Schloss Eggenberg ‘Samichlaus’ Doppelbock

Rating:

27540440_805952042922276_4121141276573435138_n“Brewed only once a year on December 6. Samichlaus is aged for 10 months before bottling. This beer is perhaps the rarest in the world. Samichlaus may be aged for many years to come. Older vintages become more complex with a creamy warming finish. Serve with hardy robust dishes and desserts, particulary with chocolates, or as an after dinner drink by itself.”

Glassware: Stemmed tulip.

Appearance: It hits the glass with a deep ruby red glow. It only manages a short beige head that collapsed to a halo but still works a wavy lace as we imbibe.

Aroma: Extreme indulgence. Unbelievably rich and complex with booze-soaked dates and raisin, Christmas cake, toffee, spice, cognac, residual sugars, gluhwein, fig jam and glazed cherries. We could practically sit here all arvo and pick out another half a dozen or so but we’ll move on. Absolutely superb.

Flavour: Holy moly! It’s nearly edible. The progression of flavours is next level, opening with Christmas cake, stewed cherries, cognac, residual sugars and toffee then flowing in to super sweet caramelised malts and a crescendo of burning alcohol. It develops a nutty flavour early in the ultra sweet, sugary and yeasty finish. The length is incredible too, really sitting on the tongue.

Mouth feel: Sticky and saturated. Full body and low carbonation. 14% ABV… What can we say, it’s quite vigorous.

Overall: Simply amazing. It’s straddling that line between beer and aperitif. It could be very slowly quaffed, enjoyed with a good Cuban cigar or as a digestif after dinner. Really impressive.