Welcome to my first beer blog (bblog). As an intro to this project I present to you a very special beer and experience that set the ground work for this blog today.
I present to you: Samichlaus Classic, brewed by: Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg in Austria. 14% ABV.
I first had this beer (Okay.. Malt Liquor) in the city of Chatan in Okinawa Japan. As an almost weekly ritual with my room-mate was to go off-base to a place known as “American Village” and snag a hotdog from Nathans Hot Dog stand. It’s been a few years but as it turns out, the stand is still there and it’s been renamed to Bensons which has added Burgers to the menu. The hotdogs were awesome- Chili-cheese dogs, Salsa Dogs, ect.. and the beer selection at the time was pretty good.
Here’s a picture I actually took of American Village at night some time in 2011:
If you’re in Okinawa now- go and hit this place up for a relatively cheap meal and a cold beer only a minute or two from the beach.
Anyway, as I mentioned, almost weekly we’d visit the guy running the stand. Almost every time it was the same man that we nicknamed Nathan. On base the shoppettes would sell American style beer and I would buy a random bottle and bring it Nathan each week for him to try, and he’d give me a beer for free. If he wasn’t there that day, hey, I got to drink it anyway. For almost 2 years I would exchange a beer with Nathan once or twice a month which lead to the very beginnings of my beer bottle and cap collection. I looked on Google street view and you can actually see him here!
Knowing in advance of my last visit to the stand, Nathan gifted me with the Samichlaus Classic and we shared it as our last toast.
While I have many beers from Nathan’s stand and I may re-visit some of them in the future- This beer may be hands down the best I’ve ever had, and it’s story is just as flavorful as the beer itself. Their website presents it as such:
From: http://www.schloss-eggenberg.at/de/unsere-biere/samichlaus-classic
In this blog and future blogs I will rate beers from 1-10 on the following qualities:
Aroma: How does it smell?
Taste: How does it taste? Is the flavor of alcohol overwhelming?
After-Taste: Does your mouth taste like shit after it goes down?
Carbonation and Consistency: Does your nose tingle after a swig- If your buddy clinks the top of your bottle with the bottom of his will this thing explode, or is it so thick and muddy you can put it in your car as oil?
Price: Was it worth it?
Drinkability: Can I have a 6 pack of this or is it a 1 time drink for the experience?
As this is just the first of what I hope to be many reviews- Depending on the public interest I am open to suggestions on how to rate. In my case, the above 6 items are all the average conesure like me really care about. I am not a beer snob, and I will try any kind of beer, though I am partial to dark beers, porters and keg-aged beer.
So lets get to it. How does Samichlaus add up?
Samichlaus Classic:
Aroma: 9/10- This beer when poured smells almost like fruity maple syrup.
Taste: 10/10- This is not a surprise as it is probably my personal favorite. It’s a mix of sugary, fruity, coffee, chocolate, caramel and maple syrup all in one and it hides the 14% alcohol behind all the flavors.
After-Taste: 8/10- You can still get hints of a syrupy flavor 10 minutes after finishing it. The flavor is not harsh; however, it’s an aftertaste that demands you to have another sip. Can leave your mouth slightly dry and linger on the back of your tongue.
Carbonation and Consistancy: 10/10- This beer is more like coffee as it hits your lips rather than a beer. There’s only a slight hint of bubbling as you pour the beer which makes for a nice head that’s almost like chocolate mousse.
Price: 8/10- Honestly, there are a lot of aged beers out there that won’t taste nearly as good and probably charge you 20-30$ a bottle. At around 8$ a bottle (in my area) and 14% worldwide average (as stated by www.wine-searcher.com), Samichlaus is not the most expensive, and it is worth every penny. Totally worth it, but I think the price would be cheaper if not imported.
Drinkability: 10/10- This beer is perfect to start or end your night. Due to the alcohol content (and Price) I don’t think I would enjoy drinking an entire 6er of it. To me this beer is like a chocolatiers favorite chocolate, having too much of it could ruin it for me for-ever.
Overall: 9.1/10- If you have a chance to get this beer- Get it! It’s definitely an acquired taste, and I am certainly biased because this suites my pallet perfectly but it is a perfect beer to share a bottle with a friend.
That’s it- I promise not all of my blogs will be this long and will most likely be a quick review of my 6 categories. I am not a writer- and I don’t have a whole lot of experience describing flavors and aromas, but I will get better over time. Also- when it comes down to the review, I do not want to give you a giant wordy description that means nothing to you. I want you to be able to read this review, and be able to make a good decision on whether or not to go pick one up. Like I said- If this gets any interest, I will do more. I have a few hundred bottles already but will try and do a fresh tasting each time. If you have any reasonable suggestions, please let me know :).
Special thanks to my old room-mate, where ever you are.
