Jötunheimr
Pollyanna Brewing Company

 

Got in a trade from FBarber. 16 ounce can into tulip glass, 2022 vintage. Pours hazy very dark ruby brown color with a 1 finger dense khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a ring of lacing. Nice spotty lacing and streaming carbonation on the glass. Aromas and flavors of big milk chocolate, cocoa, caramel, brown sugar, brown bread/crust, nuts, vanilla, wood, herbal, grass, peppercorn, light molasses/coffee/char/dark fruit. Light-medium herbal, char, peppery bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-full body. Very creamy/silky/bready malts, and light-medium lingering sticky hop dryness after the finish. No cloying/astringent flavors. Mild increasing warmth of 10% after the finish. Perfectly clean lager flavors with minimal fruitiness. Dangerously smooth. One of the best eisbocks I've had in awhile, you can tell they decocted the mash. Malt complexity and balance is off the charts. First beer I've had from this brewery, I will definitely visit the brewery someday.

 

16 oz can shared.
L: Pours deep mahogany copper with a thin light tan head that goes quickly to edge foam, light carbo, light lacing.
S: A little bit nutty, caramelized malts, chocolate, a hint of bread, grains.
T: Caramelized malts, herbal grains, chocolate, prunes, a hint of brown bread, earthy, a trace of alcohol, lightly sweet then gently bitter linger.
F: Medium-heavy body with hidden weight and a slightly drying medium long finish. It has very mild grit.
O: A fairly easy drinking 10% ABV Eisbock with good flavors, good balance and a very nice feel. Would be an excellent accompaniment with many foods. It is very good to excellent in its style.

16 ounce can into a tulip snifter. Canned 1/28/22, had 6/26/22.

Pours a ruddy copper color, semi opaque, with a one and a half inch foamy head and some foamy lacing. Aromas of malt, caramel, chocolate, bread. Has a lightly spicy aroma. Flavors of caramel, malt, bread, some chocolate. Has a spicy taste, as well as a light fruity note- especially on the finish. Smooth, a very good medium body, appropriately carbonated.

Nicely done. The greater level of spiciness sets it apart from others of the style. Solid across the board.

This drinks a little lighter than 10%, the ABV is very well masked by nutty bread, caramel, and light baking spices. There are also hints of light fruit, cherry and raspberry, plus just a trace of Belgian chocolate. I am thoroughly enjoying this. I appreciated reading the background for this in your review @FBarber , thanks again!

Reddish brown pour, khaki head fades quickly leaving a bit of spotty lacing. Snot machine says caramel, spices, grain and a bit of fruit. Taste buts agree, body is surprisingly thick, but what do I know, my first Eisbock.

I had this on draft 3/29/23 @ the Hopleaf.

Semi-opaque brown/orange appearance.

Small khaki head; thick lacing remained.

Sweet caramel, raspberry & booze heat notes in the nose.

Thick, sticky mouthfeel.

Raspberry & sweet caramel flavors; booze heat & some earthy notes on the finish.

Challenging but enjoyable; I'd have another.

 

 

Murky reddish brown opaque pour with no head. Boozy caramel, toasted multigrain bread, prune, and herbal notes make up the nose. Taste stars boozy earth, grainy toast, rustic yeast, with almost candi sugar like caramel malt sweetness with a earthy and herbal bittering finish. Feel is, do I dare say, refined for the style, still warm with booze and malty with good robust yeast rounding out, but it is well crafted. Fun experiment that will keep you warm on a cold night!

16oz can
2022 release
canned on 01/??/22
thanks for the can, Ken!
L: brown body with ruby hues, and thinner beige head
S: caramel, grain, dark fruit, earthy & herbal hops
T: toasted grain, caramel, tobacco, prune, leather, brown sugar, herbal & earthy hops, white pepper and spice on the finish
F: full body, ample carbonation, alcohol well concealed given the 10% ABV
O: awesome story behind this beer! Glad to try it. Thanks, Ken!!

Courtesy of @fbarber NBS BIF 15

Pours a nice dark leathery brown, overall clear; deep brown head that dissipates to see through thin layer, no lacing.

Nose is a beautiful combination of Christmasy spices, toasted bread crust, a little bit of coffee/chocolate combo and some minor dark sugary sweetness.

The taste is an amazing combination of rich, perfectly sweetened and spiced bread. My first thought when I sip it was rich caramelized sugars. That was followed up by what to me, tasted exactly like Christmas time. Just like a rich bready treat with gingerbread like spice followed up by sugary crust. To bring it all home the coffee/chocolate like notes come out again in taste as it warms up. A seriously enjoyable combination of flavors...

The body is big but it goes down very easy. It has a slight rich and warming sensation that reminds you not to drink it too fast, a good warning to have, otherwise I'd be in trouble. There is a minor sweetness on the finish and an almost tannin like bitter note on the finish.

