EKU 28

Brewed by Kulmbacher Brauerei (Schörghuber)
Style: Eisbock
Kulmbach, Germany

Never had head as big as the picture when I poured it. I thought this was pretty good actually. Comes off pretty heavy, but with a different and pleasant taste. A bit expensive but nice.

Bottle. Dark copper colored. Very sweet flavor with a light spiciness. The malt characteristics where very complex and the alcohol was very high.

This started out promising, but was reallly not very good. Poured to a brownish red, with medium tan head and had an aroma of malty dark fruit. Unfortunately, the head dissipated almost immediately, and left zero lacing. In addition, as beer warmed, the 11% alcohol became the overwhelming aroma and taste, so thatg by the end, I felt like I was drinking some cheap rock-gut or moonshine. Not impressed with EKU 28.

Bottle. Pours with an amber color and a fairly small head. The aroma is dominated by malts and caramel. Flavor is sweet, the alcohol is noticeable, and agains a very dominat malitness that is no offset by any hops. It could be cloying if drank too warm but with the right temperature it is quite nice.

33cl bottle: This one pours a fairly clear amber color, with a fair amount of off-white head. That drops off quickly to leave a glass with no lacing. The aroma is a bit sweet. Mainly notes of caramel and raisins to the nose. Possibly some other fruits and a bit brown-sugary also. There is a flatness to the taste: the carbonation is already gone. The taste is a bit of caramel malts and some dark fruits. Maybe a hint of oakiness in there also. Not bad.

Bottle. The aspect that stands out the most to me from EKU 28 is the aroma of sweet raspberries, apples and strawberries. I found the beer overall to be quite enjoyable. It has an almost after dinner liqour type taste.

Being this my first eisbock style of beer, I will rate it on a hedonistic scale rather than by style. The aroma was very sweet smelling, almost like a sherry or a bourbon. There was also some cherries there and the obvious maltiness there. The appearance is a dark amber color, creamy looking head which melted pretty quickly. Mouthfeel is thick (thought not cloying) and slightly syrupy. Flavors had a prominent alcohol bite to it, which was pretty nice actually. There was also a honey sweetness present, some light fruit like apples or pears and a bit woodyness there too. Overall, this is a one-shot deal. You’d be hard pressed to drink more than one of these, so this is a winter time sipper if there ever was one. I did like the sweetness and the alcohol bite. Cozy up to a fire, your honey, a good movie and a good night would sure to had.

Pours a yellowed brownish red with a darker than expected light tan head, big at first, diminishing over time. The nose is sweet with big fruity, raisiny malt and alcohol. Dark caramel notes sneak out. The palate is smooth and a bit slippery with a bit of alcohol warming. The flavors a really bold and tasty. Big sweet malt giving raisin sorts of notes common in barleywines. Fruity sweetness is balanced with oaky and slightly spicy flavors as well as ample alcohol. A quick bubblegum aftertaste followed by lingering oak and alcohol type bitterness. I see how people could dislike this beer so much, but for me, this was very enjoyable. I particularly enjoy beers that use high levels of alcohol to balance sweetness. I find it really cuts down potentially cloying beers better than mouth scraping hop-bombs. Not that I don’t love hop bombs!