Søgaard Julebuk 2006-

Brewed by Søgaards Bryghus
Style: Dunkler Bock
Aalborg, Denmark

500 ml. Opaque chestnut with a small, sticky web of bubbles. Aroma of chocolate, cherry, raisin and caramel. Similar flavors with more pronounced dark fruit and some earthy spice. Toasted nut and dry wood with light citrus hop notes on the finish. Medium-heavy body is smooth and just watery enough to keep from being sticky. Very nice.

Dark reddish brown, foamy beige head. First whiff is very boozy and sweet, which is surprising, with it being only 6.3%. There are a few hints of gingerbread and orange, as well. First sip is very heavy and alcoholic, again rather surprising. Notes of molasses and rum, as well. . As it warms, there is a herbal note that comes through.

Pours a transparent dark copper mahogany with a frothy, well-lacing light tan head. Aroma of lightly sweet toasty caramel with some biscuity malts, and a hint of milk chocolate. Starts with pretty good dark malty fullness and a touch of oxidation along with some doughy caramel flavor. Has a decent earthy hop bitter balance and slight warmth toward the finish. A pretty true to style and complex winter brew.

Bottle. Pours an opaque dark brown with attractive beige head. The aroma is rich toasted malt, toffee, clove, distant coffee, and raisinbread. The flavor is dominantly toasted malt, with some toffee and dark caramel sweetness accompanying it. There is a fairly evident spiciness throughout, something like anise, clove, and white pepper. It gets a little bit spritzy toward the finish, with some grassy hop notes and a slight carbonic dryness. Lit leaves a slight chocolatey aftertaste, which is nice. This isn’t mindblowing, but it’s a straightforward and relatively tasty example of the style. My only real problem is the mouthfeel being on the thin side. Otherwise not bad.

Bottle. Dark reddish brown body with a longlasting creamy beige head. Malty aroma with a light roasty character and light spices and caramel. The flavour is rich malty, light bready, light spicy, lots of burned caramel and light dark mollasses. Full bodied. Great brew.

Bottle from Liquid Solutions. Pours dark brown with a two finger tan/beige head. Rich warm malty aroma. Something like Belgian kandi. Medium body with frothy carbonation. Flavor is smooth dark malt with (having glanced at badgerben’s rate) I cannot separate from soy sauce. This is not a bad thing. There are some hints of xmas spice. Maybe there is just a lot of medium dark fruit like fig or date. Not quite raisin. It’s really very good. I’d say it’s way underrated. Finishes mildly sweet, and reasonably balanced.

Dark brown color with a medium head. Smokey, strong dry malt aroma. Faint soy sauce. Chalky mouthfeel and a bit in the taste. Strong dry malt, maybe a little Munich malt sweetness. Almost buttery, but in a good way, not infected way. Light smokey finish.