Schloss Eggenberg Samichlaus Bier

An extravagant thanks goes out to FROTHINGSLOSH for this special brew! Had the pleasure of sampling this at the 7/9/2009 Pittsburgh RB tasting extravaganza (PGHRBEXT) at the Sharp Edge Creekhouse. It will be a long time, if ever I see a spread of bottles like I did there. I am not good enough for the beers that were that we served! For example, how about this beer: Samiclause! Smelss kinda oxidized but clean and fresh, weird combination. Looks just a tad darker than pale lager. Initial flavors are sweet and unique, like soda with some whiskey in it. Sweet syrup taste and interest. Quite different than other brews in many ways. Too much for this lager lover.

Bottled. Pours dark amber with a small off-white head that diminished. Caramel malt, toffee, raisins and a subtle hit of alcohol. Relatively smooth mouthfeel and a warming finish. Definitely needs more time in the bottle, but an enjoyable sipper regardless.

Had this one at the RB Pittsburgh tasting. Smells of alcohol. Very harsh. I had a difficult time drinking this one. 2005 vintage.

On tap at Blue Palms. Appears amber with gold, and no head. Aroma is candy-like sweetness, bubble gum, and an interesting twist of green tea. Palate is expectedly syrupy, with moderate carbonation. Flavor is very sweet, burnt sugar, white sugar, red gummy bears. This is just not my thing, and I found Samichlaus one-sided. The age, I presume, has helped this beer, but it is nonetheless a sugar-bomb.

[Bottle, 2006] Pours an amber color with little head. Aroma of molasses and sweet malts. Taste is extremely malty, with a good amount of alcohol to balance. Honey, rum and light chocolate notes. Slight alcoholic warming in the finish. Quite sweet overall. It’s probably better with another year or two of aging.

Bottle (2006). Pours a reddish brown with little head. Aromas are an interesting enough mix of wine grapes (or ice/harvest wine), brown sugar, maple syrup and general sweet stickiness. Flavor is pretty sweet, too. Lots of brown sugar and maple syrup with a holy wallop of alcohol that warms and burns as it goes down. Almost a port like alcohol and sweetness to this, which makes it pretty decent, but a little over the top. Heck... this bottle has only three years on it, which is pretty good as far as my patience goes. Can’t wait to try the 2005 in my cellar.

Bottle dated 2007, purchased 8/2009. Blech! Guess I should have heeded the warning about the maltyness. Poured dark dark brownish red with a little bit of off white head that lasted maybe a minute. Aroma was malty sweet. Taste was all alcohol and bitterness. Not my cup of tea. I could have skipped this and been fine.

Bottle, dated 2006. Pours amber with almost no head. Way too sickly syrupy and sweet for me. Aroma is very fruity, with noticable alcohol. Taste of sweet malt, some.apricot vanilla notes. Alcohol burn in the finish.