Samichlaus Dark

Review Date 7/18/2001 By John Staradumsky

  Style: Doppelbock   Brewery: Eggenberg   Country: Austria   State: N/A   $ Per OZ: N/A   ABV: 14%

It’s only Christmas in July, but already beer lovers all over the world are looking forward to finding something special in their stockings this year come December. For them, however, Christmas will be arriving a bit early, on December 6th instead of December 25th. That’s because Samichlaus is returning. What is Samichlaus you ask? Once touted as the world’s strongest beer until it was dethroned by Samuel Adams Triple Bock, Samichlaus is a very special Swiss beer brewed in a light and dark version and weighing in at a very formidable 14% by volume, almost three times as strong as most beers.

Samichlaus has been a holiday favorite among beer lovers since it was first released to the public in 1980. It’s a legend in the beer world, and I can still recall the sheer thrill I experienced back in the early nineties when I spied my first bottle in a liquor store in Waltham, Massachusetts and snatched it up. Later that night, I called Phoenix Imports and chatted with George Saxon, the owner of that company and the man responsible for bringing the brew into America. I was so excited about the beer I just had to let them know how happy I was to see it on local store shelves.

Samichlaus has been brewed on the 6th of December every year and aged a full ten months before being bottled. It is not released until the following December 6th, exactly one year after it is brewed. Unfortunately, on December 6th 1997 Hurlimann AG, the Swiss brewer of Samichlaus, did not brew a batch of Samichlaus for release in 1998. Why did this happen? The brewery was bought out by Switzerland’s largest brewing concern, Feldschloesschen, who killed the brand much to the chagrin of beer lovers worldwide.

Samichlaus is Swiss for Santa Claus, and the past few years have indeed been years without a Santa Claus for beer lovers. Fortunately, that all changed on December 6th, 2000 when Austrian brewer Eggenberger announced it had obtained the rights to brew this classic beer and that a batch had been brewed for release in December 2001. Well known for their rich and malty Ur-Bock, Eggenberger is a natural to brew Samichlaus in my opinion. A brewery spokesman had this to say: “We are committed to upholding the quality of Samichlaus by not making changes or altering the classic recipe, down to the ingredients and yeast. Samichlaus beer will be brewed exactly as it was brewed in Zurich at Hürlimann.”.

On 12/14/1995 I wrote of Samichlaus Dark:

Just picked up my annual allotment of Samichlaus tonight, and as usual, a great brew! Richly malty with a strong alcohol bite and a slightly prune like flavor IMHO. It reminded me very much of Sam Adams Triple Bock! Now, I was drinking Samichlaus long before the Triple Bock was a gleam in Jim Koch's eye, so i'm aware of who is copying whom. Still, there are remarkable similarities between the two brews. Try them side by side and see if you agree!

The bottle of Samichlaus I’m reviewing tonight was bottled in 1997, and therefore was brewed on December 6th 1996. This was the last year the beer was brewed by Hurlimann, and its about five years old. I’ve kept it in my Dedicated Beer Refrigerator since purchasing it. A beer of this strength and character is a natural for aging, and you may well see bottles of it for sale since Phoenix hoarded some bottles and re-released them in gift packs recently. Buy them if you see them.

My bottle of Samichlaus pours to a dark brown color with a fizzy, quickly fading head formation and a rich, absolutely incredible sweet malt nose. Some say that to enjoy life you need to stop and smell the roses, but I’m much happier smelling the Samichlaus, thank you very much. There’s more going on just in the nose of this brew than there is in the palate of many beers. Speaking of the palate, it’s thick and decadently cloying with huge notes of chocolate, prune, a touch of espresso, figs, molasses and sweet malt. The finish is sweet and you’ll definitely get a high-octane alcohol burn, almost whiskey like, after you sip, which helps to balance the brew.

On a five star scale, Samichlaus Dark gets six from me. It’s just incredible, and to be honest I’ve been reluctant to drink my last bottle. Knowing that it will be on the market again this year eases my pain a bit, however. Don’t drink it with food. Have it before or after and enjoy its charms to their fullest.

Glad I tried it?  T

Would I rebuy it??