Leinenkugel's Big Butt Doppelbock - Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company

Beerandraiderfan

Nevada

2.63/5  rDev -15.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

A substantial black pour yielding almost no head, so there wasn't much in terms of lacing or retention to speak about, but the color and consistency save the rating from falling into a negative connotation.

Aroma is usual for a doppelbock: all over the place, some harsh bitterness, vanilla, prune/plum dark fruit hints, alcohol seemingly higher than the label would indicate.

Taste, tobacco?, alcohol, bitter soy sauce, just not super enjoyable for me. Where's the sweetness, this is amazingly bitter and somewhat harsh given the alcohol and lack of hops. Where did said bitterness come from? Maybe some anise/licorice, something going on here just doesn't pan out well.

Had this first back in law school, kinda funny, a friend with a much bigger rack than butt talked this beer up. Actually she had a nice butt (ah drinking romps), wondered why she never flaunted that as much as the huge chest. Oh well, I'd say avoid this beer if you're a big doppelbock fan, but the label is pretty cool.

Serving type: bottle

07-23-2012 17:49:53 | More by Beerandraiderfan

Lemke10

Wisconsin

2.85/5  rDev -8.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

I managed to run across a few bottles of this from a relative. They have been sitting around 3-4 years now as this beer is officially retired at the moment.

Pours a dark brown/black color with a half inch head that dissipates quickly. Scent is mild but has characters of robust malts, caramel malts, and toffee. Picking out some mildly heavy hints of cocoa, toffee, caramel, and hints of nuts. Granted this has been sitting around for 3-4 years but it seems rather flat and doesn’t really hit any high notes on taste. Smooth and easy drinking, but I don’t think aging did this beer any favors.

Serving type: bottle

03-13-2012 03:33:12 | More by Lemke10

nrbw23

Ohio

2.7/5  rDev -13.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Found this one buried in my beer fridge.

A- Pours a dark brown color with a fluffy tan head. Head has good retention and leaves some nice lacing on the glass.

S- Smells a bit nutty, roasted malts, and a bit metallic. No hops here at all that I can find.

T- A bit sweet. Again nutty, caramel malts, a bit of spice from hops. Nothing really special here at all.

M- Medium in both body and carbonation.

D- Nothing special going on here. Falls quite a bit short in the world of Dopplebocks, but that's just me.

Serving type: bottle

06-30-2010 21:13:21 | More by nrbw23

mtstatebeer

West Virginia

3.13/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

12 oz. bottle. Pours a reddish-brown color with a quickly diminishing light brown head. Aroma is nutty and a slight hint of roasted malts, altogether kind of weak. Flavor is pretty good, roasted malts, raisins, fruity, a touch of chocolate, and caramel. Mouthfeel is kinda light for a doppel, quite a bit of carbonation and a roasted flavor that sticks around for a while. A pretty drinkable beer, but doesn't seem quite up to style.

Serving type: bottle

06-23-2009 03:29:42 | More by mtstatebeer

TroyS

Idaho

4.47/5  rDev +43.3%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

It has been a while since I bought this one; it's probably been 6 months'ish and I don't recall what I paid for it. I think that I got it from The Wine Garden in Blackfoot, but don't "me;) Good beer. Nice and beer tasting. A bit on the lite side as far as mouth feel goes, but a good drinker. Extra frothy head for a dopple bock I think and it stuck around for a good 15mins. Oddly little lacing;) Cheers!

Serving type: bottle

04-20-2009 01:08:34 | More by TroyS

Brenden

Ohio

3.5/5  rDev +12.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

This one pours brown with deep red highlights. The head is pretty thick and sits at about one finger, leaving a few light patches of lacing.
Toasty malt is first on the nose with some bittersweet tones and hints of fruits and malty molasses and licorice.
The taste isn't far off at all; toasted malts first on the tongue with an oddly sweet tartness in the finish. The taste is a little stronger than the aroma.
Mouthfeel isn't as thick as a hardy doppelbock should be, but not extremely thin. Just a little light for the style.
Generally this one has good drinkability and would serve adequately as a session beer.

Serving type: bottle

04-05-2009 19:50:21 | More by Brenden

kmeves

Wisconsin

3.25/5  rDev +4.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Pours smokey brown with a rich creamy head.

