EKU 28
Kulmbacher Brauerei AG

Peach63 from New York

4.19/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours light copper with a 1/4 inch tan head, which dissipates. Minimal lacing.

Aroma is malty, bready, toffee, caramel. Port like.

Taste is toffee, caramel, light roast malt, raisins, prunes.

Medium bodied, light carbonation. Semi-sweet finish.

The Germans know how to brew beer. this is a good one.

Yesterday at 05:14 PM

milkshakebeersucks from Maryland

3.89/5  rDev -2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Clear, deep amber appearance with a large tan head that faded quickly and left modest lacing. Toffeeish, sweet malt, ripe fruit aroma with accents of honey and alcohol. The sweetness mingles with the alcohol, giving the taste a dessert wine-like edge. Sweetness linger through to the finish. The ever present alcohol is unavoidable in the aftertaste.

Jan 23, 2021

mgrady3 from Missouri

4.08/5  rDev +2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Poured a 11.2oz bottle into a pint glass. Had to pour right down the middle to get a head to form, which built up decently high but then dissipated very quickly. Since this is a big ABV beer, I made sure to let the bottle warm up for a minute or two after snagging from the beer fridge.

Color was lighter than expected - light brown or copper, with high clarity.

Nose comes through right away with sweet, caramel, molasses, and dark fruit.

Taste is quite sweet at the beginning but it finishes very clean and crisp. There's a little bit of hop bitterness present in the finish, but fairly minimal.

For an 11% beer, the alcohol is masked quite well.

Overall a really interesting Doppelbock. Not sure I'd go out of my way to buy more but would certainly recommend everyone try it at least once.

Nov 27, 2020

crazyspicychef from Pennsylvania

4.52/5  rDev +13%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

Not the beer to purchase for going boating. F.Y.I.
It has been decades since I have come across this amazing beverage.
All I can remember is that I loved it and would purchase regularly if available in PA.
As close to an Eisbock as I could find in this area years ago.
I remember it poured a nice brassy color, beautiful malt presence, and finished just dry enough, probably the alcohol.
I put this up there with Kulmbacher Eisbock as far as amazing bocks.

Oct 30, 2020

ilikebeer03 from Texas

3.88/5  rDev -3%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Pours a clear, deep ruby / copper. Half finger of fizzy khaki head fades quickly to nothing. Doesn’t look great.
Nose is toffee, toasted bread, caramel, nutty character
Taste follows. Toffee, toasted bread crust upfront followed by a nutty character, touch of raisin, plum.
and a caramel finish.
Finish isn’t too sweet or cloying.
Good beer.

Sep 12, 2020

Eapressocycle from Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Excellent interpretation of the style. Not quite as dark as your typical doppelbock. Pours hazy dark amber with a creamy and persistent head. Flavor is sweet with a hint of spice and just enough bitterness and complexity to not be cloying. Alcohol is well hidden, although the thick and syrupy should prevent accidental overindulgence.

Dec 10, 2019

weissbock from Alabama

4.28/5  rDev +7%
look: 5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Ahhhh... an old fave! Pours up a medium copper color bringing aromas of big malt, some dried fruits and slight sweetness, not much hop on the nose. Head white and thin doesn't stick around long although seems fairly effervescent on the tongue. Served at 47 F, it's a sipping beer but not due to the high abv, for myself more to enjoy how it evolves as it warms a bit. Thick mouth feel with hints of toffy. Finish is warming as expected but never overpowering the malt, noticeable bread and grain as it warms. I'd like to brew up a 7.5% abv version. Top notch beer IMO!

Oct 09, 2019

jkblr from Indiana

4.15/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

11.2oz bottle coded 2834231 poured into a pokal glass at fridge temp 11% ABV. The beer pours bright light amber in color with khaki head. The head fizzles away in a few minutes leaving a thin ring of single bubbles around the glass. The aroma is sweet raisin bread. The taste is more of the same with sweet bready caramel malt, hints of fruit, a touch of ethanol heat and a mild finishing bitterness. The mouthfeel is full to medium bodied with just less than medium carbonation and a semi dry finish. Overall, excellent. Sweet, but not cloying and full of flavor. The tiny bit of booze you get from this beer is well integrated and the finish incredibly dry for the gravity. I love a big, well made doppelbock and this is one of the biggest and best.