 

This one pours an opaque deep, dark mahogany color. A two finger off-white head forms on the beer, lingering for just a moment, before dissipating leaving a thin ring of foam on top of the beer. The aroma on this has notes of dark bread, grain, malt, a touch of toffee and a hint of alcohol.

The taste follows the nose providing notes of dark bread, rye bread, grain, all with this rich toasted character. There is a light sweetness like some toffee, along with a distinct spice to it - cardamon, pepper, nutmeg with a slight hoppy spiciness on the finish. There is a definite warmth to the beer with a slight alcohol presence. The finish has this light oaky dryness to it - I know its not aged in oak or anything, but thats they best way to describe it. Feel is medium bodied, thick, and somewhat viscous. There is just a certain heaviness to it. The finish is dry. Moderately carbonated. The warm alcohol presence warms up the gut as you drink it.

Overall I was somewhat skeptical of this one going into it, but I was very impressed. One of the better eisbocks I have had and maybe thats because this one was not trying to be a mere gimmick.
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How the beer came to be:

To say this beer is special is an understatement. It's what we're referring to as our "White Whale." We've been obsessing over this idea and chasing it for years, but up until several months ago we thought we'd never be able to catch it.

After months and months of head scratching and detailing how we'd actually do this thing, we put our hopes and dreams in Mother Nature's hands. Welp, on the night of January 25, we caught our white whale.

To us, Eisbock is the apex of lagerbier, but it always felt like an impossible task. An Eisbock is made by freezing water out of a strong Bock Lager and concentrating the remaining liquid. ❄️

By removing the water, the beer increases in ABV% because the freezing point of water is much higher than that of alcohol, causing the ice to separate from the newly concentrated liquid.

Here's the problem, breweries cannot legally make an Eisbock in the USA. Why? Because according to the TTB, an increase of more than 0.5% ABV through freezing is considered "freeze distillation" and must be done by a distillery.

Guess who has their distillation license?!

Yep. As a brewery/distillery, we've done what most other breweries in the USA can’t legally do. We brewed an 8.0% ABV Doppelbock, freeze distilled it to a 10.0% ABV Eisbock, separated the concentrated liquid from ice, and packaged it.

We even sent it to a lab to confirm the ABV rose from 8% to 10%. Don't worry, Uncle Sam, we're paying taxes on it as a spirit. You'll get yours.

Back to that night of January 25th. We were likely the only people in the area ecstatic to see a -11F overnight temperature. After weeks of lagering and waiting (hoping and questioning, really), we looked at the weather forecast and knew it was go-time.

We didn't even know if it would work! But we threw that beer into a couple IBC totes, put it outside, and let Mother Nature do her thing. After a sleepless night and constantly checking the weather app, we showed up the next morning and gave the totes a whack...rock solid!

We had done it! We froze the beer! Turns out we had about a six inch block of ice surrounding the newly concentrated Eisbock. We caught the white whale!

We could go on and on about the process, but most of all, we're so excited to share this beer with you. It's truly unique and unlike anything else around. Who knows if we’ll ever make it again? For now, enjoy our Eisbock, "Jötunheimr," while you can.

Canned 01/28/22

l: pours a very dark brown. Thick, foamy mocha colored head.
s: notes of toffee, bread, toasted malts.
t: flavors of dark bread, toffee. various spices (rye, cardamon) . Intense malty presence.
f: medium-high body. medium carbonation.
o: this beer is not for the faint of palate. It hits you upside the head, does it again & then once more for good measure. It's intense, maybe a touch too intense? My first Eisbock and quite an experience. Cool story behind the beer and Pollyanna stated it was their 'white whale' in brewing. Happy to have tried it and kudos to Pollyanna for pulling it off.

 

16oz can dated 01/28/22 poured into a pint glass shows a reddish brown body and briefly supports a 1/2" head of light tan, or cream colored, mixed bubbles, leaving random spotted lacing. When backlit, a glorious almost ruby red color glows within.

Aroma is all malt, toasty with impending booze. Not hit you over the head alcohol aroma, but you just know it waits for you.

The flavor is alcohol heated, maybe a touch of spice, but otherwise... Malt forward, and a fruitiness on the back end welcomes, and encourages, long gulps. That is dangerous.

Feel is full bodied, almost thick, and pours like syrup, but clears the palate cleanly.

Overall a great beer for these winter temperatures.

Update with 2023 edition.
Disappointing. Booze and malt with very little balance. Very little of the fruitiness I remember from last years' first release.
Feel remains full and just short of syrupy and the look and aroma are the same.
I have to knock the flavor, though, it's just too much strong malt without restraint. Down .5 from 4 and that has to affect the overall. Down .25 from 4.