Schloss Eggenberg Samichlaus Bier

Brewed by Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg
Style: Doppelbock
Vorchdorf, Austria

($6) 2008 Bottle from La Bodega... Pours a clear red brown with a fluffy white head...Aroma is very sweet with raisins and molasses.. Flavor has a nice burnt toffee and also follows the aroma..Lots of carbonation.. Good beer.

1993 bottle that someone brought in and shared at Half Time. This one had been cellared in 1995 in a temp controlled room, and hadn’t been moved or touched for the last 14 years. Lots of sediment in the bottle. Pours murky brown with a thin tan head. Gorgeous plum and caramel, very complex. A little bit thin, but still really nice with tons and tons of caramel and a bit of alcohol. A touch boozy but leaning more toward a cognac sort of feel with long warming alcohol on the finish.

Bottle at cellar temperature. Aged one year (bottled 2008). It’s an amber brown colour in a snifter with a slight red hue in the light. The head died quickly. The aroma is quite dense and complex. There’s quite a bit of alcohol in the aroma with prune, molasses, brown candy sugar, raisin and a background woodiness. The carbonation is quite light. Mouthfeel is full and fairly oily. The flavour is very woody with plenty of initial bitterness leading to alcohol with smooth, complex Christmas spice type flavours: dark fruit, clove, Christmas cookies, more prune, sugar. Finishes with a fair bit of sweetness with more wood behind it. This would be far more interesting if the alcohol presence wasn’t so overwhelming in both the aroma and especially the flavour. Given the opportunity, it would be interesting to see if some more time in the cellar would help mellow the taste of alcohol.

Shared 2 bottles of the 2006 Samichlaus with DrBayern, The Celticbrew, Brian the Beer Pimp, Uncle Tom, and the Newbies, Lawyer Bob and the Boy Wonder Chris. Has a malty aroma. Pours a copper color with a light lacy head that remails around the edge. A sweet malty taste with a hint of alcohol. Loved the heavy mouthfeel. Aftertaste made me want more!

A very special and interesting beer. Superb aroma, maybe better than its taste to be honest. A lot of fruit, alcohol, and caramel. Fairly complex and I can imagine this beer will age very well in the bottle for several years. I am going to stash a few away and find out!

11.2 oz bottle. 500th rating!!!! For christmas time :) Pours amber brown with a almost no white head. Aroma is very nice, nutty, very nutty, strong ripe dark fruits and a bit vinous and vinegar. Flavor starts with a strange sort of cough syrup, off putting for the initial second but wow, gives a strong caramel toffee, super sticky and rich. Wow, the toffee and dark fruits are so deep, its like biting straight into a pile of fruit, straight out of a painting! Plum and even more rich extremely overripe fruit. So good. Medium to full body and a soft carbonation. Wow, amazing, I gotta get a bottle to let sit for awhile.

Bottle, 2009 edition, 2009-12-12, Göteborg AR: Nutty cream, syrup AP: Brown/amber body, creamy quickly diminishing head F: Nutty cream, syrup, medium bitterness and some light smoked plum marmelade

(Draught at St. Urho’s Pub) Poured reddish brown and clear with small white head. Aroma consisted of malts, molasses and alcohol. Palate was full bodied, warming and bit on the dry side with medium carbonation. Flavours were malts, molasses, caramell, toffee, bitterness, banana and light roastedness. Aftertaste was sweet and bitter. Still too sweet but aging would help.