Aroma of carmel, roasted malts and somewhat fruity.

Tastes like caramel roasted malts and fruity, honey, molasses, bittersweet. Has a good aftertaste, very sweet. A decent dopplebock. Light and drinkable, the lagering really helps smooth this out. A nice intro to the doppelbock style.

Serving type: bottle

01-14-2009 19:24:06 | More by kmeves

bluejacket74

Ohio

3.03/5  rDev -2.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

12 ounce bottle. Served in a Sam Adams BL glass, the beer pours a brown/reddish color with about an inch and a half tan head. Lacing and head retention are both average. It smells like toasted malt, prunes, and toffee. However, the aroma isn't strong at all. Taste is similar to the aroma, but there's also a little bit of fruit and raisins noticable along with a weird tart taste. Mouthfeel/body is light/medium, it's a bit creamy but also thin. Drinkability is OK. Overall I think this is an average beer, and below average for the style. It's not bad, but I would pick plenty of dopplebocks before I would try this one again.

Serving type: bottle

01-01-2009 02:28:53 | More by bluejacket74

ddtprm

South Carolina

3.4/5  rDev +9%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 4.5

Poured from a 12oz into a pint glass.

This brew pours a darker red-brown, but not as dark as I expected. I caught some whiffs of toffee and coffee. Taste was a bit shallow here. It has good flavor...but something is missing. Mouthfeel is rather thin, but not bad. Due to this, drinkability is very high here. I expected more of a sipper, but put this down very easy. As long as you don't set your expectations too high, this is not a bad brew.

Serving type: bottle

12-29-2008 03:39:02 | More by ddtprm

colts9016

Idaho

3.25/5  rDev +4.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Appearance: A dark reddish brown color with an okay head.
Nose Toasted malts hints of caramel, molasses and notes of citrus and yeast. The tasted has notes of chocolate, coffee, roasted malts, and hints of hops. A very good beer overall there wasn't anything special about it.

Serving type: bottle

12-12-2008 01:28:11 | More by colts9016

coldmeat23

Oklahoma

3.15/5  rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

GLASS: Pint Glass
TEMP: Cellared @ approx 45 degrees

Dark amber color with ruby highlights. Nice two-finger head of foam with good retention and decent lacing.

Nice toasted malt nose. Slight hint of chocolate. Not much else to pick-up on.

Coffee flavor with a slight hint of chocolate. Small amount of sweet toasty malt flavor. Roasted nuts. Minimal dark fruit notes.

Like the flavor, the mouthfeel is abit weak and lifeless.

As far as an easy-drinking beer, this one qualifies. As far as being a dopplebock, it falls short.

Serving type: bottle

10-19-2008 00:48:58 | More by coldmeat23

Greggy

Minnesota

3.8/5  rDev +21.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A- Pours a 1 finger head after a vigorous pour. The body is in between amber and brown. The head recedes to a thin cap very quickly. Lacing isn't present.

S- Big caramel and chocolate after some swirling to open up the nose. Not a whole lot of toasted burnt caramel like I was looking for but there is a deep down note of cinnamon.

T- Starts with dark fruitiness of prune and slight raisin, although very light, then moves to some caramel and slight dark chocolate in the finish paired with some residual dark fruits. There is a decent amount of activity in the taste but it's all very light and lacks the boldness that doppelbocks really should have, in my opinion.

M- Just a hair to much carbonation on this but that is getting uber-picky.

D- Overall, this isn't a bad doppelbock. It's much better than I previously remembered. Truthfully, however, there are many other bocks I'd rather drink. All in all, given the lower ABV, this is a pretty drinkable doppelbock.

Serving type: bottle

10-07-2008 04:24:56 | More by Greggy

JDV

Texas

2.25/5  rDev -27.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Pours mostly black with a slight transparencey to hit and no head. Smell is malty and rich. Taste is thin, bland maltiness with a hint of tartness and not very flavorful compared to the nose. Not really very good or fresh tasting, and is a bit thin and bubbly. Eh...

Serving type: bottle

06-30-2008 22:08:57 | More by JDV

shroompod

Ohio

3.2/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Pours less dark than expected , small head , no lacing.

