Krampus (Imperial Helles Lager)

"St. Nicholas, aka Santa Claus, is a magical figure, the bringer of gifts and an icon of holiday spirit. Forgotten by most is his evil side kick and enforcer of ‘the list’. European tradition says while St. Nick is busy delivering presents to good little boys and girls, Krampus hands out punishments to the bad. A fanged, goat-horned bully, the Christmas Devil uses sticks and chains to beat the naughty children. Dark malts and aromatic hops create the diabolical spirit of this brew."

Holy shit, I pretty much had to try this one! Yes, its a bit early to be thinking about jolly ol' Saint Nick, but I figure there's probably some businesses that have already plagued their customers with Christmas music as well several others will soon be decorating in that particularly joyous holiday manner that I loathe beyond simple words. To put it lightly though, these upcoming "holidays" are usually a source of great frustration and anger while dealing with various morons at my work and just the world in general. So, I pretty much have to booze it up frequently and since its November 1st I best have at it.

Krampus (Imperial Helles Lager) comes from Southern Tier Brewing Company who have thus far impressed the bejesus out of me on many occasions and it seems this is the sort of brewing company where you can simply choose any of their beers and be fulfilled. Oh, but how will this one do, well let us see...

Krampus visited me a lot as a child

Krampus pours out as a lavish orangy amber color, with a thick creamy colored head that takes sometime to slowly disappear with a bit of lacing on the glass too. The smell is... floral? Yes, it smells like flowers with something of a citrus scene lingering underneath it. Oh, but that first sip is quite a surprise, seems motherfucker Krampus has some tricks up his sleeve. There's nothing floral or citrus-ish within the taste, but rather something of very malty, hoppy, creamy, caramel, bitterness and charred hoof taste to be discovered. Fortunately the whole damn thing is very smooth and goes down simple enough, though it does leave something of an odd taste on my tongue, perhaps the lingering acridness is Krampus' way of saying, "Be good, you little fucking shit!" who knows.

As usual, Southern Tier boozes come in a 1 pt. 6 fl. oz. bottle size and this particular one carries a 9.0% alc. by vol. zing to it. I definitely like the artwork too, I mean how often do you get a devilish creature on your beer bottles that is brandishing a broken club and a chain in hand? Probably never. So, drink diabolically, throw them goddamn cookies out the door and if Krampus comes for a visit offer him a bit of this brew and perhaps he wont mercilessly bludgeon you to death.