{"id":2617,"date":"2009-12-11T14:22:06","date_gmt":"2009-12-11T21:22:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unnecessaryumlaut.com\/?p=2617"},"modified":"2010-12-24T14:42:14","modified_gmt":"2010-12-24T21:42:14","slug":"beer-samichlaus-helles-for-the-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.unnecessaryumlaut.com\/?p=2617","title":{"rendered":"Beer: Samichlaus Helles for the Holidays"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"See<\/a><\/p>\n

The original Samichlaus<\/strong> (black label) has been a Christmas tradition with me for the last decade. Usually drank amongst a few close friends. Always followed by festive exclamations like, \u201cJesus, this is strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

At 14% ABV, Samichlaus<\/strong> was in Guinness\u2019 Book of World Records<\/strong> for being the world\u2019s strongest beer. Now, with the 32% ABV likes of Tactical Nuclear Penguin<\/a>, it\u2019s been relegated to simply a really strong-ass beer. Fine by me.<\/p>\n

So how does Helles<\/strong> compare? <\/p>\n

Like the original this version is brewed only once a year, on December 6th in Belgium, and aged 10 months before bottling. But with its red label and \u201cHelles\u201d name, I was expecting something a little more, well, hellish. Instead it proved to be an even more drinkable version of the holiday classic I know and love.<\/p>\n

This 2007 bottle (the first Helles<\/strong> bottled since 1986) poured golden caramel with a sweet, malty aroma. The taste was silky smooth. Surprisingly so. And the maple\/tawny flavors aren\u2019t as heavy as in the OG Sami. Instead you taste more fruit; orange, raisins, and white grapes. All wrapped up with a cozy \u2018n warm, boozy finish. Very Merry indeed.<\/p>\n

Track down some and share it with friends (and shelve one for next year, they age well).<\/p>\n

Then join the elite Facebook<\/strong> page, I Drank Samichlaus<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.<\/p>\n

DRINK UP WITH THE UMLAUT<\/strong>:
\nChristmas Beer: Delirium No\u00ebl<\/a>
\nFound: Vintage Beer Cans In Wall of SF Apartment<\/a>
\n Video of Tactical Nuclear Pengun (32%!!!)<\/a>
\n Beer In A Can: Vintage Billy Beer … Unopened!<\/a>
\n Beer In A Can: Hell Or High Watermelon Wheat from 21st Amendment<\/a>
\n Beer Can: Burgermeister Uncut Tin Shee<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The original Samichlaus (black label) has been a Christmas tradition with me for the last decade. Usually drank amongst a few close friends. Always followed by festive exclamations like, \u201cJesus, this is strong.\u201d At 14% ABV, Samichlaus was in Guinness\u2019 Book of World Records for being the world\u2019s strongest beer. Now, with the 32% ABV […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1026,2644,1016,797,1015,1017],"class_list":["post-2617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-beer","tag-christmas","tag-christmas-beer","tag-helles","tag-holiday","tag-samichlaus","tag-schloss-eggenberg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.unnecessaryumlaut.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.unnecessaryumlaut.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.unnecessaryumlaut.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.unnecessaryumlaut.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.unnecessaryumlaut.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2617"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/www.unnecessaryumlaut.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2617\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6173,"href":"http:\/\/www.unnecessaryumlaut.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2617\/revisions\/6173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.unnecessaryumlaut.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.unnecessaryumlaut.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.unnecessaryumlaut.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}