2016 Advent Beer 6: Sweet Krampus

The Austrian brewery with a Latin-sounding name, Biermanufaktr Loncium, brings us a beer that is dark, sweet, and a bit spicy, and thus, well-named: Sweet Krampus.

Sweet Krampus looks delightful, a deep, rich, reddish-brown, with a sturdy off-white head. Caramel notes waft up from the glass even while the beer is decanted, and a more interrogatory sniff brings more of the malts, plus a slight tang of orange peels and a hint of spice.

The mouth confirms what the nose has deduced: a sweet, bready mouthful, with the 7% abv adding to the sweetness. The taste of cinnamon and orange peels finishes the tasting off delightfully; so far this year, Sweet Krampus is the beer that tastes most like Christmas.

If one were lucky enough to find it on tap at a gasthaus, it is easy to imagine having a bootful of Sweet Krampus alongside a plateful of schnitzel and spaetzle, but it would make an excellent after-dinner beer all on its own.