Kuhnhenn Raspberry Eisbock

Brewed by Kuhnhenn Brewing
Style: Fruit Beer
Warren, Michigan USA

Bottle provided and shared with Hogtownharry. White label with dark center. Tried at room tempature out of brandy snifter. Dark burgundy appearance, still in nature with little lacing. Aroma redolent in figs, raisins. Flavors also of Figs, wood and strong tannins. Palate intense but pronounced tannins and sour fruit in the finish. Wait a minute this isn’t a beer this is a dry port.

The aroma of this beer is probably the best I have ever tried. It’s like a raspberry chocolate flourless torte. Unfortunately, the flavor didn’t live up to the aroma for me.

This beer is amazing, and seems to have only improved since I last had a bottle from the 2004 bottling. Color is an amazing vibrant dark purple that pours without a head. The aroma is of sweet milk chocolate, raspberries, and a touch of sweet malt. It is light on the palate, and has flavors of slightly sour malt, black raspberries, and a touch of milk chocolate - not too sweet yet enough to set it apart from other fruit beers. This is one of the best beers I have ever tried, and I can’t wait to try the few that I have left as they age.

2004 bottle from trade with Crosling. Pours a thick murky mahogany color with a small head. Aroma of chocolate, malt and raspberries. Taste is pretty much the same. Has a bit of tartness in the finish. The aroma is amazing. It just keeps making you take a deep wiff every drink. Almost like a chocolate and raspberry liquer.

Glugs from the bottle a murky, muddy brown with fiery burned red highlighting at the edges. A tan head looks like a dollop of cream and is hesitant to fade back from where it originated. The aroma is seraphic and very strong, steamrolling forward while maintaining a delicate intimacy. Red raspberry preserves have a sticky quality even in the nose. Milk chocolate and dark chocolate meet the fruit in a pleasant medium, neither outweighing the other in potency. Alcohol is almost entirely masked. Restraint from succumbing to the desire to inflict a glass-emptying gulp is nearly impossible to maintain. Caramel and wood scents are mellow but succulent. Notes of blackberries, cafe mocha and light honey are recognizable in a distant little aromatic cluster, very flighty. It seems like for every iota of alcohol intensification garnered through the process that was undergone to create this eisbock, the fruit clarity and ferocity was magnified equally, retaining a raspberry and chocolaty core and overwhelming softness. At times throughout nosing this I got a sensation that there was an underlying funkiness, a tartness that bound together the fruit and dark malts and gave the entire experience an ancient, mystical, medieval character. Magical. The flavor is just as provocative, just as complicated. Sweetness is very intense, raspberry charging to the forefront. Malts seem to coalesce and disperse so evenly across the tongue, like Kuhnhenn has managed to liquefy and bottle a fruit sandwich. Additional notes of pie filling and crust grasp for a chance at recognition, amplifying the density of the mouthfeel. Vanilla makes brief and shy appearances. Tartness grows steadily with each sip. Zero bitterness. The finish is as long as they come, sweet chocolate covered raspberries and seed-like particles lingering for an admirable time. The palate is obscenely full-bodied, very sticky, lowly carbonated, very slick and incredibly velvety. There is certainly enough carbonation, as it sustains the head for some time, but the viscous body prevents any rapid upward progression of bubbles and restrains any fizziness that may otherwise be apparent. Stunningly thick, amazing drinkability. This could be the premier example of confrontational fruit flavor with slick viscosity that never succumbs to a cloying taste, extreme skill manifested in a pocket-sized package. I suppose I could drink this every day, were those small bottles always readily available. The first time I tried this I wished the bottle were larger, though after multiple samples I find this the perfect size. A truly great achievement.

May 14, 2007 - Wedding Anniversary (Two Years)

2004 Vintage... Kuhnhenn Raspberry Eisbock pours an interesting color. It looks like watery milk chocolate with a maroon hue to it. It’s also quite murky with no head or crown. It looks pretty thick on the pour. The carbonation is ultra fine bubbles and active resulting in a slow churning effect. The aroma and flavor are both very good and quite intense, but somewhat difficult to describe. The aroma is saturated with raspberry, brown sugar, caramel, and hints of some underlying chocolate. The chocolate subtlety is difficult to describe as it isn’t really like milk chocolate, dark chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, etc. Regardless, the aroma is quite intoxicating in itself since it is so intriguing and intense... At first the flavor is lighter and fruity and contains real raspberries and some slight tartness. It is quite vineous-like (lots of red wine qualities) in the beginning. Then it moves into a really deep, rich, and sugary caramel flavor with chocolate undertones and hints of raspberry wafting through it. These flavors linger on the palate for quite some time which allows plenty of time for enjoying and pondering the many flavors. I’m not really sure how much alcohol is in this beer, but it is completely masked by the complex and concentrated flavors! At first this beer seems like it has a full body, but the mouthfeel is more like medium. However, it does coat the entire mouth very nicely allowing for residual flavors long after all the beer is gone. This is certainly a well crafted and complex beer. However, the small bottle and exorbitant price really detracts from the overall excitement and enjoyment of this beer though. Don’t get me wrong; this is a really good beer and is definitely worth having once or twice, but it’s not that good to stock up on it or drink it often (or even several times per year) at the current price/value of roughly $10/bottle...

So what did my wife think about this beer? Well, here are a couple of here comments... When describing the initila flavor she said, "It’s like drinking raspberry jam!" Toward the end she then said that it reminded her of a Lindt Raspberry Chocolate bar. She’s right, it does! Needless to say, she enjoyed this beer quite a bite, but quickly felt the effects of the alcohol and still prefers New Glarus Belgian Red and Raspberry Tart more. I would agree...

6.3 oz (187 ml) bottle; Gift from Tmoney99. Thanks Tom! My wife and I really enjoyed this special little treat as we celebrated our anniversary!

2004 Bottle; Rating #1100, Nose of chocolate, raspberry, and caramel, kind of like the dark chocolate bars with cherries I get at Trader Joes; hazy purplish brown, like the color of a 15 year old bordeau wine; flavor is very much chocolate and raisins with some alcohol hints in the finishof the medium body. Tastes almost more of a candy bar than a beer, but I can feel the alcohol! A fruity imperial stout!

From Crosling. Thanks Nck! I tasted a very small sample of this a couple of years ago and I have been searching it since then. Now to the beer: Dark red brown, small tan head which is fast disappearing. As you get through the wax and open the crown the raspberries welcomes you with a fresh whiff of fruit, Very sweet, caramelly aroma with hints of port wine and almonds, and lots of milk chocolate. The flavor is dominated of a firm sweetness followed by balancing bitterness and a tart fruitiness with a long sticky finish (in a good way). The heat stays in the chest for a long time. Very, very nice!