Samichlaus Classic
Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg

From a 330ml can, pours a clear deep coppery ruby. Thin head of tan foam dissipates quickly. Smell is complex, with toffee, sweet dark fruits and chocolate. Taste follows. Feel has just a hint of richness. Light carbonation. I'm really loving this beer, great for a cold, rainy November night.

Beautiful clear dark red copper. Bubbles when pouring, but nothing after, flattest beer I've seen. Smells sweet, malty, slight spice, hint of alcohol. Reminds me of King Arthur Barleywine by Tartarus. Taste is very much the same. Feel is smooth, if a bit thin. Much more of a barleywine than doppelbock to me.

From a 330ml can with an indecipherable date-stamp. Served in the last surviving precision designed, German engineered, preternaturally fragile Spiegelau BA tasting glass.

Pours caramel coloured with absolutely minimal head formation and a barely rousable super-slippery film of lacing. Looks very much like a (very large) glass of bourbon.

Nose is rich and robustly malty. Aroma of golden syrup and hay.

Taste is sweet and boozy. Tasting caramel and maraschino cherry. A smidge of ashy bitterness and a ton of sugary sweetness.

Edit to add: Rug said ‘baked apple’ in his review and that’s a great call. It doesn’t actually change my opinion at all but it’s right on and I wish I’d picked that up while I was writing my own review.

Feel is clean and smooth, surprisingly not heavy bodied - if that’s a fair way of describing something - gently but adequately carbonated and - again, surprisingly- not the slightest bit boozy.

Overall… OK? I mean, at 14% abv it sure as fuck gets the job done, right? but, aside from that, there’s not much going on here for me. Tooth decay is a serious consideration, however.

Europeans may make good adjunct beer, but USA all the way on craft beer! This stuff is weak! And I don't mean on the ABV. 14% but about 25% on flavor. Poured a dark honey color and flat as a pancake. I could tell you the flavors I'm picking up but they're so weak. It's sweet and bland. Not even boozy for 14abv. I drive American cars and drink American craft beers for a reason! My Turbo charged Buick Regal has Balls, even with 107,000 miles on it!! This beer does not!! Pass!!!

2021: Served at 48F. Dark amber with a hint of red, no head. Bold, complex and rich flavor. The alcohol punches through but is not overwhelming. Opens up around 52F to express more subtle notes. Christmas in a bottle.

Edit: After having a 2nd one of these I'm blown away by the incredible range of flavors. This is one of my top 5 beers of all time.

 

2020 vintage

This is an absolute classic that somehow has fallen under my radar in all these years of my beer journey. I hear this one discussed quite often, so when I finally saw it at my local store I knew I had to go for it. Let’s pop open this old time beast and find out what it’s all about

Pours a cloudy dark reddish brown with a finger of off white head that quickly fades to a thin ring and leaves minimal lacing

The nose is boldly malty, but there’s not a hint of the 14% abv. I’m picking up on aromas of molasses, brown sugar, dates, sweet caramel, dark bread, raisin, baked apple, light black cherry, and toffee

The booze is more present in taste, but it does not overwhelm in any way. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting sweet caramel, raisin, baked apple, overripe plum, biscuity malt, dark bread, molasses, light brown sugar, and cocoa powder. The swallow brings notes of baked apple, dates, molasses, dark bread, brown sugar, cocoa powder, tobacco, black cherry, sweet caramel, light toffee, smooth oak, and a touch of booze

A medium full body pairs with gentle carbonation, resulting in a slick beer with a bite. Finishes mostly dry with a subtle boozy hit but drinks remarkably lower than 14%

This is a great beer. Big in flavor but not aggressive. I should pick up some more to cellar

 

Poured a 330ml bottle into a pint glass. No head. A clear reddish brown.
Dark malt smells. Lots of alcohol is there.
Very smooth Dark fruit. A peppery boozy finish. Gets better as it warms.
Medium body and carbonation.
Unique and interesting. Well worth a try.

A: Appearance is a deep amber color. There is little to no head on this beer.

S: Smells boozy at first. After that you can smell rich aromas of molasses and toast.

T: This beer is a desert. It has a very malty flavor with intense sweetness.

MF: This is a rich beer. However it drinks smooth despite its high abv.

O: very unique beer that is perfect for winter drinking. I really enjoy it!

It’s an ok beer. 14% you say? Strong, but also smooth. It’s like the first time that you skinned your knees as a kid, but manned up and didn’t cry. Now, it’s not a “go to.” It’s more like page 39 of the nudie mad you had as a youngster: not your favorite, but it still did the trick.

