Monk's Christmas - Klosterbrauerei Weissenohe / Klosterbrauerei Weißenohe Wirtshaus

bilyboy65

Colorado

3.2/5  rDev -10.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

I was definitely confused about this beer. Supposed to be a bock and yet it seems like a porter. I mean it looks like a bock. As it's got a dark rich brownish-red color with a nice off white head. However it seems to have the nose and flavor of a stout/porter. More of a coffee essence to it. With that put aside this is still quite an enjoyable beer. Good texture and consistant. Leaves a good trail down the side of the glass as to where each pull has ended up. Also a good amount of film left on the glass as you give it a good swirl. Overall probably a better beer then I'm ranking it, but I just can't justify a better ranking as it seems to be on the lines between 2 different categories. I'd have a few if offered though.

Serving type: bottle

02-13-2010 00:44:45 | More by bilyboy65

eulerthegrape

California

3.5/5  rDev -1.7%

05-16-2013 17:17:06 | More by eulerthegrape

mikeburd1128

New Jersey

3/5  rDev -15.7%

05-12-2013 16:53:13 | More by mikeburd1128

Jason

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +12.4%

04-07-2013 18:17:23 | More by Jason

DoubleJ

California

3.64/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

It's not too late for a Christmas beer, is it? 500 ml of bock on the way. On to the beer:

A half-inch of fuzzy head sits on top of this carmelized orange beer. Visible bubbles run through its body, head retention is nothing to shout about. Its aroma is very sweet. If you like your bread and dough with a very strong, sweet scent, you've come to the right place. Bits of raw caramel and grass are mixed in too.

Grass dusted caramel makes much of the taste. There's a soft pudding note and lots of liquid bread found behind the strong caramel. Touch of cooked banana comes around. I can sense a small bit of the alcohol on the palate, which cuts a little of the sweet flavor away. less sweet and more grassy as the beer dries and goes into the aftertaste. Regarding mouthfeel, the body is medium full with a slight syrupy texture spotted and moderately crisp bubbles.

Pleasant bock overall. The sweetness mellows out as it warms, which helps this beer go down.

Serving type: bottle

02-26-2013 07:01:15 | More by DoubleJ

morebeergood

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev +5.3%

01-27-2013 04:35:19 | More by morebeergood

AgentMunky

California

3.63/5  rDev +2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Served in a half-litre Hallertau glass at Gourmet Haus Stadt from a small, unchilled firkin.

A: Flat, translucent amber. A bit reddish.

S: Fruity sweet. Burnt sugar. Rather nice.

T/M: Molasses. Smooth, sticky, sugary, slightly burnt molasses. Hop or roasted bitterness fades to a dry-bitter-fruity aftertaste.

O: I enjoyed it quite a bit. Recommended and consumable. Would have again.

Serving type: cask

12-29-2012 06:31:38 | More by AgentMunky

diverite

Connecticut

4.25/5  rDev +19.4%

12-17-2012 13:20:50 | More by diverite

sbanacho

California

3.5/5  rDev -1.7%

12-04-2012 04:00:24 | More by sbanacho

LiquidAmber

Washington

3.55/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Review from 4/2010 notes. Poured into a Caracole small snifter.
Pours a nice red brown color with a rich, long lasting tan head. Mild aroma of dark and sweet malts, spicing. Extremely muted flavors. Light malt, a hint of roasted malts, light caramel. Flavors well balanced, but faint. Nice medium to heavy mouth feel. Seems like this should be an outstanding beer, but not assertive enough.

Serving type: bottle

08-03-2012 23:21:26 | More by LiquidAmber

falloutsnow

Illinois

3.55/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Bottle from John's Grocery in Iowa City IA
No bottled on date
Poured into an Ayinger willi glass

Weissenohe's winter beer is a fairly solid, though somewhat mild, bock that hits all the right notes. There's the requisite toasted malt flavors, toasted nuts, soft noble hops, and light brown sugar I associate with the style. I would assume that when fresh, this is quite the bock. After importation and an unknown number of months on the shelves in the US, this is still good, but not comparable to a fresh Schell's or Sprecher bock. Would I go for it again? At $5 a bottle, probably not, unless I couldn't find other bocks in the area.

Pours a tall (>3cm) off-white head of small and medium-sized bubbles, which reduces, in a few minutes, to a thin ring around the glass and some scattered islands of foam atop the beer. No lacing is left. Body is reddish-brown amber, transparent, and with fairly active, visible carbonation.

Aroma is that of toasted, dark bread with a bit of brown sugar and toasted nuts (almonds, hazelnuts). Good smells, in general, but would benefit from being a bit stronger.

