Draught samples at American Beer Fest, June 16, 2006.
Settled out appearance shows a glassiness that is on the borderline between transparent/transluscent. A deep auburn-cherry to dirty brown with some beige/tan tints comprises the color. A light tan head sits atop, rather foamy and initially medium-sized, then receding to partial cover, leaving some wispy rings of lace.
Bready, earthy nose, almost divulges a touch of smokiness, but it’s more of a dry, hazelnut-infused roastiness that quickly smooths itself out in to caramel and toffee sweetness. Piquant fruits are scattered about the sides of the palate, providing an intense dryness and light tartness of red raspberries, currants and blackberries. Strong yeastiness contributes to dryness, while some minimal black pepper-like phenol notes provide spiciness. Alcohol is well-concealed in the strong aroma. A slick vanilla frosting and creamy iced cream sweetness evolve as it warms, but are equally balanced by the aforementioned dark malt notes of chocolate and bready, coffee/nut roastiness.
The breadiness continues in to the flavor, as a strong strawberry-raspberry note sits on the tongue, up front. Caramel and lightly sweet vanilla-chocolate sugars provide a supportive, rich, fluffy body and somewhat mitigate the drying breadiness. Dry, old yeast notes add a fair amount of acidity on the end, though the alcohol is barely felt, other than to add a slight warming as it goes down. Carbonation was kept moderate to low and helps lift the texture.
I think the appeal of Kuhnhenn’s Raspberry Eisbock and Southampton’s Double Eisbock (the 2004 version at least) seems to be partly in the lighter malt structure used in the base bock, both being closer to a helles doppelbock to start. It seems that with that base, far less bready, near-astringent dryness is resultant in the finished product. That being said, this is still a marvelous creation, I just feel like the breadiness/acidity builds up to be a bit too much in the end.