I can't believe I have Samichlaus on tap. 14% ABV lager, from Austria.I can believe that I took the keg in January and didn't tap it until July. Christmas in July, I'm calling it. Also, I can't believe I have an actual Samichlaus tap handle for it. If only I also had Samichluas glassware, but you can't expect everything, all the time. Also, I can't believe that I'm introducing so many people to a classic bier that everyone should have heard of long ago. Crazy world.
I'm going to say a few words about this pour on tap...clear, crimson hue, creamy-toned head, starts big, slims down...aroma: molasses, dark rum, raisins, dates, plum, cherry, other dark fruits...big richness, big sweetness, but lovely...leather, brandy, cognac....
And even now, so soon, the booming begins, before I've barely tasted it...Let's do that now...
Thin bodied, despite the gargantuan flavor. Immense richness, and sweetness. Enormous malt, fruit, booze. Boom, boom, boom, but, damn, if it isn't delicious. Not a drinker, not a refresher, not quaffable or sessionable, this is only meant as a nightcap, an evening ender, something to settle one into slumber. The last thing in your mouth before the Sandman takes you to Dreamland.So tasty, though, and it's good that it's rich sweetness and the alcoholic strength combine to warn you away from over-doing. It tastes so good, it's tough not to indulge again and again.
And now, here's what I first wrote about it, back in April, 2003:
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2001 bottling, 2003 drinking. The last time I had this was the 2000 edition, with label proclaiming "Das Starkste Bier Der Welt", Guinness Book of World Records. This one says "The World's Most Extraordinary Beer". Utopia and World Wide Stout have robbed them of the former claim, and as for the latter boast...
Color is clear and dark red, with a small, dunnish, and vanishing head. Aroma is enormous: on first cracking the crown, it leaps out of the bottleneck and pervades the room. So let's get a closer sniff...
Deep, heady, woody, burnt, huge with alcohol, brimming with brandy, cognac, rum characteristics, along with cherries, licorice...but overpowering the flavor is the heat, searing and fierce. Powerful impact on the palate, the tongue feels burnt on first taste! Is this something I want in a beverage? This bier does travel smoothly down the throat, to say the least! Not nearly finished with the bottle, I can feel my senses dying off, utterly destroyed by this bier's impact!
I love a barleywine, and hold strong stouts dear to me, but in this one, there was too much sauce and no meat! I can't comment on the flavor, for all I could taste was the booze!
Perhaps it was too early to drink, and I'd have better luck with a properly vintage bottling.
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I gave it a 3.3/5, a good 17% below the mean. Other "top reviewers" ranked it lower. Maybe it improved in the intervening years, but currently, keeping all in perspective, I find no flaw with this whatsoever. Yeah, it's huge, but there's still balance despite that massive flavor. Maybe it's better than eight years ago, (ten?)maybe my 6-month aging did it's trick...boom, boom, boom, boom,...okay, maybe I've had enough. But, it's a well done beer, over-the -top, but not insurmountable. Damned delicious. Don't hesitate to grab this up when you can, and save it for a special day.
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