Taste is prominent on malts, in particular caramel flavor, with moderate toasted malt components as well. Opens with toasted malt flavors and some sweetness, progressing to toasted, heavy bread with some light brown sugar. Toasted nuts appear at mid-palate and beyond. Closes out with a soft amount of noble hop spiciness alongside the toasted sweetness. Aftertaste of toasted malt sweetness, caramel, and very mild, soft noble hop bitterness.

Beer is surprisingly heavy in body, going along with my assertion that the brewer at Weissenohe manages to cram more malt into his bocks and marzens than many others. Carbonation is modest, but high enough to make this foam up pleasurably on the palate and be easily drinkable. Finish is semi-dry, with a bit of wetness around the edges of the mouth.

Serving type: bottle

04-15-2012 16:50:50 | More by falloutsnow

beerman999999

New York

4/5  rDev +12.4%

01-19-2012 03:39:44 | More by beerman999999

zaphodchak

Virginia

3.98/5  rDev +11.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A finger of offwhite head. A bit of lacing, and a hazy brown body.

Nose has sour malt , orange, fig, much like a holiday fruitcake.

Serious malt character and plenty of sweet dark fruit. It's German, but the style suggests a cross between English and Belgian. Really very fruitcake-like, that's the best way to describe it, but in a good way, of course.

Feel is very smooth and doesn't coat your mouth on the aftertaste, which is nice for something so sweet.

I wasn't sure what to expect, the answer was a fruity dunkelweizen, and I rather enjoy it.

Serving type: bottle

01-02-2012 01:49:56 | More by zaphodchak

Bendurgin

Maine

3.63/5  rDev +2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

This was a Christmas gift from Andy. Thanks! Poured into a pint glass. This one pours a clear chestnut color with two fingers of frothy beige head. It settles leaving a ton of sticky lace.

Earthy hops in this one with some nice toasty malts and some nuttiness in the background. A hint of brown sugar rounds this out. Malty right up front with some toasted nuts to this. A little bit of grassy hops linger; but not much at all.

Light body with softer carbonation that I would have expected. Overall not bad. Really mild on the flavors so this one is pretty easy to kick back with.

Serving type: bottle

12-27-2011 03:11:13 | More by Bendurgin

merc7186

New York

2.85/5  rDev -19.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Merry Xmas...it was only appropriate to drink this on xmas day.

I had this beer poured from a bottle into a pint glass.

A: Amber/Brownish Hue, Passes Some Light, Thick Off White Head, Great Lacing.

S: Mildly Roasted Dark Malts, Caramel, Earthy

T: Mild Caramel Malts, Mildly Bitter

M: Great Carbonation, Light to Medium Bodied, Watery, Mildly Bitter

Overall, a winter bock that was somewhat weak on taste and is okay to drink but you wont want to seek it out again.

Serving type: bottle

12-25-2011 18:41:28 | More by merc7186

FlandersNed

Indiana

4/5  rDev +12.4%

11-30-2011 04:01:07 | More by FlandersNed

DefenCorps

Oregon

2.55/5  rDev -28.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Bottle from Franklin's from their Christmas/Holiday beer section.

Pouring a clear mahogany with a dense, off-white head with excellent retention and lacing, this is a gorgeous beer. However, that's about all that's appealing. The nose has a nice Munich malt character, moderately bready, with a bit of caramel as well. However, that's about it. A touch dusty, a touch of earthy hops. Cleanly fermented, there's no off-aromas here. I've had a few good bocks, and this isn't one. The palate opens with light bready flavor with a definite Munich malt flavor. However, this is very thin, making this taste rather stale. A little bit of hop bitterness and light hop flavor are present. The finish is rather poor,drying and mildly grainy with a mildly husky tannic character. This beer is light in body, moderately carbonated and a little watery to boot. The carbonation is high enough to add a mineraly, carbonic acid character to the finish Not recommended.

Serving type: bottle

11-22-2011 15:16:39 | More by DefenCorps

oline73

Maryland

4/5  rDev +12.4%

11-15-2011 01:52:49 | More by oline73

WVbeergeek

Ohio

3.4/5  rDev -4.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

500 ml swing style flip top beer from Franconia, this one appears a deep crystal caramel copper hue with a light beige tinted color head forming thick. Head is speckled evenly with thin lacing around the sides of the glass. Aroma a nice nutty superior flavor than most Germans, super malt grain breadiness with a lively hint of nobles hops in the background. Flavor has dark fruit roasted malts a bit of nut edge with a soaked plum alcohol infused flavor going on. Dark caramel with a hint of vanilla from the sweet malts and a dry herbal hop finish and nutty roasted caramel malt edge. Mouthfeel is medium bodied fuller bodied lager with a dry finish and sweet rounded sides to it. Very drinkable beer going down with a slew of malt infused points of view, one for the German bier enthusiast to enjoy.

