EKU 28

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

Mostly clear and deep amber with a frothy, but fading, beige head. Sweet, fruity nose. Thick and syrupy malts followed by a mild carbonation. Finishes curiously dry. Quite a few flavors and aromas; some were odd, but nothing was too off-putting. Notes of raisins, pear, apples, plums and figs. Lesser notes of wood and sherry. Alcohol is masked well; just a little warmth in the throat, for the most part. Cozy beer. Pleasant to drink.

330. Pours a deep ruby amber with a towering off-white sudsy head. I remember flying down to SF and buying some of this beer in 95. We’d been pestering the WSLCB to let SA Triple Bock into the state, to no avail. Some friends suggested I hunt this one down at a more civilized beer store at points south, so I did. Then as now I was unprepared for the syrupy sweetness of this beer. The nose just smacks you around with maple syrup, caramel, butterscotch, white sugar--no shortage of varieties of flavors, but unfortunately they’re all in the same flavor family. I think I’ll always associate this beer with Elf and Will Ferrell’s love of sugar in that movie, because that strikes me as the ideal demographic for this beer. Elves. It’s just too much--the bubbles have to fight to get through the goop; the body’s huge and heavy and the malt syrupy sugary cloy just commands the room every time you take a sip. You can’t think about anything else. Interesting, and I’m glad it’s for sale in the state now, and I’m glad it’s back in my cellar, but this’ll prolly be the last bottle of it at my place for a while.

11.2oz bottle poured a clear copper with off white head that vanished in seconds. Nice strong malty and dark fruit aroma. I get semi sweet caramel, dates, plums, alcohol and a slight hint of olives. This has a nice rich mouth feel. At the start I get a slight hint of olive, some tasty caramel and solid dark fruitiness. By midway the caramel sweetens and builds. Beyond midway the fruitiness takes over somewhat with growing alcohol warmth in the background. All of the flavor notes listed on the label really came true for me. This beer just reached out and gave me a warm hug.

I think that the circumstances under which this beer were tried would greatly influence my rating of this beer. As it happens, I think that I enjoyed this beer within the perfect setting-- in front of a warm fire, Christmas tree lit up beside me, Christmas songs playing in the background, Scrabble game with my wife. Pours a clear copper amber with a yellow, sponge-toffee head that is surprisingly as short-lived as it is dense. English toffee, bourbon, wood aroma. Flavours of toffee, brown sugar, with a sherry touch to its character and a definite subtle kiersch flavour in the finish. Very warming but nat at all harsh, sweet but not cloying. A perfect winter sipper, and along with the circumstances, I enjoyed it very much!

Wrap-around-the face Madeira cake-drenched-in whiskey snout. Not as revolting as it sounds. Overripe plummy headiness. Muffling cotton wool dabbed in TCP. Nobody can hear you scream. Utterly headless after 2 swigs. Transparent amber stillness. Velvet caramel tangerine sweetness compensates. Nuts and wood. No syrup or burn whatsoever. Cakey but not at all cloying. Beers this potent are often numbingly dull and sugary, but this is a very pleasant exception. One of the best (non-Belgian) big-hitters I’ve encountered.

Wow, this is not what I was expecting on my first taste. Very deep golden appareance, with a aromatic hint of rubbing alchohol. Very sweet and a little over sugary which is kind of annoying. Then there is that alchohol burn in the aftertaste. Do not get me wrong I liked drinking this one, but there are something about it that were a little hard to handle.

With a beautiful amber color, it looks great in the glass. You might want to leave it there.

Heavy alcohol aroma, sharply burning in my nose. Nevertheless I can sense apple cider, canteloupe, grape, and overall sweetness in the aroma. There is a fruit lollipop or Jolly Ranchers flavor, sharply sweet, with a late warmth on the middle of my tongue, just hanging there. There are attractive qualities that make this fun, even though some of those qualities might be thought of as flaws. Golden, clear color with little head on the syrupy body.