Jul 03, 2019

josanguapo from Spain

3.5/5  rDev -12.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

From Decervecitas. In Teku glass. Reading Intro to Python Ch5. Althought the abv is fairly high and some alcohol is noticeable, it isnt enough to spoil it thanks to a pleasant caramel sweetness

Jul 02, 2018

Bitterbill from Wyoming

4.37/5  rDev +9.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Bought at Liquor Shed.

It pours a mostly clear copper, has a small head of foam, produces good lacing.

Smells sweet with caramel malt, brown sugar or maple syrup. Somewhat of a boozy aroma.

Sweet but such a true Doppelbock, maple syrup and caramel oozing onto my palate. The alcohol brings some warming after the swallow but it's hidden pretty well in the taste. Bottle code doesn't make any sense so I don't know how old the 6pack is: 2730251.

Close to full bodied, lowish carbonation.

Excellent!!

Jun 29, 2018

Krajnyak from Pennsylvania

4.38/5  rDev +9.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Great Dopple. Big flavor. Pours without a good head and almost no retention. Drink this one a little bit warmer, like 45-50, and the flavor really comes out. Malty and sweet with very little bitterness. Can definetly feel the high alcohol. This is a solid brew!

Dec 23, 2017

BrianKoshefsky from Florida

4.04/5  rDev +1%
look: 4.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Heard many things about this beer finally found it and tried it out of a 11.2 oz bottle.. tried just below room temperature. Had sweet notes of fruit followed by alcohol most notably tasted like grape lollipops that you get from the bank here in America.. at 11% it definitely packs a punch good for a closing beer. Will definitely have this one again

Dec 17, 2017

Mindcrime1000 from South Dakota

3.52/5  rDev -12%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a single-serve bottle into a tall pilsner glass.

Pours clear copper/amber with a fine two-finger head that lacks retention (not remarkable given the ABV) but features decent lacing and good stick down the sides of the glass.

The nose is immediately hit with salted caramel malts with hints of clean booze. Simple but straight.

The booze isn't as well-hidden on the tongue, but plenty of sweet malts and diacetyl notes provide good backbone before clean fusel alcohol hits like a mack-truck. However, it's a crisp "bite" not a staying "burn" in the booze department. Zero hops.

The mouthfeel is excellent. Not as heavy as expected. The booze stands in for the hops to provide the dry note needed to balance what is ultimately a pretty sweet offering.

Overall, glad I tried, but this is a shade boozy and one-note.

Nov 23, 2017

MrFitgers from South Dakota

4.83/5  rDev +20.8%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

All you need to know is that this lager is the benchmark of doppelbock’s. When judging other doppelbock’s... just base their rating on how close they come to EKU 28

Oct 31, 2017

Ozzylizard from Pennsylvania

3.56/5  rDev -11%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Four Euros/0.331 L at Maisel and Friends, a bier garten/ beer store in Kulmbach, DE. A suitcase beer.
Bottle dated 28.05.18, stored at 42 degrees. Served at 57 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King Snifter.
Aroma – initially caramel malt but it fades with the head until it’s nearly odorless.
Head – large (Maximum 4.8 cm, aggressive pour), light tan, fizzy, gone in less than sixty seconds leaving neither ring nor layer.
Lacing – none.
Body – medium amber, clear.
Flavor – sweet and caramel. No hops, no alcohol, no diacetyl. The alcohol doesn’t show up until the post swallow gastric burn. Considering that this is made with both hops and hops extract, it’s a little surprising that the hops are undetectable.
Palate – full, syrupy, flat.

Worth trying once to see how the 11.2% ABV is hidden. One and done.

Appearance 3.5, Aroma 3.75, Flavor 3.5, Palate 3.5, Overall 3.5.