Not much aroma , slight caramel sweetness.

Bland taste for a dopplebock , hops actually balance this out a bit.

Mouthfeel is thin , carbonation is good.

Overall an easy drinking beer , perhaps mis-categorized .

Serving type: bottle

06-29-2008 01:18:35 | More by shroompod

Haybeerman

Colorado

2.38/5  rDev -23.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

Nice dark brown color holding a sand-colored head. Smelled the dark malts clearly, but had a bit of a wet cardboard aroma as well. Disappointed in taste; a bit of toasted grain, rather sweet and strong mettalic taste. Mouthfeel was fiszzy and thin. Not what I expectoed (or wanted) in a Doppelbock.

Serving type: bottle

06-25-2008 17:17:57 | More by Haybeerman

russpowell

Oklahoma

3.33/5  rDev +6.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Okay a dopple with 5.7 abv, called me skeptical, but here we go...

Pours caramel/brown with 2+ finger of sand colored head. Average lacing & head retention

S: Corny with brown sugar

T: Caramel, herbal hops, dryness, hints of booze, & licorice up front. Dryness, a touch of leafy hops, a smaller touch of brown sugar & light caramel as this warms. Finishes dry with a modicum of caramel & toasty malt.

MF: Medium bodied, seemed to thin as this warmed.

Drank alright, would be more believable as a bock, lost some points since it didn't posses malt depth, of any real spiceyness or fruittyness, to much Midwest/American influence here for me, closer to shiner than Celebrator to be sure. I like their dark cream lager more so...

Serving type: bottle

06-04-2008 04:48:10 | More by russpowell

mhewes

Colorado

2.15/5  rDev -31.1%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

A : Pours a nice brown colors with a little head that doesn't hang around

S : Pretty much just sweet malts, nothing else.

T : Extremely disappointing for a doppelbock. Mainly just the sweet malt. Not even close to any of the German doppelbocks.

M : Thin and light

D : It is easy to drink but for the style, it just doesn't do it. I don't plan on having it again.

Serving type: bottle

06-01-2008 21:59:05 | More by mhewes

far333

Connecticut

3.3/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Brownish copper colored with ruddy highlights and a tightly bubbled beige head that rises up a full half-inch and falls quickly.

Aroma of caramel, cinnamon, biscuit and metal.

Flavor of brown sugar, raisin, fig, metallic burps, a spicy hop finish and some grassy notes.

Mouthfeel is initally slick, but finishes with a bubbly tingle.

Serving type: bottle

05-27-2008 13:21:36 | More by far333

rye726

Colorado

2/5  rDev -35.9%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

This is a poor attempt at a Doppelbock. It is a clear amber color with a weak head. The nose and taste are both way to light for me. Stale and grainy malts with some sweet flavors. A light body with fizzy carbonation. Not the most drinkable as it doesn't taste very good.

Serving type: bottle

05-26-2008 04:07:51 | More by rye726

Rzzzzz

California

2.6/5  rDev -16.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

Poured into a Leinenkugel Red pint glass. Dark brown with a medium sand colored head that hangs in there pretty well. Aroma of dark malts, coffee & prune, disrupted by a slight cardboardy smell.

Taste was rather a disappointment. A bit of toasted grain, a touch of sweetness, overpowered by a good amount of metallic off flavor.

Mouthfeel isn't particularly pleasant. Fizzy and thin. And fizzy some more.

I'd give this one another try down the road just to see if maybe I got a bad bottle, but I wouldn't seek this one out intentionally if this were the expected experience.

Serving type: bottle

05-22-2008 02:25:29 | More by Rzzzzz

mdm46410

Indiana

2.58/5  rDev -17.3%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 3

Poured from a 12oz bottle and served in a Bell's dimpled mug. This beer poured a lighter shade of mahogany with a two-finger thick head of fizzy tan foam that displayed some decent retention. Some slippery lace was left around the glass. The aroma of the beer was made up of sweet roasted malt along with some mild caramel and chocolate notes. Very restrained. The flavor was also a bit weak with some slight roast sneaking in as well as some very faint dark fruits and caramel. The mouthfeel was light to medium-bodied. A tad watery and highly carbonated. If you like your doppelbocks bland and mundane, this will fill the bill.

