Schloss Eggenberg Urbock 23°

Clear, neutral gold color. Modest head that dies quickly to a single layer of bubbles. Slightly skunky in the nose. More malt, as expected, than hop. A touch caramel and bit of earthiness to the smell. Strong alcohol bite to the swallow. More hop bitterness than most doppelbocks, but still retains its malty character. Thick body with a low level of carbonation. Short lived aftertaste--dominated by the alcoholic warmth.

0.5 liter bottle purchased at Julius Meinl in Vienna, Austria for 1.99 Euro Excellent.

330 ml bottle from LCBO. Pours a clear light orange gold colour with tiny white head. Sweet, malty aroma. Strong sweet flavour with real honey taste with the alcohol punch strong in the finish. Somewhat interesting but didn’t blow me away.

Big fizz on pour, bananas galore, falls flat on the taste for a strong beer, but good smell. present from a friend so I can’t be too derogatory. whiffs of spirits, it’s all in the nose with this one. sang it’s praises from my nose like a britpop singer, but like them full of empty promises. good-looking colour, heads disappears quicker than a one hit wonder. bottle is seductive; i guess, brags about it being one of the strongest beers in the world. that would be true if Belgium didn’t exist. Gets much better as it warms, or I start buzzing off the alcohol content. If i was a conspiracy theorist I’d say that was their desired effect.

Bouteille de 330 ml, acheté au LCBO de Rideau et King Edward (Ottawa), le 19 avril 2009. Blonde paille pale, très peu de collet. Arome d’orga malté très sucré, avec quelque vapeur d’alcool. Goût plutôt alcoolisé, un peu malté avec des notes de céréal mous, arrière goût d’alcool plate. Je m’attendais à plus, mais c’est nul!

Pour was a honey brown color, crystal clear with a big frothy head that soon turned to naught. A super sweet aroma brought fears of a cloying malt bomb. It was indeed very, very sweet, with caramel and fruit flavors..on the edge of overly sweet, probably a little over. It was enjoyable, but not overly memorable. I had been holding this bottle for quite a while and it was a tad disappointing.

The beer poured amber with no head. The aroma was fruity and spicey, with some very apparant boozy aromas, there was some sweetness and hints of caramel. The flavor was very sweet, caramelly and boozy with some diacetyl, buttery notes coming through. The palate is thin and watery, warming from alcohol. Overall this was way too sweet for me, very cloying, fairly complex but not my thing.

Pours honey golden with thin white head. Nose is beautiful & delicate with honey, maybe honeydew, and faint malt. A leap of malt comes forward on the palate, with honey, and a luxurious malt component. Viscous body is amazing, and the beer has a hard to describe "hearty" character that is so lovable in bocks. Fine example, though I think it is more of a Helles bock than a traditional doppel.