Kuhnhenn Dark Heathen Triple Bock Lager

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I noticed a lot of bottles of the Kuhnhenn Dark Heathen Triple Bock Lager on the shelf in the cooler at Good Beer the other day. I've heard of Kuhnhenn and I might have had one of their beers once at Barcade or somewhere else, but I wasn't that familiar with them.

"Triple Bock" got my attention, as did the 12.5% avb listed on the 12-ounce bottle. The $8.99 price tag seemed a bit steep, but why not give it a go?

B.R.'s famed horsehead bottle opener.

This bottle was brewed some time in 2011. The label offered the following information.

"First brewed as a collaboration in 1999 with Erik Harms of the Dragonmead Microbrewery which is also in Warren, Michigan."

"This Dark Heathen Triple Bock is a ruby red lager beer. Made using the decoction process. Munich and Vienna malts make it taste very malty, smooth and complex. Serve at 35-42F (2-6C).

It was hard to see any red highlights in the color of the beer, which looked very dark brown/blackish. It had very little foam -- just a trace of a dark tan head along the side of the glass.

The aroma was very malty, a bit sherried, a little alcohol all mixing with dark dried fruit aromas, a sweet malty toffee note and some estery notes.

The beer drank very thick and viscous, with a good dose of bitterness through the sweet malty backbone, and that pleasant sort of oxidation that adds more to the beer than it takes away.

This is a nice sipping beer or desert treat. Though it might benefit from a few years of mellowing -- to round out the flavors a bit. $9 for a 12-ounce bottle might seem pretty steep for this one, but perhaps in 2 years time that price will seem justified!