Vintage Samichlaus

Discussion in 'Cellaring / Aging Beer' started by LoPo87, Jan 14, 2013.

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  1. LoPo87

    LoPo87 Initiate (0) Mar 9, 2012 Oregon

    Hey All,

    So I am looking for some clarification on the Samichlaus beers that are out there. From what I had read and been told, Samichlaus is brewed once a year on December 6th. This day just so happens to be my birthday. I recently aquired a bottle of 1988 Samichlaus since it was brewed in 1987, the day I was born.

    Now the bottle showed up in the mail the other day but it wasn't entirely what I was expecting. It is a bottle of Samichlaus Brown from Brauerei Hulimann. Now doing some search on BA I found this:

    http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/736/6527

    Clearly Hurlimann has closed down. Currently Samichlaus is brewed by Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg. When did Hurlimann close down? Did Schloss just take over the recipe and beer after Hurlimann closed? What is the difference between
    http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/736/6527
    and
    http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/736/2205

    I guess I am trying to learn more about this Samichlaus brown. I am curious if it was also brewed on Dec 6th or not (since that was why I was trying to acquire the beer in the first place). Was Brown brewed one year only or something? Either way I have a cool bottle of beer but if anyone can shed some light on this for me I would really appreciate it. Crossing my fingers to hear some good news that it was brewed on the 6th of December. Let me know, thanks!
     
    #1 LoPo87, Jan 14, 2013
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  2. jesskidden

    jesskidden Grand Pooh-Bah (3,145) Aug 10, 2005 New Jersey
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Doesn't your bottle's label say:

    ​
    "Brewed only once a year, ​
    on December 6, Samichlaus​
    Bier is patiently aged for a​
    full ten months before​
    bottling."​

    I thought Hurlimann's labels always said that.

    Originally, Hurlimann brewed two versions of Samichlaus, a "Pale" and a "Dark". The pale was dropped soon after, apparently because it's wasn't very "pale" at all. In the US, IIRC, some labels read "Samichlaus Bier" with "Dark" on the neck foil, and others were labeled "Samichlaus Brown", but it was the same beer (and, I suspect, the latter was to get around Texas law at time that didn't allow any beer over 5% to be labeled "Beer").

    As I remember it, Hurlimann was bought by another Swiss brewing company, Feldshlosschen, and then they were bought by Carlsberg. I guess it was Carlsberg that sold the label and recipe to Schloss Eggenberg in the late '90's.
     
    #2 jesskidden, Jan 14, 2013
  3. jfestush

    jfestush Aspirant (234) Mar 26, 2009 New York

    As far as I know, Samichlaus was always brewed on December 6. See this article by Michael Jackson (aka. The Beer Hunter). A couple of years ago I had a bottle of 1987 Samichlaus Pale. It had aged extremely well and had a very complex taste. In short, it was fabulous. I have one bottle left from the 6-pack I bought back in 1987. I'll probably drink it soon. If your bottle was stored properly, I don't think you will be disappointed.
     
    #3 jfestush, Jan 15, 2013
  4. LoPo87

    LoPo87 Initiate (0) Mar 9, 2012 Oregon

    Thanks guys for the info! Glad to know the Bier vs. Brown was no different and that explanation on the Texas thing makes a lot of sense. I did check my bottle to see the December 6th thing, don't know why I looked over that when I got it. Thanks again guys!
     
    #4 LoPo87, Jan 15, 2013
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