Jul 04, 2017

r-m-kaylor from New York

4.19/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Nice Dopplebock!
Aggressive pour into generic tulip with 3/4" head which quickly dissipated to a white foam ring (abv perhaps?).

On the eyes, a very nice deep brown clear color with no sediment or floaties.

On the nose, sweet sugars and malt coupled with slight heat from the 11% abv, which is more of an afterthought from the sugars and malty goodness.

Mouthfeel is full with sweetness and maltiness up front through the middle and back, with an ever so subtle palatte cleansing hoppiness...

Overall a fine example of the style - but keep in mind I use Samiclaus as the "standard" of the style.

Thanks for reading!

May 06, 2017

Davedrinkinbeer from Indiana

4.23/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Bought one to try, I finally found a place that sells this beer, so I figured I better get it. Opening the beer and drinking straight from the bottle, 2 scents jump out-- sweet fruit and alcohol. With 11% alcohol content, the 2nd is not a big surprise. The alcohol scent is not overpowering however.

Tasting the beer is a pleasant surprise, it is very balanced and sweet overall. Alcohol, while the scent is present initially, is well masked until the very end. Plum, sugar, apples, and hops are definitely present. Beer finishes a little dry, sticky, yet has an overall light feel which is surprising.

A very good doppelbock, and also a very strong one too. Surprisingly to me this is not an eisbock, but the sweet taste help mask the alcohol in this beer making it very drinkable. I will get more of this beer in the future.

Feb 12, 2017

Premo88 from Texas

3.99/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

11.2 oz. bottle poured into pilsener

L: brown-amber, orange, crystal clear, a bit light compared to other dopplebocks but an absolute beauty -- the color and clarity are stunning; pushes up big head, almost 1 1/2-inches tall, beige/tan foam that looks thick and sticky but dissipates rapidly and doesn't stick; good activity in the glass, mainly a tight column of bubbles in the middle of the column; keeps a thin collar of beige foam

S: fruity sweet ... plums, dates ... just a bit of dust, clean abbey ale dust (nothing barnyardesque or from the farmhouse); fig fruitcake

T: a bit hot from the alcohol is the first note, can't get around it, like a port wine; dusty fig and prune, some spicy hops, way more black pepper/spicy hop flavor than you can detect in the nose; smoothed out on the back end with a layer of brown sugar, molasses -- those notes are light compared to the dark fruit flavors; as it warms, has a slight peat/earthy flavor; the second half of the glass takes on a dominate earthy flavor ... not fruity or sweet but also not bitter or peaty

F: crispy and light for 11% ABV; carbonation tickles the tongue and may be enhancing the alcohol heat; I normally like a lot of carbonation, but for some reason the carbonation here might be a bit much

O: the alcohol heat can throw you at first, but all in all a great brew; the fruity sweet nose is the highlight for me, and the bubble activity inside the beautiful burnt orange-colored brew is quite a show

Feb 11, 2017

VoxRationis from New York

4.32/5  rDev +8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Decanted from an 11.2 oz (330 ml) bottle into a conical pint; serial number 2658681, but no clear production or best by date.
A: Pours a questionably hazy, copper color with very limited and brief head formation and no lacing.
S: Floral bouquet with apple, pear, and citrus notes. Aroma of caramel malt present and predominates as warms. .
T: Sweet up front with caramel and raisin predominating. Nutty. Bitterness present throughout, but light and in excellent balance.
M: Full bodied with light to moderate carbonation. Alcohol perceptible mostly as a feeling in the throat after consumption.
O: A very enjoyable, if somewhat high alcohol, Doppelbock. Have had it before and will do so again.

Jan 11, 2017

sjccmd from Minnesota

3.9/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Robust malty aroma. Rich butterscotch, toffee, grapeskins, raisins. Toast, graham cracker, and cinnamon. Biscuits. I feel like I can sit with this for a while and just smell it.

Pours rich ruby/amber with a thin wispy off-white head. No lacing.