Bounce with me, my children.

Samichlaus Classic from Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg. 11.2 oz bottle on room temperature shelf from Shangy’s, Emmaus, PA, on 18/09/21. $5.82 (Including tax) = $ 0.52/oz. Stored at home at 42 degrees. Reviewed 10/01/23 (Review 3009). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Undated bottle. Served at 54.8 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 56.3 degrees.
Appearance – 4.
First pour – Pale Amber (SRM 9), clear.
Body – Brown (SRM 20), opaque. Under direct light, chocolate brown, translucent. When rear-lite, garnet and transparent.
Head – Small (Maximum 0.8 cm, aggressive center pour) Fizzy, buff, gone in seconds leaving no head, just a one to two mm ring of bubbles constantly being renewed by carbonation.
Lacing – None.
Aroma – 3 – Weak malt and “dark fruit”, no hops, no yeast, no alcohol.
Flavor – 4 – Begins slightly sour with weak malt, and “dark fruit”, no hops, no yeast. No ethanol (14 % ABV as marked on label) flavor. A mild gastric warming slowly occurs. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 3.75 – Medium, nudges against the edge of syrupy, soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 3.75 (After deducting 0.25 point for an undated bottle) although sorely lacking in the head and lacing departments, the changing coloration under different light conditions makes it quite an attractive brew. Both aroma and flavor are subdued, leaning toward malt and “dark fruit”. Alcohol is so well hidden as to be barely detectable other than the mild gastric warming. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

 

2015 vintage. Reviewed on Christmas Day 2022. Poured into a tulip glass at 49°. It pours a hazy, muddy orange with a modest, ecru-colored head that fizzled away quickly leaving almost no lacing. A big, fruity nose of raisin, plum, red wine, tobacco smoke, and whiffs of brown sugar and toffee. It's huge! The complex taste offers lots of sweet, dark fruit - fig, raisin, and plum, along with brown sugar and sweet brown bread. There are also earthy notes and hints of tobacco. There is no escaping the booziness; it's warming but noticeably potent. After seven years the flavors are smooth and mellow. While it's very sweet I don't consider it to be cloying. The mouth feel is thick and syrupy with lite/moderate carbonation. The 14% ABV speaks for itself; it's a sipper for sure but you wouldn't want to drink it too quickly as it evolves as it warms. It's a dessert itself but would pair well with chocolate. Overall, I'm happy to have finally enjoyed this unique and classic Doppelbock. I'll be sure to buy it when I see it and to age bottles from different years.

New beer in my pint this mid-morning: Samichlaus Classic. An extra strong beer and self titled the most extraordinary beer in the world, whatever that means.

It’s indeed 14%, in a standard 330ml bottle size. Pretty vintage label. No head, it’s only brewed each year on 6th of December and aged for 10 months.

From Austria, overall this is quite good, not a boozy mess as I was maybe fearing before buying it.

Great one and nicely appropriate in Winter.

You feel the high alcohol volume right away. This is an explosion of raisins and dates flavors. A Santa Claus Beer that will warm you up for good. A perfect digestive beer with a chocolate cake.

 

Picked up a 11.2 oz 2020 bottle at TW-Greenville, SC 7-27-22 for $6.49. Consumed 11-23-22.

Beer poured a reddish-brown with an okay white head that dissipated quickly.

Nose is dark fruit forward, has hints of red wine.

Taste is a huge malt base that brings heavy figs and fruitcake. Finishes very sweet and unbalanced.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and smooth.

Overall always wanted to try this beer as i have heard about it over the years. Unfortunately, this is too sweet for my palate.

Poured from 330mL bottle into a New Belgium Globe Glass

The beer pours an amber color with Ruby highlights. The beer is crystal clear with a thin khaki colored head that recedes quickly leaving behind an impressive amount of lacing.

The aroma is comprised of sweet malts, caramel, dark fruit, and has a nice booziness as well.

The flavor is very similar to the aroma, sweet and malty, with lots of caramel, raisin, fig, cherry, and just a hint of brown sugar. The alcohol is pronounced, creating a nice booziness that partners well with the nearly overwhelming sweetness.

Medium bodied and lightly carbonated, with a sticky, lingering aftertaste

Overall this beer is very, very sweet, but is not off-putting. I am not usually a fan of the style, but I actually quite enjoyed this beer and will likely revisit it.

330ml can. Little head. Clear copper color.

Malty. Toffee, caramel, toasted bread. Sweet, dark dried fruit notes. Boozey/strong. Molasses, raisins, plums, apple skins.

Smooth for how strong it is. A very nice bock.