Southampton Double Ice Bock

Formerly brewed at Southampton Publick House
Style: Eisbock
Southampton, New York USA

Courtesy of Footbalm, DL ’06. Can’t thank you enough Eric. Bottle #72. Brilliant copper, wispy film for head. Huge toffee syrup aroma. Very fruity through the middle. Tart grape, pear, and apple. aroma doesn’t sound like much but, absolutely one of the best aroma’s I’ve some acrossed. Flavor again, huge caramel and toffee. Middle has plenty of fruit through and through. Tiniest hint of oxidation towards the finish. Oily-smooth mouthfeel. A brew that makes me long to be a writer, as my review does no justice.

Courtesy boboski. 2002. Ugly multi brown. Carbonation bubbles resting on the bottom, must be some heavy brew. Looks nasty in a good way. Nose of rich caramel, heavy dough, dried fruit (plum), tobacco that grows more prominent as it warms, and subtle heat. Flavors of chocolate cookie dough, candy corn, rich caramel, earth, tobacco, subtle clove, dried fruit, underlying alcohol in second half and finish provides a spice like character. Chocolate milk aftertaste. Full, smooth, viscous palate. The measuring stick for all Eisbocks.

The pour reveals a slightly cloudy amber color with almost no head. Aroma and flavor of alcohol, candied fruits and caramel with a bitter finish. The body has a light to medium thickness with a liquorous texture and low carbonation. I’m really surprised to find this highly rated beer somewhat uninspiring, the right elements are there but the alcohol is too present.

Rating #1000! 7 oz nip bottle thanks to EDA (2006 Vintage, #38 of 100). Poured a clear, fiery medium orange with only a very light dusting and a light ring of yellowy-beige head. The whole drink was a full-on assault on the senses... The aroma carried rich and syrupy caramel, Port-infused darker fruits, toasted sourdough bread, buttery cream, oak, and peppery spices... alcohol burned through a few stray nose hairs. This was creamy and exeptionally clean on the palate... with alcohol burning the tip of the tongue and greatly warming the finish (although it remained complimentary the whole way). The flavor began with mild Port wine, white pepper, and herbal bitterness stinging the tip of the tongue... transitioning into rich caramel, toffee, brown sugar, biscuits, and alcohol-fueled dark fruits... ending with warm caramel and white pepper again in the long, warm finish. This was most intriguing and enjoyable!

peach/amber colored, heavily malty nose of inviting molassis & licorice and undertones of vanilla cream and chocolate covered fruit. Thick & solidly hoppy with interestingly aggressive bitterness in the finish. Toast & brown sugar flavors with astringent and peppery alcohol.

Light amber color, with a small ring of lacing. I would have liked it to be a darker more amber/ruby like color. Fairly rich and nice nose (though not overly interesting and complex,) with fresh biscuit-like malt, apple, plum, peach and fairly refined alcohol. Initially a bit sparse and husky and fairly underwhelming until the mid-palate. After that, creamy, buttery, caramel and fruit filled malt roam about, combined with a rich and luscious, huge and succulant body, especially after the mid-palate. Overall, it could be a bit more concentrated and richer up front, the finish could be longer and it could be a little sweeter as well. Overall, this is not as good as other extreme Eisbocks I have had, particularly Broken Keg Eisbock, from the old PP Carlsbad brewer.

Any first impressions?
-A ring of head decorates the glowing orange-pink.
-Wooden alcohol is ably blended into the subtle fruity caramel, forming a simple aroma.
-Honeyed cereals and obvious bock character are quietly conversing with toasted bread.
-The well-built malty body is surprisingly lean for such a big brew; a few love handles would not have hurt one bit.

What if you dig deeper?
-This is very Dogfish Head-like in its cleanliness, suave maltiness, and ability to hide alcohol.
-Feeble hop bitterness and fruity maltiness help each other in the finish, but fail to excite.
-For the same sipping purposes, a well-made ice cider is incredibly more satisfying to me.
-This is a fun high octane beer which has the amazing capacity to remain in the beer realm, but apart from that there is nothing in its flavor profile, body, or aroma which I find interesting.

Bottle #88; 2006 vintage.

7oz, bottle 88/100. Clear Rosé colour with quickly fading head. Rather burning alcohol nose does show some bock character underneath, certainly fruity (dried mango, peach and oranges) and with a bolder earthy, nutty kick. Spicy in its alcohol, slightly reminiscent of scotch through its sea air characteristics. Fully ripe grainy notes eventually remind of rice and concentrated cereals. I can’t but relate it to a Sake from this point, it has the soft melon notes of the best sakes I’ve had paired along with this warming feel, though it borders burning here. There are pleasant aspects, but the oily medium body at best doesn’t speak of the richness this could hold. Furthermore, the malts are quite pale compared to the eisbocks I’ve preferred and this directly leads to what appeared like missing parts in the shape of sweet chocolate/toffee/biscuit maltiness that would have added a desserty aspect, but as it is, it’s more like strong alcohol or sake than what I want from my beer. Sorry for not encouraging experiments here.