Troegenator Double Bock

Troegs Brewing – Harrisburg, Pa.

Style: Double bock

Serving temperature: 45 F

Alcohol content: 8.2% abv

            Chris and John Trogner, the brothers behind Troegs Brewing, knew before they even opened their brewery what their first beer would taste like. Their visions were of a double bock like the one they brew at the Andechs Monastery southwest of Munich. Rich, and malty, but not overly strong, a hearty thirst-quencher for visitors who hike up the hill to the monastery’s tasting room.

Before they even bought their first brew kettle in the mid-1990s, they had a name for their inaugural brew.

            “The family nickname, what everyone used to call us,” said Chris, “was ‘Troeg’ [rhymes with rogue]. It was only natural that, if we would add the traditional ‘-ator’ suffix. We had to have a beer called Troegenator.”

            Like the monastery’s distinctive Andechser Doppelbock Dunkel, the award-winning Troegenator is slightly bronze. Its bill of Munich malts tends to produce a bit less licorice bite.

            Smooth and silky, the lager is a sneaky one, its sweetness balanced by Saaz and Hallertau, its alcohol well hidden. Bronze with a big, fluffy head and bready malt aroma, its sweet, rich malt washes lightly across the palate for a slightly spiced hopped finish, its high alcohol well hidden to produce an eminently quaffable bock. Chocolate and molasses emerge as the glass warms.

-Joe Sixpack