EKU 28

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

2003 bottle. Wow what an aroma. Aroma very strong and permeating. Lots of bittersweet fruit, tart tart cherries, some prunes and dark dark concord grapes. Good thick dry molasses sweet aroma on the backend to balance it. Pours with relatively little off white head, clear but very wavy and glucose-like, as is typical of the style. Bright orange to a soft hazy peach. Copper colors in there as well. Unlike the kulmbacher eis in color and no dark, rich fruit and roast, but every bit as much flavor. Different but quite elegant, lots of lighter fruit, very sweet, but I will agree, it somehow isnt cloying, good bitterness, maybe a touch of acidity/alcohol but nowhere near what I would expect from from 11 abv. Flavors of sweet yellow grapes, golden delicious apples, syrupy in a good way, very viscous. Some light sweet citrus tones, like sweet orange curacao. Full body. Not actually concentrated by the ice and removal process?

This was the first Eisbock I’ve ever tried and it certainly won’t be my last. This beer looked just great in the snifter, very clear amber that looks smooth like it has no carbonation. Reminds me of drinking a fine liquor or a port. Aroma has lots of alcohol, honey, apricot, grape, almost a wine like aroma. The taste is incredible and very sweet & syrupy, alcoholic, quite warming with even some hops here. I think this is the kind of beer you would either love or hate. I love it.

Aah, good ol’ EKU 28. 28 being the number of days needed to recover from the roaring hangover this firewater causes. I first drank it at the Khyber Pass in Philly during my college days. EKU 28, freebie happy hour hoagies, and a great juke box; what more does one need? Oh yeah, loose women to drink it with! EKU 28 was the strongest beer you could get in the States at the time (early 80’s). Accordingly, my mates and I took the precaution of duct taping ourselves to the bar to avoid serious injury.

Poured into an oversized balloon-style wine glass, it is a perfectly clear copper/orange color. Very little foam, just flecks of bubbles here and there. I have never noticed a beer catch the light like this one, it seems to throw back an equal amount of soft orange light. I picked up the glass to look at it, and my hand was bathed in soft orange light. Smells terrific - hot alcohol and honey. Bold malt, considerably sweet and a bit fruity. More hot alcohol. It isn’t cloying, so there must be hops in there too, but really, the flavor is all malt and alcohol. It almost seems that the alcohol flavor itself is a bit bitter and contrasts nicely with the sweetness. More alcohol and honey in the aftertaste. Very still beer, only slight carbonation is evident.

Mmmm, very nice. Poured with a huge, thick, foamy, light tan head. Very little lace. Great dark copperish amber color. Aroma is very intense malty, caramel, toffee, and yeasty. Flavor is the same. Finish is yeasty bitter at first then fading to above sweet flavors. A hint of the big alcohol, but not bad. Super rich; would only want one or two. Having this one with a bowl of spicy congee and it’s a perfect match. They have it a Bodega downtown La Crosse too.

Orange amber colour, the head disappears quickly.
Aroma: malt, cherry, alcohol, fudge, medicinal; later it gets a bit spicy.
Sweet, a lot of malt; liquorice, alcohol; almost fruity barley wine; some Madeira wine flavour. Really strong palate, but even a high bitterness is not enough to balance such sweetness.
One of the most powerful beers I can remember.

Malty aroma, but really not all that special. Beautiful amber color with a light head that quickly dissipates. Medium carbonation. Flavor is a malt assault on the tongue combined with some heat from the alcohol. When I first tasted this beer ten years ago, I didn’t care much for it. Now it’s one of my favorites. It’s not something I would drink often, but I love to keep some on hand for the times when I’m "in the mood." I can see why many people might not like this beer. It’s an unusual brew, but one that I’ve come to love. If you hate it that’s OK, that just leaves more for me!

Ok, I am really going to look like a dumbass rating this the way I did, but maybe VENOM and I have some really odd rating characteristics (or it was in my trunk of my ’72 LTD just long enough...haha). This is my first Eisbock that I had, and it sounds weird, but I think that I can compare it to a Strong Belgian and not think twice. An overwhelming flavor of vanilla and oak really masked the alcohol on my part; not so much on everyone else’s tounge. A sweet, almost tangy palate reckons back to a spoon of sugar. Well, I liked it dammit!