Categories: Whisky Reviews

Review #15: Purgeist Bavarian Hop

Background: We bought this bottle a few years ago, when were just getting into spirits at the Craft Spirits Carnival in San Francisco. It was the waning minutes of the festival and by that time, we had tried almost everything. Which is in hindsight amateurish. But dang it, we had a good time. This was the bottle we picked out at the end of the fair and I’m not very surprised.

It has a very strong flavor that if you’re palate-fatigued from all the alcohol, is striking. Problem is that alcohol made me forget that I am not a huge beer drinker.



Purgeist Bavarian Hop Whisky Review
  • Score - 4/10
    4/10
Overall
4/10
4/10

Tasting Notes

Nose: Salt and brine immediately hit the nose. There’s a bit of a wet soil and hay quality to it upon deeper inhalation.

Palate: Takes like a nice, high ABV beer to be quite honest. There’s a hint of sweet grapefruit and a long dry chocolate bitter finish with more grapefruit pucker at the end. No heat. But yes, it’s beer alright.

If you like Bavarian light beers, I think you’d enjoy this immensely – even if you might turn up your nose at a “flavored whisky”. It’s not the most complex dram, but it’s true to what it wanted to accomplish.

Overview:

TLDR Tasting Note: “Beer”. Overview: If you like hoppy beer, this is for you.
Bought for: $45/bottle

Quick overview of our scoring system


Additional Information

  • Distilled from beer (to be specific: bock-style Bavarian beer) and then flavored with Hallertauer and Spalter Select hops
  • 2 years
  • Aged in ex-Bourbon and ex-grappa chestnut wood casks
  • ABV 42%

About Pur Spirits:

  • Focuses on distilling liqueurs
  • Their Pur Geist (Purgeist) line aims to revive the older tradition of German distillation of beer into whisky
  • Only a few hundred bottles per batch are distilled
  • Founded by Kiki Braverman from Bavaria (now located in Berkeley, CA) and headed by master distiller Franz Xaver Salzgeber
Sylvia L

Recent Posts

Pandan Express Cocktail Recipe

I've experimented with infusing a few spirits, but I find it plays incredibly well with…

3 years ago

Eastern Cork, Riff on the Corktown Cocktail

A few years back we visited Boston's Eastern Standard bar and wrote about our experience.…

3 years ago

Birch Tree by Nomad Bar

Coffee liqueuer, Amaro Nonino, sweet vermouth, aged aquavit, and cognac

3 years ago

Review #128: Edradour: The Fairy Flag 15 Year Review

Sylvia received a handful of samples when she visited Big Market, an incredible whisky shop…

3 years ago

Review #127: Sovereign Laphroaig Single Cask Whisky Review

The Sovereign is a sub-brand of the venerable Hunter Liang. I think they originally set…

3 years ago

Breakfast Negroni Cocktail – A Fistfull of Cocoa Puffs

the highlight of the last Negroni Week was Wildhawk's Breakfast Negroni cocktail. The star ingredient…

3 years ago

This website uses cookies.