Serving type: bottle

11-06-2011 14:13:09 | More by WVbeergeek

theboozecruise

Louisiana

3.58/5  rDev +0.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

A friend gave me a few of these, don't think they have been stored properly but I'll give it a try.

I poured from the 16.9 ounce flip-top into an imperial pint glass. It's a deep red color with a huge slightly off-white head. Pretty good retention and lacing.

It's got a pretty nice sweet malty aroma, caramel and a little honey.

The taste is a little thin, with basically the same malt profile. It's tasty but weaker than the aroma.

The mouthfeel is a little thin, but it's still good.

I'm liking this beer, pretty decent overall.

Serving type: bottle

04-07-2011 04:11:47 | More by theboozecruise

WhiteOak

Connecticut

3.33/5  rDev -6.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A- Bright copper color. Lacy, but small tan head.

S- Aroma of caramel, sweet malt, chocolate, cavendish pipe tobacco. Mainly dunkel aromas.

T- Sweet roasted caramel malt, cinnamon toast, dopplebock flavors.

M,D- Medium bodied. Smooth, creamy feel. A bit too flat, however.

Serving type: bottle

02-06-2011 18:28:30 | More by WhiteOak

tone77

Pennsylvania

3.53/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a brown 16.9 oz. bottle. Has a cloudy dark brown color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is of malts and spices. Taste is like the smell, malts, grains, spices, just a touch of bitterness. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and has good drinkability. Overall this is a good quality beer.

Serving type: bottle

01-31-2011 14:26:11 | More by tone77

weeare138

Pennsylvania

3.93/5  rDev +10.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Appears a deep, dark toned amber wiu a small white cap that slowly fades into a mild film and collar. Spotty bits of lacing ate left around the glass.
Smell is of toasted nuts, cracked caramunich malt, toffee, caramel, cocoa nibs, vanilla beans, and herbal hops.
Taste is of the aromas with toffee, caramel, grain, and chocolate flavor coming together.
Mouthfeel is medium bodied, semi dry, fizzy up front and smooth and mellow in the swallow.

Serving type: bottle

01-03-2011 00:16:59 | More by weeare138

BuckeyeNation

Iowa

3.13/5  rDev -12.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

"There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child."

--Erma Bombeck

Dark bronzed orange peel that is topped with a thick chunk of wheat toast colored foam that filled slightly more than half the pint glass on the controlled pour. The lid looks okay to start, looks less good as it melts, and doesn't lay down much lace.

It's hard to determine, so far at least, whether this offering is a bock or a doppelbock. The brewery calls it a 'dark, roasty, full-bodied and beautifully balanced lager', which would imply the latter. The nose is toasted-earthy and very slightly cocoa-like, which doesn't help.

The taste test says... doppelbock. However, the beer is not that dark, not roasty, and not full-bodied. It really isn't a very good version at all, although it isn't horrible either. Average seems about right. More malt and better bubbles would help the cause.

Flavors include brown bread, dark caramel extract, chocolate shavings, and hints of dark fruit (raisins). There's also a mild amount of tea leaf bitterness, so I guess 'balanced' is a correct claim, even if there's nothing beautiful about it. Warming changes nothing.

The mouthfeel is too thin... almost no matter the ABV. What carbonation is present (low end) does almost nothing to expand and creamify the beer on contact. There was a decent escape of CO2 on swing-top cracking, so a leaky seal couldn't be the issue.

There is absolutely nothing about Monk's Christmas that reminds the drinker of Christmas. It's entirely possible that Klosterbrauerei Weissenohe put a festive label on one of their regular offerings in order to sell more beer. Sorry, no holiday cheer here.

Serving type: bottle

12-25-2010 13:40:14 | More by BuckeyeNation

metter98

New York

3.3/5  rDev -7.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A: The beer is clear amber in color and poured with a finger high beige head that slowly dissipated into a thin layer of bubbles covering the surface. A high amount of carbonation is evident from the rising bubbles.
S: There are aromas of caramel malts and toffee in the nose.
T: Similar to the smell, the overall taste has flavors of bready malts, caramel and toffee along with some notes of malty sweetness.
M: It feels light-bodied, a bit thin and watery on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
D: The beer is very easy to drink but I'm not sure if I would get this again because it tastes like an average dunkel lager and doesn't seem to have any special characteristics that would make it a special beer for Christmas.

Serving type: bottle

12-21-2010 03:40:20 | More by metter98