I recently received this beer from my friend Hilgar. It is the Aventinus Eisbock from G. Schneider and Sohn out of Kelheim Germany. The brewery was started in 1872 by a father and son team, both named George Schneider, after they purchased the Weissus Brauhause in Munich. In 1890 GS3 (George Schneider III) took over the business at the age of 20. He would register the trade mark the company uses to this day as well as expand the Munich brewery. Dying unfortunately in 1905 at the age of 35, leaving the business to be run by his wife Mathilde Schneider. She would successfully run the business through the first world war and into post war economic depression. During that time the brewery created the Aventinus beer, who's decedent is currently under review. In 1924 GS3's young son GS4 came of age and took over the family business. He used the economic depression to his advantage, as other brewers were closing their doors and his mother had handed him a financially stable company. He purchased shuttered breweries in Straubing, Augsburg, and Kelheim, expanding his brewing capacity significantly. Unfortunately, a political movement combining socialism with extreme nationalist fervor swepped the country, and the politically liberal (in the classical sense of the word, not necessarily the modern one) GS4 wanted nothing to do with it. His refusal to join the NAZI party caused him and the business a great deal of trouble through out the course of their rule. After the Munich brewery was destroyed by Allied bombing in 1944, all production was moved to Kelheim. After the war the American Third Army allowed the brewer to deliver it's beer to Munich (not being a former NAZI had it's perks), but only for sale to military personnel and only if it was low ABV. This would change (I assume with the creation of the East German government in 1948) and the company began to sell to the general public again. Starting in the late 1950's with George Schneider V taking over from his father George Schneider IV, they would seek to export their beer to Austria, Switzerland, and the US. GS5 would also modernize the breweries to increase production, but not change the manner in which the beer was created. In 1983 he rebuilt the Munich fermentation cellar with open vats in order to maintain traditional brewing methods, and then moved on to the brewhouse in 1989. The total renovation of the "Weisses Brauhaus im Tal" to it's pre-war 1905 status would be completed in 1993. In 2000, GS6 took over and runs the business today, maintaining the breweries focus on traditional brewing without eschewing the modern world. He recently formed a relationship with craft brewer Brooklyn Brewing Co. to create specialty wheat beers outside of traditional brewing.
The Aventinus Eisbock is, as the name would suggest, based on G.Schneider and Sohn's original Aventinus Weizendoppelbock (wheat double buck). It is made through a freezing process that condenses the beer by removing the excess water, not unlike making applejack from hard cider. The resulting beer is much stronger and more flavorful than it's original. As a big fan of Doppelbock, I'm exited to have a more extreme version. The fact that it's a wheat beer does concern me though, not usually a fan of those.



I received this beer in a 11.2oz long neck bottle with slender shoulders and silver crimpcap. The royal purple, silver trimmed neck label features the company seal and product name as well as proclaiming that it is a product of Bavaria. The front label is more or less a larger version of the neck label. On the reverse it states "Aventinus has been known to be the most intense and complex Wheat-Doppelbock in the world. This was the case in the past, but not anymore... Recently, Hans-Peter Drexler, Brewmaster at G.Schneider & Sohn, heard stories about some extra special Aventinus resulting from partial freezing during a cold winter transport in the 1930's. He decided to recreate this classic "mistake" to further concentrate Aventinus in a modern controlled facility. Thus, the Aventinus Eisbock was reborn. Prost!" and then it is signed by GS6 at the bottom. 12% ABV. I will be using a tulip glass for this one as I don't own anything close to the Aventinus glass.


I can't tell you why, but I just skipped getting the nose from the bottle. Oh well, moving on. Color is a deep mahogany, I would say a 34 on the SRM. Allot of sediment at the bottom, may be yeast, may just be a side affect of not being filtered. Nose from the glass is fruity with an undertone of wheat sour and wisps of alcohol. While the scent of the alcohol is overpowered by the other prevailing scents, simply taking in the nose made me a little heady. On first sip, it is a strange mix of sour wheat and candied fig, finishing with a cherry candy fruitiness and a lingering alcohol aftertaste. It is a full bodied, rather acidic beer with heavy alcoholic warming, little bit chewy. Certainly made for sipping, for which it is sublime. As I drink, it gains a pronounced licorice flavor in the middle. It is a very sweet beer, with no hops to speak of.


Listening to Kansas Bible Company, which is neither from Kansas nor a purveyor of the Holy Scriptures. I have their album Domezone vol.1 on vinyl and I highly enjoy it. So anyway, the marijuana company American Green purchased the town of Nipton California for about $5 million. They plan to turn the old west mining town with a population of 12 into a pot friendly tourist destination, selling edibles and marijuana infused water on top of keeping the current hotel and campgrounds open. Nipton currently derives most of it's revenue from selling California lottery tickets to Nevada citizens who can't buy them in their state, so quasi legal things are nothing new for them. (switched to The Upsetters "Return of the super ape) I'm sure the purchase will revitalize the former ghost town, the Mojave desert is the ideal place for this kind of thing and the lotto isn't that much of a money maker. It's funny, the town was founded the same year GS3 died, how serendipitous. In other news, I need to buy a truck when I get back. Something In working condition, but I can fix if I have to. I'll probably get a Dodge, as that's what I'm used to working on, but I'm not married to the idea. I'm looking at spending about $2500 if I can, hopefully on something newer. I need it for business purposes, so it needs to look good. Nobody want's to do high end business with a guy driving a truck from the 80's that desperately needs a paint job. Speaking of paint, the 180sx is going to need a full paint job whenever that becomes a financial possibility. It's all scratched up and now chips are coming off when I spray it off. Just an unfortunate reality of having a 25 year old car.

Final thoughts. Highly enjoyable, very flavorful. Go find this one. I give this beer my blurry seal of approval.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._Schneider_%26_Sohn
https://schneider-weisse.de/en/node/16
http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-cannabis-company-plans-to-turn-desert-town-into-pot-paradise-2017-8-2