The beer for today is Kulmbacher Eisbock.
On July 21, 1983, at Vostok Station Antarctica, the lowest temperature ever recorded was -128.6 degrees F. That winter, the temperature averaged about - 85 F. That short summer, it was about -25F. It's known as the Southern Pole of Cold. The warmest recorded temperature ever recorded at Vostok is 10.4 F. That's right, 10 friggin degrees!
In addition to being super cold, there's no humidity; wind that averages 18 km/h; lack of oxygen due to altitude; lack of carbon dioxide; and three months with no day light.
It can take people from a week to two months to get acclimatized to the area. Before you do, you can get headaches, ear pains, nose bleeds, loss of sleep, rises in blood pressure, reduced appetite vomiting, and weight loss of about 7-11 pounds.
As for the beer, an Eisbock is style of bock beer that is freeze distilled, and then the ice is removed, which concentrates the flavor and alcohol content.
Legend has it that Eisbock was accidentally invented in the Reichelbaru brew yard in Kulmbach around 1890. According to the story, a kid was told by the brewmaster to roll the casks of Bock for the brewery into the cellar and then close up. The kid got tired and left a barrel or 2 out in the yard. Well, that night it got really cold and the beer froze and burst open the casks (freeze a beer, see what you get). They thought they lost all the beer, but found some in the middle of each that was thicker and browner than they expect.
Water freezes before alcohol, so as the water froze, the remaining beer got stronger. The angry brewmaster, made the kid drink from the stuff that remained as punishment. As the kid tried it, he found it was awesome, and then everyone else tried it.
So in honor of the coldest day ever, grab a beer that's extra fortifying, made by freeze distillation. Kulmbacher Eisbock is available at Radio Maria in Champaign. The bottle looks like it's got frost crystals on it. I had this beer on July 1.
Showing posts with label Kulmbacher Eisbock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kulmbacher Eisbock. Show all posts
Monday, July 21, 2008
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Beer Review, Arcadia Extra Special Bitter
Well, we made it to Radio Maria, and there was a new guy behind the bar that we didn't recognize. Chris (the normal guy) was limping around serving (he apparently hurt his leg playing softball; I said he looked like Dracula holding his cape up while dragging his leg behind). Kriddy and I didn't plan on staying there long, we were gonna go elsewhere to watch the Cubs (as RM has no tv's, we were gonna go to 7S to finish the night off and watch the game).
Kriddy started out ordering the DarkHorse Schwarzbier. I went with the Arcadia Extra Special Bitter (which may or may not be the Lake Superior
ESB).
This one came out a honey color, like a gold with tints of amber. I've noticed that beers served at Radio Maria don't have a smell. This is because (sadly) the beer glass is too full (I believe). There's no room for the aroma to sit, it comes off the glass and dissipates into the air, before you have a chance to smell it. After drinking it down to a lower level it had a malty aroma. This beer didn't have much carbonation in the feel, but was somewhat drying.
The initial taste was caramel and sweet, a hint of bitter, not a massive "bitter beer face"... just a hint. It's an ESB, not an APA. It didn't have a strong hoppy taste to it, it was a well balanced malt flavor. As it warmed there was a hint of citrus. It finished very dry, and seemed to dry my lips as I drank it. the 5.5% ABV wasn't noticeable at all.
After finishing this, I went with an Arcadia Scotch Ale (I originally had one on M
ay 8, 2007) It came out rather dark. When it was presented, I said "That's a scotch?" (the bar makes it look purple, but it was dark). This "Scotch" was as dark, but not quite as opaque as Kriddy's black bier. I thought initially it smelled of sawdust, Kriddy said grape. It felt dark, but thin (if that makes any sense... can something FEEL dark?). The taste was grape HUGE GRAPE on the front of the tongue. It also had some smoke and caramel... and is that butterscotch? In a scotch... go figure.
It stuck to the tongue like syrup, but didn't have any of the consistency of syrup, which was weird. It seemed to make my saliva thicker... almost phlegm-y. It was an ok beer. Other than having it just to say I had it, I'm not sure when I'd drink it again (at the year and 2 months rate, it'll be September of '09). I didn't realize I'd had this before, which is why I photographed it and took tasting note.
I followed that up with a beer that I thought I had before, but didn't, so no notes, and no picture. It was the Kulmbacher Eisbock. It comes in a shiny bottle. Kriddy originally asked what the beer was, and I said I didn't know, then after looking at the bottle for a second (from a distance) I thought it looked like frost, and figured it to be an Eis beer. So yay, I was right. It was malty. That's all I remember.
At some point during the evening, the Champaign Urbana Beer Club showed up. So we sat and chatted with Noah and Nancy for a while. They had just come from Jupiters, where apparently there's half price pizza after 9, and prior to that they were at Mike and Molly's, for the happy hour.
Kriddy started out ordering the DarkHorse Schwarzbier. I went with the Arcadia Extra Special Bitter (which may or may not be the Lake Superior
ESB).This one came out a honey color, like a gold with tints of amber. I've noticed that beers served at Radio Maria don't have a smell. This is because (sadly) the beer glass is too full (I believe). There's no room for the aroma to sit, it comes off the glass and dissipates into the air, before you have a chance to smell it. After drinking it down to a lower level it had a malty aroma. This beer didn't have much carbonation in the feel, but was somewhat drying.
The initial taste was caramel and sweet, a hint of bitter, not a massive "bitter beer face"... just a hint. It's an ESB, not an APA. It didn't have a strong hoppy taste to it, it was a well balanced malt flavor. As it warmed there was a hint of citrus. It finished very dry, and seemed to dry my lips as I drank it. the 5.5% ABV wasn't noticeable at all.
After finishing this, I went with an Arcadia Scotch Ale (I originally had one on M
ay 8, 2007) It came out rather dark. When it was presented, I said "That's a scotch?" (the bar makes it look purple, but it was dark). This "Scotch" was as dark, but not quite as opaque as Kriddy's black bier. I thought initially it smelled of sawdust, Kriddy said grape. It felt dark, but thin (if that makes any sense... can something FEEL dark?). The taste was grape HUGE GRAPE on the front of the tongue. It also had some smoke and caramel... and is that butterscotch? In a scotch... go figure.It stuck to the tongue like syrup, but didn't have any of the consistency of syrup, which was weird. It seemed to make my saliva thicker... almost phlegm-y. It was an ok beer. Other than having it just to say I had it, I'm not sure when I'd drink it again (at the year and 2 months rate, it'll be September of '09). I didn't realize I'd had this before, which is why I photographed it and took tasting note.
I followed that up with a beer that I thought I had before, but didn't, so no notes, and no picture. It was the Kulmbacher Eisbock. It comes in a shiny bottle. Kriddy originally asked what the beer was, and I said I didn't know, then after looking at the bottle for a second (from a distance) I thought it looked like frost, and figured it to be an Eis beer. So yay, I was right. It was malty. That's all I remember.
At some point during the evening, the Champaign Urbana Beer Club showed up. So we sat and chatted with Noah and Nancy for a while. They had just come from Jupiters, where apparently there's half price pizza after 9, and prior to that they were at Mike and Molly's, for the happy hour.
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