Update: Samichlaus Bier

I have to admit, my first experience with it was a shock...

I finished that first one, and I've bought it to try again every year I could find it.

Actually, since it's a bit sweet, how about, instead of chili, a BBQ sauce?

And that's the important thing. You can hear that a beer is good, bad, or somewhere in between, but until you try it, you're never sure. It's that first wash across the palette that puts it all into perspective. That said, don't be afraid to try Sami again a few years down the road.

I'm assuming you tried this on a hot day in summer (i.e. I assume you're not in Antarctica or the tip of Chile).

If you still have access to any Samichlaus, I recommend the following:

Serve at ca. 50 degrees in front of a ski chalet fireplace, after a long day in the snow and a nice meal, as an aperitif, and before any brandy or cognac (or instead of it). Don't consume it either ice cold or at room temperature--it's a lager and needs some coolness.

ANY super-gravity beer is NEVER to be consumed in hot weather unless you're desperate. Go find some malt liquor instead. Samichlaus is indeed an acquired taste, perhaps best acquired after a round of dopplebocks in the late fall. It has its pluses and minuses, but over the years I have routinely placed Samichlaus in what I call the "Holy Trinity" of the world's greatest beers (typically rotating between Thomas Hardy's Ale, J.W. Lees Harvest Ale, and whatever I'm feeling benevolent towards at the moment based on last experience--Sammy, George Gale's Prize Old Ale, Dogfish Head Immort Ale, etc.)

Good advice.

I take issue with that pronouncement. Hank demonstrated that taste is not absolute. You have taken that ball and sprinted away with it. I can't keep a decent stock of Samichlaus in my cellar because I'll have one every now and then regardless of season.

Also makes me wonder what all them thar good beer bars are doin', havin' "Christmas in July" events and Barleywine Festivals in the summertime.

I drink whatever I'm in the mood for. In these days of air conditioning, it's around 70 degrees all year round anyway.

Witzel

You know the obvious answer: they hate freedom.

It was a nice, warm evening tonight, and yet somehow I found room for some draught beers: Boucanier, Hale's Dublin Stout, and Elliott Bay's Anniversary Ale (vaguely "Belgian-style" blonde wheat beer). AFAIC, all were sufficently "summer-y."

Samiclaus has earned its place in the beer pantheon. If I can ever figure out what to do with the liter bottle of it that I have in the beer cellar, I'm sure it will be appropriate to its rank.

I certainly appreciate everyone's thoughts on Samichlaus. But, it's not just a "style" of beer I like. I prefer the super strong Hop flavor or "skunky" as people say. I used to really be into dark beers but have settled more into the lagers. But when eating say, steak or pizza I always order dark beer. And I like to drink "ethnically" when dining meaning, I drink what is indigenous to what I am eating. Chinese-Tsing Tao, Mexican-Pacifico etc. etc. My favorite for years has been New Zealand Steinlager. But I must say since they quit using the cork and foil lined caps the beer has not been as good. I'd like to find something in this style with a much stronger hop taste. Any suggestions? I was in Utah this past couple of weeks. We took a bus tour that stopped in Park City. They have brew pubs galore there in terms of it's size. My drinking buddy and I only stopped in one because of time. We tried what the barmaid suggested. She said it was brand new. It was called Kloesch (I think, something like that). It was ok, kinda dry and bitter which is fine, but it lacked body, I thought anyway. To me it had the taste of a beer that had gone from hot to cold a few times as in travel from brewery to store, that sort of metallic aftertaste. But I know that was not the case because it was a house brew. But it was something to try. I wish I would have had time for some of their darker brews. I just learned yesterday that a guy in my barbershop chorus is a home brewer. He said he had been waiting for someone to step forward and offer to make some with him. I said "Dude, I'm there". I have never made beer before but I guess he has made a lot so I think it will work out. I'll keep you posted on the results.

Well, I'm going out to dinner and I am gonna have a beer ;-) or two...or three..... Hank L.

Skunky and hoppy are not at all the same thing. True, skunked beer occurs because of a photochemical reaction of hop compounds being exposed to light, but hops by themselves provide no skunkiness at all, and the aroma and flavor are very different from skunked/lightstruck flavors.

"Dark beers" and "lager" are not exclusive terms. In fact, Samichlaus is a lager, as are any of the bocks and doppelbocks of which Sami is a derivative. A beer's color has nothing to do with whether it is an ale or lager.

If you like light lagers and pilsners, but want something hoppier, look to something like Sierra Nevada's Summerfest if you don't want insanely hoppy, and Victory's Prima Pils if you do want something insanely hoppy.

Close. Koelsch (or, if you want to use the umlaut, Kölsch).

Lots of American breweries try to produce Kölsch-style beers. Very few succeed. The closest American-brewed example to the real thing in Köln (the German world for Cologne, from which the name is derived) is Goose Island's Summertime.

Brewing your own is an excellent (although far from the only) way to learn more about beer and what makes the differences in styles, how ingredients shape flavors, colors and aromas, etc. Have fun.

-Steve

because of a photochemical reaction of hop compounds being exposed to light, but hops by themselves provide no skunkiness at all, and the aroma and flavor are very different from skunked/lightstruck flavors.>>Dark beers" and "lager" are not exclusive terms. In fact,

lager, as are any of the bocks and doppelbocks of which Sami is a derivative. A beer's color has nothing to do with whether it is an ale or lager.

Isn't Koelsch supposed to be fairly light-bodied?

I would argue that brewing is the quickest, easiest, most fun, and most inherently useful way to learn more about beer styles and what goes into them. Now some would say I'm biased, but I prefer to say my extensive research has led me to that conclusion.

I'm with you on the first four words...

The 21st word wernt too bad neither.