Joe's Schwarzbier
Harvest Moon Brewery & Cafe

 

Pours a deep brown to near black colour with a thick creamy tan head that dissolves to a hefty lace and leaves a good amount of residue on the glass.

The aroma is sweet, incorporating a caramel and chocolate blend, but is cut nicely with some roasted malt and toasted bread qualities. Perhaps a touch of smokiness as well.

The flavour expands upon what is ultimately a good but somewhat faint aroma: sweetness is still present but downplayed a bit, as chocolate is a bit more rugged, roasted malt steps up a bit and the smokiness is much more pronounced as well. There's also a bit of fruit flavour that peeks through at the end of each sip as well. Mouthfeel is medium bodied and perhaps a touch too creamy and "thick" for a schwarzbier but still on the cusp of what it should be for the style.

This is good stuff. It's flavour is well balanced and while it does beef up it's components to push the style as close as possible to stout territory, I think it still hits the mark.

Pours black with a thin tan head.

The smel is of sweet dark malt with a touch of charcoal smokiness.

The taste is of dark malt with charcoal smokiness that grows as the drink progresses. Quite smoky - almost too much so. Raspberry fruitiness. Earthy in the back. Almost an English stout more than a black lager, though there is something of a pils quality mixed in.

Fuller side of medium body. Ash lingers.

This one leans more towards an English stout - not a bad thing, though not a great example of the style. Overall, it's decent, but the smokiness needs to be controlled a bit more to allow the other flavors to emerge more because they are there, but rather muted. Still in all, not a bad choice to end with.