Chicagoist's Beer of the Week: Metropolitan's 'Generator' Doppelbock

By Jason Baldacci in Food on May 10, 2013 9:20PM

We'll admit that last week, we went on a bit of a rant about pilsners and other lagers, and the way they're perceived in craft beer. This week, we're toning it down a bit and taking a look at the opposite side of the lager spectrum from pilsner.

"Generator" is a doppelbock from Metropolitan Brewing Co. The aroma is loaded with notes of sweet biscuits and toffee, and both of those things come across on the palate as well. The biggest thing about this beer is the malt profile. In a word, it's gigantic. The body is very full, and the malts almost come across as juicy. For as big as Generator is, though, it's also very well-rounded. Along with those notes of biscuits and toffee, we also get hints of orange marmalade and floral spice that balance things out very nicely. At 8.2 percent alcohol content, Generator is a malt-bomb of an experience, and damn delicious.

Doppelbock is a classic, German beer style that's characterized by being strong, light amber to medium-brown in color, and very malt forward. The most significant thing to mention about doppelbock, though, is that a it's a lager, as opposed to an ale. With the popularity of light lagers in America, people often don't realize that they can be darker in color as well. The only thing that separates an ale from a lager is the yeast used to ferment a beer and the temperature at which that beer is fermented. Ale yeast works from the top of a batch of beer and ferments at warmer temperatures, and lager yeast works from the bottom of a batch and ferments at refrigerated temperatures. Other than that, the same malt, hops, water, and equipment is used to make both ales and lagers.

Check out beermenus.com to see where you can find 'Generator' in the coming weeks.