Ramstein Eisbock

Brewed by High Point Brewing Company
Style: Eisbock
Butler, New Jersey USA

Tap at the HDG poured into a goblet glass. Color is black with a fluffy tan head, can’t see through the beer. Aroma is very present, an uncanny sweetness, seems to come from the wheat. A cereal/grainy aroma is present as well. Taste is similarly sweet with that weird wheatness sweetness. After that the taste is pretty clean. Low bitterness, medium carbonation, and a slightly raison sweet aftertaste. Not as special as I expected it to be.

Hand-bottle from growler courtesy of Dickinsonbeer sampled in July 2006: Pours a transparent dark mahogany with a nicely-lacing dark tan froth of head. Big earthy smoky and ashy aroma has a touch of dark fruits. Body starts with lightly sweet dark caramel maltiness revealing some tartness and earthy smoke. Well-carbonated throughout. Doesn’t seem much like an eisbock, but hides its abv well.

growler from the brewery. Greg(the brewer/owner) estimated this year’s version at 12-12.5 ABV. Very dark brown/almost black with some ruby highlights in the bottom of my small tulip glass. Aroma is light banana, smoke, caramel, chocolate. The taste of this beer is very smooth, with chocolate, light banana, smoke, and light notes of vanilla. Really well done. The aroma was not quite as good as the winter wheat, but overall this is awesome IMHO.

12oz bottle hand bottled in March of 2006 and obtained in a trade with Dickinsonbeer! - thanks Paul! - Pours very dark brown with a big creamy tan head that stays pretty well and laces the sides of the snifter. Aromas of smoke, raisin, prunes, chocolate, and some yeast. Flavor is smokey, chocolate, lots of roasted notes, some raisin, a little bannana, some clove, and some chocolate cupcake flavor on the finish. Palate is very smooth and easy to drink for a beer this big. Alcohol can’t be detected and this one is fantastic to sip. This is a fantastic brew and one that I’m very happy to have got the chance to try...

Poured a dark brown color with a small to medium sized tan head. Strong smokey aroma with notes of prunes and other fruits. Chocolate undertones and a hint of bubble gum. Light alcohol in the nose. The flavor was mildly tart with some malty sweetness as well and some fruit. It appears to be thining out a little.

Chocolate in color. Beautifully thick, rocky, and frothy light-tan head. Roasty aroma is lined with raisins, baked apples, tangy wheat, and burnt chocolate. Light dusting of clove and doughy yeast. Tight and creamy texture. Light bodied. Early edge of tartness dovetails with silky layers of chocolate and distant cola sweetness. Roasted malts deposit a chalky dryness, but it remains fairly soft despite this, thanks in large part to the complementary kiss of bananas bathing in bittersweet chocolate. Light in weight due to a tangy zip of wheat-derived acidity, but understatedly rich and satiating, still. Slightly chewy and cakey, too, which lends just enough girth to the body. Becomes chewier all around, as it warms, but the alcohol never flares up. Finishes pillow-soft with a doughy yeast foundation, as remnants of scratchy roast and burnt malt hulls trail close behind. Not the brightest or most complex, and the fact that the weizen elements are somewhat subdued doesn’t help (the cloviness could use more poignancy and some juicy/floral hops would greatly deepen things), but I’m hardly complaining. Another Ramstein beauty. Thanks a million, Dickinsonbeer!

Much thanks to dickinsonbeer for this much celebrated growler... Appears a hazy dark brown with black noted colors in the outskirts. A 1 finger medium tan head slowly fades out. Scattered spots of lacing are left around the glass. Smell is of chocolate, caramel, vanilla, clove, and raisins...very much the same as the Winter Wheat. Taste is of the aforementioned aromas that seem to be held together nicely in a cocoa dusted wheat base. Mouthfeel is spicey, with hints of the fruit and chocolate and a stickyness that seems appropriate with this concentrated brew.

Pours about the same as thier winter wheat, maybe a touch darker. Deep dark brown almost black with a kickass deep beige head that lasts a while and has some good lacing. My Growler was poured directly off the keg which still had the ice in it. Even served at below freezing, this beer was phenomenal! Initial aroma as it warmed to room temp was loaded with chocolate malts, figs, dried fruits, raisin, german yeast- banana clove etc. Very similar to Schneider, except Ramstein is more complex and fuller in body and flavor. Flavor is dark chewy malts, roasted barley, chocolate, bitter black malts, nutty, and more fruits like plum and apple with a slightly tart grape like character towards the end of the mouthfeel. Towards the end, some fo the yeasty phenols and fusel alcohols come into play and create a spicy clove like character with some plasticy phenols. Overall very smooth and dangerously easy to drink. Greg told me that he estimated this years version to be over 12% abv. Great stuff.