Maximator - Augustinerbräu, Munich

My first run in with the Maximator was in 2006 during a short stay in Munich. It was right before I moved to Bamberg, thus before I knew anything about beer at all. So there I was, in Augustinerbräu's Bierhalle on Landsberger Straße, having just spent the last 6+ hours walking around Munich. I was hungry and exhausted from all the walking so I decided to stop into the brewery for a bite to eat and a beer before walking back to the hostel. I ordered a plate of brats and their seasonal Easter beer, the Maximator. It sounded pretty cool and it was the special so I figured 'When in Rome' ...or 'When in Munich' might have been more appropriate. What I didn't realize was that Easter seasonal Doppelbocks were especially strong beers that were brewed to tide over the monks who had to fast all day. What I came to learn is that those old monks had a much higher tolerance than a half-starved American tourist.

That first Maximator really did a number on me. It was full of sweet caramel and malt that made it deceptively easy to drink despite being about seven and a half percent alcohol. By the time my plate of brats came I was definitely ready for bed. The Maximator went straight to my head (because there was literally nothing in my stomach to stand in its way). That's about all I remember about my first Maximator, it was good... possibly too good, at the time at least.

I recently found a bottle of Maximator at the store and thought I should give it another go. This I'd be ready though, with a full stomach and a more well defined palate. So were we are, three and a half years later... how'd the Maximator stand the test of time? Not that well actually. I really didn't think too highly of this Doppelbock. That isn't to say it is a bad beer, not at all. This beer does a lot of things right, it just doesn't do them as right as it should. What I mean by that is this beer has all of the typical Doppelbock flavors you'd expect. It's got the caramel, the malt and the creamy texture but it's all too mellow. There isn't ENOUGH caramel or ENOUGH malt in this beer to really fulfill your expectations of what a strong Doppelbock should really taste like. Essentially, the Maximator tastes like it's a lighter version of a Doppelbock. If this beer were closer to five and a half or six percent alcohol I might have been able to convince myself that that's what Augustinerbräu was trying to do. But instead, it just seems like this is a mellow beer, not bad but not great either.

If you are a fan of Doppelbocks you might like this beer, just don't expect it to taste as rich and warm as you might expect...