Serving type: bottle

05-20-2008 03:20:16 | More by mdm46410

akogrady

Indiana

2.75/5  rDev -11.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

A - Nice dark amber coloring, short head that quickly dissipated.

S - Smell was sweet, malty, very little else.

T - Sweet and malty. Sadly, this beer was very one dimensional. Based on its flavor, I would say that it meets the basic definition of a dopplebock, with nothing added at all. It is in desperate need of additional backing to its flavor.

M - Smooth with medium carbonation.

D - Not something I would drink much of, but that's mostly due to the taste.

Serving type: on-tap

05-10-2008 19:06:50 | More by akogrady

jeonseh

Indiana

2.38/5  rDev -23.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Poured from a bottle into my GI MBA glass

A - A dark cherry chocolate color with a small foam head that barely forms before fading away. Not much light gets through and lightly reflective. Could see a decent bit of carbonation trailing up through this one as well.

S - smells actually rather citrusy. I get a hint of lemon and orange that really dominates the nose. There are really none of the usual dopplebock odors of chocolate or even malty sweetness.

T - Taste is actually also rather citrusy. Get a big hit of orange peel and lemon at first. Somewhere in the middle of the beer there is the slightest hint of sweetness and even chocolate. It is barely noticeable though and quickly leaves before the orange peel flavors come back again. Kind of an odd take on the style and the orange is rather strong.

MF - actually very watery for the style and for any good beer in my opinion. Really hoped that it was a bit thicker or stickier. It also had a bit of an astringent after feeling in the mouth.

D - overall, an okay beer. I won't mind finishing off the 6 pack as the beer is unoffensive but it is only an okay beer. I would probably not buy it again if I saw it out at all.

Serving type: bottle

05-09-2008 20:25:53 | More by jeonseh

Slatetank

Pennsylvania

2.88/5  rDev -7.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Poured from the twist off brown 12oz into my Cumberland Brews pint.

A - Dark caramel brown w/ an inch and a half of fluffy smooth beige head. The lager has good clarity and the lace on the pint clings fairly well.

S - Light metallic, nutty and creamy malt w/ caramel and almond-like odors.

M - Sugary, moderately full carbonation w/ an element of adjunct in the relatively thin feel. The finish is dry w/ a nutty chalky tinge.

T - A pleasant sweet malt flavor starts off the taste with slight nutty creaminess that becomes dry almost powdery w/ a hint of medicinal flavor. There is a gentle hop spice and more chalky tinges keeping up w/ the creamy sweet dark malt until it gets cloying as it is slightly warm.

D - This fell short of what a doppelbock should be IMO. Not horrible even though there are some off flavors, I could take it or leave it basically worth a try.

Serving type: bottle

04-07-2008 04:42:59 | More by Slatetank

Mitchster

Michigan

3.38/5  rDev +8.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

$6.99 for a 6'er of 12oz bottles at my local grocery store. Brewed with two-row and 6-row pale malts, munich malt, dark chocolate malt, and Caramel malt. Hopped with Cluster and Mt.Hood. 5.8% ABV, 194 kcal/12oz. 18.8g carbs/12 oz.

Pours out to a clear very dark brown, forming a large creamy light tan-yellowish head. Retention is very good and lacing is good. Carbonation is moderate. The aroma is not all that impressive...not filled with dark fruits as I would expect. A little bit of butter and caramel is noted as well as steel tanks. The mouthfeel is somewhat acidic for the style with a medium body, kinda light for the style, but not altogether flimsy. The taste starts with a cola-like acidity, followed by a quick, watery middle, a finish composed of tobacco, dustant dark fruit, and woodiness in the aftertaste. The bitterness is quite mild.

Hrmm, not in the same league as traditional dopplebocks but stronger than a traditional brown ale, this is best enjoyed as a bock. To expect this to taste like a dopplebock is too much, so it shouldn't be marketed as such. Overall, though, it's a decent bock, considering the price. I'd buy it over Michelob Bock.

Serving type: bottle

03-19-2008 21:55:33 | More by Mitchster