Nessie
Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg

 

 

 

Having had quite a few from Schloss Eggenberg (their Double Bock and the Samichlaus series), this one turns out to be a pleasant, light beer after their heavyweight syrupy others.
The color is nice golden amber and feels confusingly like a kind of overmalted lager or an overcarbonated ale. Maybe it is the latter, because it lacks the yeastiness of a lager however it is a bit on the light side of ales. But the feeling of the Scottish Highland whisky malt is present although you would expect something a bit heavier to support the idea of such a gorgeous ingredient. It is not caramellized, perhaps that is why - it leaves a rather dry aftertaste and the carbonation makes it feel even drier. The lacing and the head is almost completely missing just like with every other Eggenbergs, I could imagine this being a bit more hopped and caramel malted, somewhat in the fashion of the Dead Guy Ale by Rogue and then it would be awesome. Still it is not bad as it is though, a decent B-rank refresher.

 

 

Described as a whisky malt red beer from Austria, I am expecting this beer to be very strange, but hopefully it is very good also. I have had many fairly bad beers and not so many good ones from Austria though, so hopefully this doesn’t follow that trend. This red ale pours a reddish orange color with a medium foamy white head. The smell is certainly malty with typical red beer, bready scents with a faint hint of whisky on the nose also. It is certainly quite malty with a flavor that is mostly on par with a fairly robust red ale. It is not as sweet with less caramel character than many red ales I’ve had. There is maybe a faint hint of whisky, but it is really quite understated. The finish is crisp, somewhat creamy, and imparts a faint citrus character. The body is medium, but maybe slightly heavier than the average red ale. This is certainly a very good red ale and probably one of, if not the best, beer I have had from Austria. It is not nearly as strange or as interesting as I thought it would be though. I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised though because red ales very rarely are. Still a very solid beer though and I think it is quite underrated.

Smells slightly musty slight whiskey
Appearance, red transparent with lasting off-white thin head.
Flavour slight sour. Malty. Ends with a fruity apricot and small smokey note.
Med carbonation dry finish.
Not great of odor may be by damage as its label was torn a bit.but think wasnt aweful.

 

 

 

This poured a coppery liquid with an inch head that flattens pretty quickly. There is a citrus nose with maybe a bit of whisky barrel in the background. It's very subtle and hard to pick out. The flavour has a bit grain with slight fruit in the finish, maybe apricot. Like the nose the whisky barrel is very subtle. I took a big swig and held it in my mouth, the carbonation was active the whole time.

L: Pleasant deep amber. Upon pouring into a cooled tulip glass, the foam built up quickly, then collapsed equally suddenly.
S: The irony smell of lager, with a light wooden je-ne-sais-quoi in the background.
T: Well, it tastes like a decent Vienna lager. Nothing less, nothing more.
F: Crispy mouthfeel of a good-quality lager, a tad too metallic for my taste. Carbonation is rather high. I half expected barrelling would have created a smoother, more silky beer.
O: Don't get me wrong, this is a pleasant beer. I can imagine me drinking this sitting in an Australian caffee, a pretzel at the side. However, I was promised (and had payed for) something special, a whiff of the Scottish Highlands, a whisky malt red beer, aged for two months, preferably in ancient oak barrels. Not really sure if that was what I got.