Max Black
Max Lager's Wood-Fired Grill & Brewery

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From:
Max Lager's Wood-Fired Grill & Brewery
 
Georgia, United States
Style:
Munich Dunkel
ABV:
Not listed
Score:
79
Avg:
3.26 | pDev: 18.4%
Reviews:
12
Ratings:
17
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jun 12, 2016
Added:
Jan 20, 2003
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  1
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by ByTor2112:
Photo of ByTor2112
Reviewed by ByTor2112 from North Carolina

3.72/5  rDev +14.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
This one arrives in a pint glass, a decent shade of murky brown. A thin coffe head lasts for just a moment. Aroma-malt and chocolate, not much roasty-toasty but the sweetness is inviting.
Mouthfeel-medium bitterness and adecent lager flavor with the dark malts givng off a sweet flavor. The chocolate notes are very subtle-good.
Average, but tasty. More quaffable than the pale ale I had.
Aug 26, 2008
More User Ratings:
Photo of BeerAndGasMasks
Reviewed by BeerAndGasMasks from Virginia

3.73/5  rDev +14.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
From the growler, it pours a very dark brown with a light tan head. A bit of chocolate and malt in the nose. The mouth revels in the sweetish malt with a chocolaty aftertaste. Mouthfeel is medium..
Jun 12, 2016
 
Rated: 3.75 by baklo from North Carolina

Aug 09, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by Troy_P from Maine

Jul 01, 2014
 
Rated: 2.75 by harpus from Alabama

Oct 10, 2013
 
Rated: 3 by beerbrains from Nebraska

Feb 06, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by coreyfmcdonald from Georgia

Jan 22, 2012
Photo of ChainGangGuy
Reviewed by ChainGangGuy from Georgia

2.98/5  rDev -8.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
Appearance: Set before me a clear, near black body with a smallish, white head.

Smell: Presents a simple nose smelling of grains and various roasted malts, as well as some curious hints of powderized licorice and powdered chocolate.

Taste: Roasted grains rounded out with the taste of semi-sweet chocolate and spicy touches of licorice root. Hint of spicy, lightly earthy hops at best with no more than a hint of bitterness. I'll politely assume the listed 40 IBU's to be the error of a typo. Drying, spicy finish with a final taste of now unsweetened chocolate.

Mouthfeel: Relatively light-bodied. Lightly carbonated -- why's everything here near lacking carbonation?

Drinkability: The Gold, the Red, and now the Black have all been undercarbonated. Like a can of cola left in the refrigerator for several hours. It's all just so limp and lifeless on the tongue. Ah well!
Nov 14, 2009
Photo of BigBry
Reviewed by BigBry from Canada (AB)

3.41/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
I only had time for a quick pint while in Atlanta. It was a hot day, and a thirst quencher seemed in order.
Good looking, dark brown color with a thick cap of foam. Decent retention and thin strings of lace. Slight fruit aroma with the malt graininess. Nice toasted grain flavor, clean and crisp, again a bit fruity. Dry finish.
Light body and mouthfeel, keeps it drinkable and crsip. Can't wait to try some other offerings.
Mar 20, 2008
Photo of kdog630
Reviewed by kdog630 from Illinois

3.25/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Poured very dark with minimal head. Very malty with a roasted aroma. Maybe a hint of chocolate? Minimal hops.

Low carbonation didn't allow the flavors to spread within the mouth. Kind of bland in that respect, but you could definitely taste the richness of the malt.

Not being a big fan of the style, I probably wouldn't have this on my next visit. However, adding a little more effervescence could greatly improve the drinkability.
Mar 18, 2008
Photo of Cyberkedi
Reviewed by Cyberkedi from Georgia

3.74/5  rDev +14.7%
look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Color is a deep sable brown, head is tan and fairly persistent. Aroma is smoky with a hint of coffee, and has an odd waxy or dusty overtone to it. Flavor is decent, mainly burnt coffee but again with a waxy hint to it - not unpleasant, but strange. It has a good hoppy bite and a smooth, pleasant texture.
Feb 10, 2008
Photo of Phatz
Reviewed by Phatz from Pennsylvania

3.33/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 4
Following my Hefe I inquired about the 'Black' beer at Max. and the bar tender told me it was like a stout but a lager instead. I clarified, so its a Schwarzbier like Samuel Adams Black Lager or Köstritzer and he said yeah like SA. Well my first impression was that it lacked a lot of the roastyness of shwartz, but had a pleasant fruity sweet grain and german malt attribute. It didn't take long to realize the was in fact a Munich Dunkel Lager. The brewer confirmed and indicated the ABV is close to 6.5%

Appearance: Served a dark brown mahogany color bordering close to black with deep red hues buried in there. the thick head measured only one finger do to the fill and as the frothy head faded and the level of the beer drops the walls are lined with heavy lace.

