8

From backlog. Taster, from Bottle, at Mikkeller Færgekroen, Tivoli Copenhagen. Dark brown with little head. Malts, hops, yeast, Caramel, sweetness, booze.

6.9

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Bottle. Chocolate ganache nose, Maggi. darkest brown, no head, long legs. Full body, sticky, viscous. Salmiak burn, soy, vegemite, burninator, liquid licorice finish. Fairly intense, but I like all the flavors. Good in small doses.

4.9

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 4.5

Starker, sehr viskoser malziger Beginn. Geringe Süße, holzig, alkoholisch. Brennender Nachgeschmack. 8/10/8/6//8

6.8

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6

One of those infamous Schorschbock icebocks, one of which is apparently the strongest ’real’ beer in the world. Comes from a stubby bottle with ice-themed label, with swing top covered by wax - in fact one of the most difficult to open bottles I ever encountered... I taste it at cellar temperature from a small cognac glass. Pours a beautifully warm, deep coppery amber with tiny, pale ’impurities’ in it, floating, but seemingly a bit ’stuck’ due to the viscosity of the liquid; a very small amount of tiny bubbles still manages to pierce through and upon pouring, there was a faint suggestion of a head, in the form of some minute, light beige bubbles here and there trying to clutch together to form a thin veil, but dissolving in instants; needless to say, the ’legs’ on the wall of the glass are thick and syrupy, as in a strong liqueur. The aroma is intensely perfumed, concentratedly sweet and boozy again like a potent liqueur, and noticeable from a yard away: maple syrup, armagnac, acacia honey, orange liqueur, liquorice extract, marzipan, black pepper, tomato concentrate or smoked paprika and a rather penetrant odour of ethanol, not unlike the smell of methylated spirits. Interesting indeed. I take a sip and get a high dose of candied orange along with inevitable, sharp alcohol which burns the tongue almost right from the start, but seems to behave a bit more gentle in the throat; this feels almost like a cask strength single malt, though it has only half the ABV. A sticky, caramelly, sugary sweetness lingers on, malty and even still recogniseable wheat flavour but in highly concentrated, almost bizarrely disproportioned way; the orange peel effect turns into a spicy bitterishness for balance, probably just the Cascade hops, which leave a citrussy intensity as well. Mouthfeel is as good as flat, but evidently very thick and syrupy. The alcohol does not feel all too healthy and keeps burning on the tongue long after you’ve taken your first sip. Though I did find the aroma very fascinating, inviting even, the alcohol burn is way too much in this one, becoming wry and bittering in the end, though I assume some of the bitterness has to be ascribed to the hops as well; Samuel Adams Utopias, the closest thing I know I can compare this with, has only 1% ABV less but feels a lot more subtle. If this ISB (incredibly strong beer) would somehow manage to achieve the same kind of subtlety, but not necessarily the same amount of complexity (which, admittedly, is huge in Utopias), it would be a lot more pleasant to ingest... Still, this is a truly very interesting thing to taste, very intense and extreme, so for philosophical reasons - in expanding the boundaries of the German Doppel-, Weizen- and Eisbock tradition and the Reinheitsgebot - I can sympathize with this. I could not have more of it than the 2 or 3 cl I tasted, but like other of these modern ’alcohol-forward’ beers and thanks to the swing top, this is resealable, so I’ll keep the rest in my fridge, for any adventorous beer afficionado who passes by and wants something really different. And I can still see myself enjoying this ice cold on a frosty winter evening as well. Hard to rate though, I guess the only thing I can compare this with, are other +20% ABV beers, and in that league this is too harsh to be truly great, I’m afraid.

5.5

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Bottle. Pours a slightly hazy amber color with a small fast disappearing off-white head. Has a sweetish malty spicy dark fruit and mineral aroma. Thick sweetish malty spicy salty caramel and soy flavor. Has a sweetish malty spicy caramel finish.

5.1

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5.5

Bottle 33 cl. Pours a hazy, reddish amber with hardly any head. Spicy, boozy, salty aroma - all very typical Schorschbräu. Rich body with no carbonation, salty, spicy and minerally with a distinct alcohol burn. 300514

5.8

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 6

Clear dark amber, no head. Vinous aroma, like port. Super strong malty taste, sugary and alcoholic. Sticky.

6.3

Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6

Bottle 330ml. w. swing top.Clear medium orange amber color with virtually no head. Aroma is light heavy malty, sweet malt, sugary, alcohol - boozy. Flavour is heavy sweet with a long duration, alcohol, caramel, sugary, sweet malt, light smoke - rubber. Body is medium, texture is syrupy, carbonation is flat, finish feel moderate alcoholic. [20131229]