Schloss Eggenberg Urbock 23°

Strong nutty developing into fruity aromas, with hints of honey. Clear amber colour with almost no head. Sweet, with fruity notes, hints of honey and nuts, yet ending with a yeasty dryness. Oily and rather soft texture, like velvet. Warming alcohol. One for those coming cold nights...

11.2oz bottle. Served in my NB worthy glass after a very short time out of the beer fridge. Pours copper with a hzay head. Aroma is simple caramel and floral honey. Sweet aroma. Large mouthfeel. The taste is sweet citrus, honey, and a touch of alcohol. The finish is far from balance on the sweetish side. There is some hops and alcohol on the finish, that helps tame the malt, but the beer is pretty sweet. Tasty, but a pretty poor, albiet strong, version of a doppelbock.

Coming in a brown, 330 ml bottle, with attractive gold on black labeling, I was expecting a beer looking like an “original bock”. Instead the beer poured out pale golden and clear, like a modern lager. The head was rather small in size, as can be expected at this strength. The beer exhibited a grainy and floral bouquet, which was a little too clean. The alcohol was also evident in the nose, but not overwhelmingly so. The taste was not very bock like, but closer to a light bodied sweet lager with spices like pepper and vanilla, resembling quite a lot of strong pale ales from Belgian abbeys. The warmth of the alcohol was present as a potent reminder of the careful sipping this beer demanded. The yeast imparted a dusty dryness and an earthy bitterness, both of which are rather uncommon is a German style lager. As I got deeper into the glass, the beer seemed to become sweeter, and perfumey. The beer was not too thick on the palette, but had enough malt body to keep it from being too adjuncty. Not too traditional, but enjoyable enough to try if you haven’t.

First rating 4.3. But second time around not so much. Taste is at first very nice, but gets real dry and too much noticable alcohol for me. Okay but not amazing.

mostly malty, very chocolate/coffee, some bitter note w/ hops on the aftertaste, full-bodied. I like this kind of beer, tastes like a belgian strong. Nice balance with the sweet and other elements, will buy again.

11z bottle. Tasted at work, so meager notes. Golden color, a lot lighter than expected. Raisins and port in the nose, very alcoholic. Same in the mouth, plus slight caramel. A staple during the cold winter months.

Bottle. Golden/amber colour with a slim white head. Aroma has malt, brown sugar and alcohol. Sweet and malty taste. Low carbonation, chewy-ish mouthfeel, late warming alcohol. Not bad, but rough around the edges.

brown sugar, citrus, and some malts in the aroma with a little maple syrup. very syrupy sweet and alcohol is overpowering over the flavors.