Smell: A small lager aroma, largely clean with some chocolate malt aroma a touch of fruit and a bit of sweet dry grain. It is toasted but not roasty enough if it were to be a shwartz.

Taste: Again, light chocolate and toasted grain flavor. A hint of vanilla and malted milk balls and only a hint of roasty bitterness. A clean Lager-like body that seems a bit watery with some splashes of sweet fruits and dark berries finishes clean and crisp.

Mouthfeel: Too light. Not terrible but not up to par either.

Drinkability: If you can forgive the light watery body this becomes a very drinkable beer. The brewer estimated the ABV at 6.5 based on the gravity but based on experience drinking it, I'm guessing it is not that high. this beer is again no frills, but tasty enough and worthy of a pint or two.

Hope this is helpful.
Cheers!
Aug 07, 2007
Photo of Sammy
Reviewed by Sammy from Canada (ON)

3.04/5  rDev -6.7%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
A mild stout, both in taste and alcohol. Not bad as a beer or a shwartzbeer, there's chocolate here. Roasty and coffee-ish, even a hint of wood and smoke, but medium-thin mouthfeel. Also bleach from glass in nose. Malty sufficiently to be Quaffable.
Mar 10, 2006
Photo of warmstorage
Reviewed by warmstorage from California

1.53/5  rDev -53.1%
look: 2 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1.5
Boring, semi-roasty in style, I wondered if it was a weak example of a Schwarzbier style when I was there. 14.5 plato, 40 IBU.

Appearance: moderately dark, but lighter than the style might indicate.

Initial taste: boring, thin. Odd, tangy-sweet taste: lines or a yeast gone astray? The middle taste and mouthfeel are just boring, and it's a little overcarbonated, again with that weird, inappropriate fruitiness.

My tasting notes indicate: "boring, semi-roasty" and I gave it very, very average scores.

Summary: I wouldn't bother again: very average, dark lager style, perhaps a sad attempt at a Schwarzbier (sp?), which I often like. Max Lager's has several other beers far more worthwhile than this, and I wouldn't bother with it again.
Feb 25, 2005
Photo of Redrover
Reviewed by Redrover from Wisconsin

3.53/5  rDev +8.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
The black was served in standard pint glass. Per the name, it is black in color with a small tan head and wispy lacing.

The nose is of roasted malt, some molasses and a slight whiff of floral hops.

The taste is solid but not breath taking. Mainly roasted malt that almost has a smoky taste. Beer is a little too sweet for my liking and could have used a bit more hops to notch it down. The beer almost reminded me of a “light” porter.

The beer is slightly over carbonated, but it is an easy enough beer to drink. I would not recommend matching this beer with the spicier offerings on their menu.
Dec 02, 2004
Photo of RoyalT
Reviewed by RoyalT from Michigan

2.38/5  rDev -27%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
Appearance – This lager poured a dark ruby black with a smallish head.

Smell – There was some roasted grain with maybe some sweetish hints of chocolate and something else (oranges?).

Taste – The light roastiness was mixed with some more strange sweets. I’m thinking it was kind of like oranges or peaches. I’m not sure, but even though they were very subtle they threw things off for me.

Mouthfeel – This lager was thin and clumsy.

Drinkability – This definitely is not one of Max Lager’s better offerings. In all fairness, it has proven to be an extremely difficult style for American brewers to pull off.
Apr 19, 2004
Photo of aracauna
Reviewed by aracauna from Georgia

3.74/5  rDev +14.7%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Black with ruby highlights but with a quick-fading head. The aroma is burned brownies and smoke (but not overwhelming smoke. This flavor isn't really huge but for a schwarzbier it's really good. A little thin on the mouthfeel, but not so much for a lager.
Jan 20, 2003
Max Black from Max Lager's Wood-Fired Grill & Brewery
Beer rating: 79 out of 100 with 17 ratings