a hint of caramel foretelling of the malt profile.

T - Malt is there - caramel, crackery grains, etc. but I don't get anything that clues me in on this being a doppel... or even a lager for that matter. As a dark/amber IPA this is a great beer, but as a doppelbock it fails. Once I let the second half of the glass warm up considerably I did begin to get notions of toffee and stem fruit, but imo it is too little too late.

M - Strong bitterness but creamy carbonation.

O - Like I said this beer is purported to be a hybrid of styles - clashing, competing styles at that - a hoppy doppelbock. It does not marry the two, but rather murder a doppelbock to create an Imperial India Dark Lager.

The score is entirely dependent on how you view the beer. Rated as an IPA or similar, this scores in the 4.0+ range, as a doppelbock it's pretty poor. As a marriage it is also poor. Thus I am torn here...

Serving type: on-tap

02-08-2012 07:31:32 | More by Spider889

bornridiculous

Connecticut

3.38/5  rDev -15.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a tulip glass.

Appearance: The 2 finger head stuck around long enough to take the dog around the block. The beer is dark but with nice clarity.

Smell: Smells malty and Hoppy with hints of crystal malt. The hop smell is evident but obscured by the malt.

Taste: This is where I was most critical, I was expecting the nice smooth malty goodness of a doppelbock. It was so hoppy it took me by surprise. As a result I waited a day to review this, and retasted knowing what to expect. The taste for me is somewhere in-between a DiPA and Doppelbock, which doesn't quite work for me. The taste itself is bitter upfront, with a rather odd malty finish, not bad, but not that great either.

Mouthfeel: The mouthfeel is big as is typical of the style, seems appropriately carbonated.

Final impression: A lot of the negatives in my review of this come from personal preference, I did not like an overly hoppy Doppelbock, but there is nothing wrong with the beer of a technical standpoint. I will finish the sixer, but next time I will go back to Stoudts DiPA, or the Fat Dog.

Serving type: bottle

02-07-2012 22:24:07 | More by bornridiculous

merc7186

New York

3.88/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I had this beer poured from a 12oz bottle into a pint glass.

A: Amber/Orangish Hue, Passes Most Light, Mild White Head, Minimal Lacing

S: Malty, Bready, Earthy

T: Bitter Malts, Crackers, Bitter Lemon

M: Average Carbonation, Medium Bodied, Dry, Bitter

Overall, a very malty, mildly hoppy ale. A decent blend but nothing that pops.

Serving type: bottle

02-06-2012 23:10:01 | More by merc7186

hosehead83

Ohio

3.9/5  rDev -2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 12oz. bottle into a standard pint glass.
Clear copper/red in color, with a nice two-inch head of off-white foam.
Aroma-Citrus and toasted malt notes
Taste-Sweet toasted malt, nice hop prescence, well-balanced and very smooth. Tastes like a malt-forward IPA. Very drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

01-30-2012 17:15:52 | More by hosehead83

Stunner97

New Jersey

2.45/5  rDev -38.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Appearance- amber to copper brownish, thin white lacing stayed, small amount carbonation streamed slowly,

Smell- mix of faint malt and hops not much at all going on

Taste- just very mild malt up front followed by alot of firm bitter hops behind, not complex in flavor and not all that interesting

Mouthfeel- medium bodied with slick carbonation

Drinkability/overall- this has to be the single worst interpretation of a dopplebock i have ever had with out any doubt, just saw off in the style its laughable, beyond that what every style you want to call its just plan out boring and simple, you can drink it but found myself truly not wanting to

Serving type: bottle

01-29-2012 05:09:49 | More by Stunner97