Rich juicy caramel. Baked apples and pears. Burnt sugar. Subtle roast creeps in at the finish. Spicy, sweet alcohol. Seems sweet initially but dries out in the finish.

Medium full body with low carbonation. Feels "sticky" on the palate, but not cloying.

Much stronger and sweeter than a typical doppelbock, but easier drinking than, say, Samiclaus.

Dec 10, 2016

BB1313 from Ohio

4.35/5  rDev +8.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

11.2oz bottle poured into a tulip. Pours a transparent auburn with a fluffy light khaki head that falls leaving nice retention and okay lacing. Great color. The aromas are awesome. Lots of rich caramel along with some toffee notes. Dark fruits are present. Lots of malty goodness. The flavors follow the nose perfectly. The malts shine. More caramel and toffee. Hints of raisins and black cherries. Solid malt backbone. It's sweet, but not cloying or over the top at all. Not too bitter. There's a very subtle spiciness in the finish. Alcohol is well hidden. Mouthfeel is very nice. It's on the lighter side of full-bodied with moderate carbonation. It's very smooth and easy to drink. It's dangerously drinkable.

This is a great brew. Great aromas and flavors. Highly enjoyable and fun to drink. Definitely worth checking out. Highly recommended.

Aug 17, 2016

KonigObHops from Ohio

4.3/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

When this beer was poured it looked more like an Irish red ale than a Dopplebock. It also had a thin beige head which disapated quickly.

The beer had a very sweet, malty aroma.

The initial taste is quite sweet, but the toasted malty tones that you would expect from a Dopplebock are also present. In the middle the maltiness and caramel notes fade and a nutty flavor appears and lingers until the sheer sweetness of the beer overpowers it. At the end the sugary sweetness begins to worm on the tongue and is joined by the strong, but not overpowering presence of the alcohol tingling the tongue.

The mouthfeel is smooth, but not as substantial as you would expect from a Dopplebock. There is also the recurring tingling sensation as the alcohol seems to evaporate on the tongue.

Overall, this is an interesting Dopplebock. It is not as complex or substantial as a Celebrator, and not as straightforward as a Spaten. It is extremely sweet, which is not to be interpreted as bad... Just different for this style. Be careful with this one because it could go down fast, and it packs 11% abv.

May 22, 2016

Beginner2 from Illinois

4.22/5  rDev +5.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Are we dealing with a classic or a great beer here ?
Given that classics (like Anchor's Liberty) inspire a movement, then EKU 28 is just a great beer because no other brewer seems to get how EKU 28 was made because nothing in my experience comes close.
The only thing that is average about EKU 28 is its looks. Even then, it looks like sherry... but alas, beer has suds.
As for the smell, never has there been so much fruit and sweet malt produced in a lager process. And the taste delivers.
Amazingly, the mouth is neither cloying nor alcoholic... which defies expectations.
Overall, if you have never Had EKU 28 twice... then you have not lived.

MJ is quoted on the bottle as calling this a "world classic." Judge that accolade as I quote here his 1999 "Guide" that gave EKU 3 of 4 stars "the nose and palate are intensely malty with some estery notes and a strongly alcoholic finish."
EKU also was selected and received an extensive review in Roger Protz' "300 Beers To Try Before You Die!"
Listed in the "1001 Beers To Taste Before You Die", EKU 28 deserves to be on the list for all of the reasons above.

Apr 24, 2016

ordybill from Georgia

4.78/5  rDev +19.5%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

Poured from an 11.2 OZ bottle into a tulip glass. The appearance is a light copper color with a small off-white head. The aroma is a very nice blend of malt, fruit and alcohol. The taste is big on fruit with some malt.

Feb 21, 2016

stevoj from Idaho

3.96/5  rDev -1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Beautifully done strong beer from one of Germany’s old breweries. Eisbock in particular is a specialty of Kulmbac, and this one is a joy to drink. Aroma of toffee, similar to a Belgian strong ale, and taste is also sweet like toffee, with a slight hint at the alcohol content. Nice for a winter’s evening....Cheers!

Feb 19, 2016