Schloss Eggenberg Samichlaus Bier Helles

Brewed by Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg
Style: Doppelbock
Vorchdorf, Austria

I didin’t know about this one until I saw a bottle in De Bierkoning in a trip to Amsterdam last year. Wish I had bought more bottles. Served in my rare Samichlaus glass, it pours some more head than its sister and lasts a bit more, but you can say it doesn’t last. Very nice maber-orange colour, and absolutely beatiful when you hold it to the light. Smells of honey, tropical fruits, dried fruits, and even almonds or hazelnuts or similar. Licorice, caramel. Silky sweet, maybe too sweet, flavor. Palate is similar, orange, honey, hazelnuts... only add a touch of oak. The finish is more like an orange liquor than a brandy, a difference to the Samichlaus we all know. The only "bad" thing that I could find is that I would have like it a little less sweetness, but when you have a beer like this, who cares?

12 oz bottle from Bev4less. Pours a clear copper color with a small head that quickly dissipated to zilch. The aroma is mixed fruits, some sweet malts and rubbing alcohol. Flavor? Well its there, but I really can not taste much of anything except that rubbing alcohol when I sip this. The alcohol is way too distracting and obnoxious. The finish is saccharine sweet. This is just not my cup of tea. drainpour.

330ml Bottle: Aroma of grilled beef, sweet malts, slight alcohol, almonds, and some smoke. Poured golden/amber/apple juice in color with a small, off-white head that disappeared quickly. Clear. Slightly sparkling. Flavor is light to medium sweet. Tastes of alcohol, sweet malts, and some corn. Medium body. Sticky texture. Soft to average carbonation. Sweet, pale malt and alcohol finish. A little bit hot.

Pours an orange-hued amber into the glass, literally headless. The nose is spot-on for buttery caramel and dried fruits. The flavors are very sweet, with lots of caramel malts, some toffee, followed by some diacetyl buttery notes. Not the most complex brew, but I won’t slam it as it’s not easy to integrate the flavors in a true "malt liquor", and this does a decent job. The finish does bring forth an alcohol tone, lending a light-peppery close. For 14% ABV, I have to compliment the brewer on hiding it as well as it does. Certainly not a "top-tier" doppelbock, but honestly, it’s probably the "establishment’s" best description of what the brewer was trying to achieve. Cloyingly sweet at times, yes, this is a bit reminiscent of a liqueur or barleywine, sans the complexity. Not bad for a rate, and certainly a "special occasion" snifter offering.

Bright orange color with no head. Aroma is strong and sweet with some rice and corn aspect to it. Almost barleywine aroma to it. Taste is big. Sweet with a lot of alcohol behind it. Malty and corny and very strong. Slightly syrupy and definitely would be better during the winter months.

bottle thanks to bhops. poured a light gold with no head. aroma of light caramel and lots of spice. flavor was caramel, lemon, and spice. light body with high carbonation. this was pretty good.

Bottle, 14%. Quite peppery aroma, some sweet dried fruit and dust. Hazy dark golden colour. Almost no head. The flavour starts off quite alcoholic, getting a bit rough. Then follow some of the same fruit notes as were in the aroma. Good maltiness and quite sweet. Ending with a warming but rough alcohol burn. Slightly thick mouthfeel.

Orange with a qquickly disappearing white head. Aroma: Alcohol, sherry, plum, caramel and a little hops. Taste: Sweet, very strong , orange, caramel, raisin. A little to sweet, but still a good beer for a dark winters night.