Schloss Eggenberg Samichlaus Bier Helles

Brewed by Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg
Style: Doppelbock
Vorchdorf, Austria

Bottle. Time to make up for the three NAs I drank tonight. Pours clear copper with a 1/2 inch white head that settles down quietly. Huge pineapple, apple candy and honey nose, very fruity, very forward, very sweet smelling. Thick, bright, hugely sweet and sticky, viscous and vinuous, very rich. Reminds me of some of the super alcohol releases from Avery, such as Samael and the Beast, but without the harsh astringency and burning alcohol. The alcohol is extremely well hidden, just barely noticeable in the long-lasting sweet finish. Crazy beer, but very delicate and soft while remaining huge and hefty on the palate. The sweetness is overwhelming halfway through the glass, making it difficult to finish.

<i>From a 12oz Bottle.</i> Crystal clear, deep brassy gold color with a tall head of fizzy white. Aroma of bready pilsner malt and hot alcohols. Not really getting much else out of the noise; the pils malt aroma is nice but the alcohol smells like scorching grain alcohols. Full bodied, softly carbonated mouthfeel with a sweet, sticky texture. Sweet flavors of green raisin, honey, and candied pineapple hop out right away. Tastes much better than it smells. Very sweet, but not overly heavy on the palate. The alcohol is also much better concealed in taste than in aroma. Very sweet pale malt sugars with some warming alcohol in the finish. Too hot, but the pale malt complexities are somewhat intriguing.

Bottle from La Bodega. Clear golden orange with no head. Sweet grape and white wine aroma and taste. Quite good.

Bottled 2007. The beer decants pale orange with a brassy, almost greenish hue that evokes cognac, sporting a mere tonsure of slumpy foam, and so faintly carbonates that the partaker can count individual rising bubbles. An unexpected fruity/yeasty nose evokes red wine, cardboard, lychee, and pineapple. There is an overall musty quality to the aroma that proves highly distractive. SWEET flavor has a good bit of balancing acidity and resembles white grape, canned pineapple, and canned peach, plus a Ricola herbality. Syrupy orange finish (reminds me of the hight flammable screwdrivers we’d mix in college) features muted moonshine ethanolic heat that simmers all the way down. A sugary, sweet-tart palate is less full than I would have thought. Bittersweet citric aftertaste that borders on metallic. This is some crazy strong sh!t, unrecognizable as a barley-based beverage, and appears far closer to mead than beer in all respects.

Bottle 33cl @ home. Clear medium yellow orange color with a average, frothy, good lacing, mostly diminishing, white to off-white head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, toasted, bread, fruity, toffee - caramel sugar notes, light alcoholic. Flavor is moderate to heavy sweet and moderate to light heavy bitter with a long duration, and a alcoholic burn in the finish. Body is medium, texture is oily - syrupy, carbonation is soft to flat, finish feel is moderate alcoholic. (210708)

(330 ml bottle (2007) from Downeast Beverage, cellared for 8 mos. after purchase) Wow this stuff was hot!...Pours fairly clear lightly reddish gold with just a bit of white head that mostly retreats to edges. Not very aromatic, just candyish sweetness, almost like cotton candy. Mouthfeel is smooth but kind of loose, quite syrupy and lip-smacking sticky in finish. Some very light weepy lacing. Tastes of fairly mild candy-like and light vanilla sweetness followed by a huge kick of alcohol that burns through the nasal passages like a shot of whisky. I don’t understand these doppelbocks that offer nothing more than a big, sticky buzz.

Bottle at chris_o’s im a laddyboy and im ok tasting. Alround rating: Very sweet, cornish grainy malts, some wet dog tastes any fruity sherry character i like away.

[Bottle] Pours a perfectly clear gold with a small head that dissipates quickly to a ring around the edge of the glass. Aroma is a bit grainy, some sweet alcohol, lots of apple, a bit of green grapes, and some golden raisin. Absurdly sweet palate. Thick and syrupy, with some lighter fruity flavors. Alcohol on the finish leaves a lasting impression.