EKU 28

Brewed by Kulmbacher Brauerei (Schörghuber)
Style: Eisbock
Kulmbach, Germany

Serve in Dimpled mug, Snifter, Stein

Vintage 2005 (I think... Actually, it could be older. The date code on the label is 02105.)

11/12/2007: EKU 28 pours a beautiful transparent orange color into my EKU 28 snifter. There is a thin off-white head that surfaces quickly and then fades away just as fast. It has some big bubbles that rise quickly to the surface and seem to soften as the beer breathes a bit. The aroma is amazing. It is super sweet and rich. It reminds me of a extremely well-craft mead that was made with high-quality honey. Other aromas include walnut oil (maybe a hint of sunflower oil as well) and dried fruits (dates, raisins, and apricots) soaked in top-shelf alcohol. The flavor is nearly as good - if not better at times - than the aroma. It is very complex and like an exquisite distillation of malts, fruit, and nuts. The finish and lingering flavors are also incredible and like a mouthfull of fresh, dried apricots soaked in cognac or something - sweet, fruity, and with a nice alcohol presence. The alcohol is really smooth and blended into the flavor, but also substantially warming and has a very slight burn. The body of this beer is medium and extremely smooth with a touch of creaminess to it. There is also some residual stickiness on the lips that is perfect. Overall this beer really is world-class and completely underrated. This beer (or at least this particular bottle) is absolutely fantastic!

11.2 fl. oz. bottle (11% Alc. by Volume) from West Side Liquor Store in West Harrison, Indiana. Rating #509 for this beer...

Clear gold with a small, white, quickly diminishing head. Sweet nose with caramel/toffee. Flavor is sweet, nutty, with plum, caramel, and peach. Nice creamy mouthfeel.

UPDATED: AUG 26, 2004 EKU 28 was high-gravity before high-gravity was cool. Appetizing honey color. Almost completely headless as would be expected for the style (the freezing process decreases carbonation). Still, the palate is far from lifeless--thick, slippery, and smooth. It complements the malty sweetness brilliantly. The depth of flavor is breath-taking and it changes with each sip. Molasses, honey, raisin, cherry, clove, raw sugar, plum, even a bit of chocolate all make themselves known with no one flavor taking over. Leaves a lip-smacking stickiness in the mouth after each taste. It's all so very lovely. The alcohol here is not overdone. It helps contrast the sweetness, adding a much needed dryness to the overall presenationt. I savored every drop.

This was the first Eisbock I’ve ever tried and it certainly won’t be my last. This beer looked just great in the snifter, very clear amber that looks smooth like it has no carbonation. Reminds me of drinking a fine liquor or a port. Aroma has lots of alcohol, honey, apricot, grape, almost a wine like aroma. The taste is incredible and very sweet & syrupy, alcoholic, quite warming with even some hops here. I think this is the kind of beer you would either love or hate. I love it.

Aah, good ol’ EKU 28. 28 being the number of days needed to recover from the roaring hangover this firewater causes. I first drank it at the Khyber Pass in Philly during my college days. EKU 28, freebie happy hour hoagies, and a great juke box; what more does one need? Oh yeah, loose women to drink it with! EKU 28 was the strongest beer you could get in the States at the time (early 80’s). Accordingly, my mates and I took the precaution of duct taping ourselves to the bar to avoid serious injury.

Mmmm, very nice. Poured with a huge, thick, foamy, light tan head. Very little lace. Great dark copperish amber color. Aroma is very intense malty, caramel, toffee, and yeasty. Flavor is the same. Finish is yeasty bitter at first then fading to above sweet flavors. A hint of the big alcohol, but not bad. Super rich; would only want one or two. Having this one with a bowl of spicy congee and it’s a perfect match. They have it a Bodega downtown La Crosse too.

UPDATED: DEC 30, 2010 2010-12-30, bb Feb 2003, possibly 9 years old, 8-5-8-4-16=41
Last bottle was not the only lively one, this one too is a bit of a gusher; whatever foam, is not resisting more than a few seconds; the color is a beautiful reddish amber, bright and clean; there’s a thin deposit at the bottom of the bottle, it looks more like a layer of crystalized sugar than yeast. It has a sweet aroma of malt, maple syrup, nuts, almonds, alcohol. The mouthfeel is fizzy, carbonated, therefore preventing any oily feeling; there is an aggressive alcohol presence, very warming, and a nutty malt flavor; the sweetness is acceptable, nothing like a young sample; the bitterness is moderate, with more almonds in the final. And it doesn’t show any sign of age. Still standing against time.

2010-01-01, bb Feb 2003, possibly 8 years old, 8-4-8-4-16=40
Even after so many years, it’s still very lively; it pours a beautiful amber color, just hazy, and a beautiful head, but the retention is close to zero. It has the usual strong aroma: malt, caramel, toffee, with a hint of nuts and alcohol. It has a medium body strength; massive malt aroma, sweet, rather oily, sweet nuts too; very alcoholic and warming, not to say burning, more than the fresh version. It reminds me a lot some English Barley Wine, just cleaner. Good, but difficult to drink in quantities.

2002-09-12, 9-4-9-4-17=43
Orange amber colour, the head disappears quickly.
Aroma: malt, cherry, alcohol, fudge, medicinal; later it gets a bit spicy.
Sweet, a lot of malt; liquorice, alcohol; almost fruity barley wine; some Madeira wine flavour. Really strong palate, but even a high bitterness is not enough to balance such sweetness.
One of the most powerful beers I can remember.

UPDATED: JAN 17, 2005 2003 bottle. Wow what an aroma. Aroma very strong and permeating. Lots of bittersweet fruit, tart tart cherries, some prunes and dark dark concord grapes. Good thick dry molasses sweet aroma on the backend to balance it. Pours with relatively little off white head, clear but very wavy and glucose-like, as is typical of the style. Bright orange to a soft hazy peach. Copper colors in there as well. Unlike the kulmbacher eis in color and no dark, rich fruit and roast, but every bit as much flavor. Different but quite elegant, lots of lighter fruit, very sweet, but I will agree, it somehow isnt cloying, good bitterness, maybe a touch of acidity/alcohol but nowhere near what I would expect from from 11 abv. Flavors of sweet yellow grapes, golden delicious apples, syrupy in a good way, very viscous. Some light sweet citrus tones, like sweet orange curacao. Full body. Not actually concentrated by the ice and removal process?