Schloss Eggenberg Samichlaus Bier Helles

Brewed by Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg
Style: Doppelbock
Vorchdorf, Austria

Bottle at Chris_o Pre GBBF Shindig 08. Now I was going to give this a 2.4/5.0, but on further reflection I’m not going to and that is because this was ultimately undrinkable. I physically couldn’t drink any more than a couple of sips. Golden in colour with a thin white head. Strong and sickly. Some strawberry fruit which I liked. Just too strong, too hot and ultimately unpleasant.

Pale gold with small bubbles. Gotta smell this one like a good scotch, alcohol burn permeates a nice sweet malt scent. Wow is this one sweet, although paired with some slightly bitter dark chocolate it was a nice match.

Golden color with little to no head. Aroma is sweet, lightly perfumed, honey and pears. Flavor is also of pears and honey, slightly vineous and warming from the alcohol. Finish is lingering, sherry-like. Would be interesting to age for 10-20 years. Surprisingly creamy mouth for a beer that appears so still.

From the bottle pours a transparent, deep yellowy gold with a thin white head that faded fast. Nose is fairly mild, surprisingly, a little boozy, sweet corn, oranges, some tropical fruits and tons of malt. Tough to get over all the booze in the flavor of the beer, but if you search you can find some fruit, candy, and a bit of grain. Extremely heavy in the mouth, syrupy and plenty of heat from the alcohol. Doesn’t really remind you of a doppelbock or a helles, reminds you more of malt liquor.

You can tell this beer is huge right from the get go. Pours a nice clear orange color with a white head. The aroma is massive though. Fruit and alcohol and tons of malt. Flavor is more of the same. Very sweet. I’ve got one bottle left from a 4 pack and might cellar it away for awhile to see how the character changes.

Big and malty, not a Helles, not really a doppelbock, not any classification for this beer. Very uniqe beer though, not bad. Definitely a Samichlaus.

Pale yellow of color with a white head. An aroma of alcohol, malt and weak notes of fruits. A flavor with notes of alcohol, malt, honey and fruits.

THOUGHTS: Not a bad beer, but not a good doppelbock. It didn’t look, smell or really taste like one. But it also wasn’t really like a Helles either, so I guess saying it is a doppel isn’t that strange. Can’t wait to age a bottle, because there is potential, but this fresh bottle was like sweet tasting jet fuel. The fumes nearly made my eyes burn. Bonus point though, because it was better than the sum of its parts. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a light orange, with a small. white head that fully diminished and left no lacing. The aroma was moderate to heavy malt, cherry and alcohol. The initial flavor was moderately sweet and lightly bitter; while the finish was heavy to harshly sweet and sour with a short to average duration. There was super sweet malt and alcohol. The medium body was sort of oily but mostly just felt like alcohol with soft carbonation and a moderate to heavy alcoholic finish.