Santa’s Winter Warmer

Samichlaus is known as the world’s strongest lager. Named for Santa Claus and brewed once a year, Samichlaus is a big beer with 14% alcohol by volume. This particular bottle was filled in 2011, even with a year of age on it, this is a powerful beer.

I shared a bottle with my friend Rudy, but it was too powerful even split in half. Immediately I was reminded of powerful barley wines, and I was excited. But there isn’t any fruit to cover the heat. Tons of Brown sugar and molasses, but Samichlaus lacks depth. It’s just boozy.

If you want to know more, Michael Jackson wrote an interesting article on Samichlaus here.