7/3/2020. Bottle at my Birthday bottle share, bought from De Bierliefhebber online store. Pours mid-dark brown with a small bubbly off-white to beige head. Aroma of dried fruits, toffee, biscuit and Christmas cake spice. Medium sweetness and light to moderate bitterness. Medium to full body, sticky texture, soft carbonation. Tasty stuff.

Bottle. Deep dark brown color. Caramel in the aroma. Malty sweet caramelly, slightly alcoholic flavor. Hint of roast. Drinkable.

Bottle from Glasbanken 2019-07-07 Göteborg AR: raisins, prunes, dades, sponge AP: stout brown, wee fizzy cream brown lid F: warming feeling, sponge, raisins, wee tar, liqurice

Jopen's 'traditional', i.e. classically German style Eisbock, departed from their four-grains autumn Bock beer; the basic version, as apparently this ambitious beer has spawned a number of barrel aged variants as well. Bottle from Geers, now with the current Jopen label style. Medium thick, bit rough and large-bubbled, greyish pale beige, initially crackling head quickly reduced to a thin ring under influence of the alcohol only to disappear altogether in the end, on an initially cristal clear, brown-bronze beer with glowing ruby red hue, generally dark but still translucent. Strong bouquet of liquor-soaked raisins, dry chocolate cake, quite pronounced 'wet dog' when warming up, brown rum, pecan nuts, toffee, 'Haagse hopjes', bourbon, dried figs, prunes, old gingerbread, pan-fried apples, hints of clove, beef broth, varnish and some vague liquorish. Sweet onset but in a clean, malty way, restrained plum and fig fruitiness, touch of deep-fried banana perhaps, medium carbonated with still some minerally, lively fizz. Alcohol is apparent early on, already burning a bit in the middle, underneath a slick, smooth-edged but full, very toffeeish and sweet pecan-nutty malt body, developing a bitter-chocolatey edge in the end but maintaining its sweet caramelly core. More bitterness, as expected, eventually comes from the alcohol that was already burning in the beginning, but evolves into a rum- and brandy-like, heating glow in the end, with some paint-like 'solventiness' and a wryness on the root of the tongue; still, this massive alcohol wave manages to maintain a certain nobility and character, like in a top quality single malt - so it's not harshly burning the whole time, being tempered by the full, caramelly-nutty-toasty fullness of the malts and a late, bit leafy hop bitterish note. In its general make-up, this is indeed very Eisbock the German way, very malt-forward, very caramelly and nutty, full, rounded and clean with that deeply penetrating alcohol heat to it, but clearly it lacks the majestic balance of opulence and restraint displayed in the greatest examples of this style (think Schneider's Aventinus Weizen-Eisbock, for instance). As usual with very strong Jopens, just a tad shortcoming in body and malt fullness to sufficiently cover up the alcohol heat, though I had worse cases of that in some of their other beers and this one, in all, remains an accomplished 'wintery nightcap'. I can, however, imagine those barrel aged versions being even boozier than this one, in which case I'd have to pass.

Bottle. Darkest brow, low creamy brown. Dry wooden minerallic notes, chocolate, earthy light moppy notes. Medium full body, creamy mouthfeel, dry wooden on the palate, caramels, chocolate, liquorice, rye edges, assortment of boozy pralines which dominate the aftertaste.

Bottle. Hazy brown color with beige head. Aroma is chocolate, caramel, praline, a bit dry. Taste is chocolate, schnapspraline, kirsch, caramel, light berries, a touch booze in the back. Slick oily mouthfeel with medium carbonation. Very good Eisbock!

Fles gedeelt met LiekevdV. Het is een roodbruin bier met een medium schuimkraag. Het heeft een wat rozijn achtige geur. De smaak is vol, kruidig met gedroogd rood fruit.