BY MATT STEVENS for WEEKLY VOLCANO | 9/18/2026
This week, I found myself at the gateway to Mount Rainier National Park (that is, Enumclaw, Washington) while working on a special project with a friend. As it had been several years since I’d sampled Headworks Brewing in historic downtown Enumclaw, I thought I would duck on in, hoping for some wet hop IPAs or some early releases of their Oktoberfest beers. Sadly, both were still in the fermenters and not quite ready.
But what jumped out at me at Headworks was their doppelbock. I was kind of surprised when I first saw the pour, as the beer came out a golden yellow amber, much lighter than I was expecting. Many of the great German doppelbocks I’ve sampled in the past came out much darker and more turbid. Style guidelines indicate the lighter color is still within the profile, but it was very different from my expectations. While I can’t see very far into the beer, it’s quite bright.
Generally, the lighter doppelbocks have more hop character than the darker beers, but this one is lacking there. The nose has some lovely, sweet alcohol phenolics, but no hops are expressed. I also get some stone fruit in the nose, or at least some phenolics that I associate with high-alcohol Belgian beers, and it’s very pleasant.
The first sip is very tasty, but I do taste the alcohol warmth. It packs a wallop at 9.2 percent ABV, and it is apparent. Second sip brings in that sweet malty goodness. It’s a fine beer, but I really miss the chocolate and Maillard flavors that I associate with the darker, more complex malts I usually see in a doppelbock.
Overall, this is a good beer. It’s a great example of the wide variety of beer that Headworks has on tap most of the time; when I was there on a Wednesday, they had twelve beers of their own on draft. The fresh hop IPAs should be available by the time you read this, and the Oktoberfest beers should follow by September 25. I urge you to stop in and get your own.
And if you feel like doing some very aggressive cycling, you can ride to Enumclaw on the Foothills Trail that starts at Van Lierop Park, just outside of Puyallup. (I’ll admit, the excursion from Tacoma to Puyallup can be a bit trying.) While it’s a long ride, at 23.5 miles, it’s a wonderful trail with two gorgeous, relatively new bridges that connect Tacoma and Pierce County to Enumclaw and King County.
Headworks Brewing is at 1110 Marshall Ave. in Enumclaw, and they have two lovely patios to sit at and a delicious burger food truck on-site.
