Würzburger Schwarzbier
Würzburger Hofbräu AG

 

 

 

 

I bought this beer when i was in Germany four weeks ago. German schwarzbier is a style you see all over Germany. This bottle is best before december 2011.

Poured in my Struise glass this looks very very nice, millions of tiny bubbles as head and a darkbrown fluid with some carbonation.

Smell is very neutral, nothing for the nose here. Same for the taste, a bit flat. It is a very drinkable beer on a hot day. That makes the score a bit higher that i wanted to rate it.

Brown 500ml bottle, best before 17 Dec 2010, my second beer during my 2 July 2010 German beer evening. Poured (twice) into my 'Paderborner' tall vase shaped glass.

Dark brown with reddy hints with a thick tan head.

The aroma was of burnt/roasted/toasted malts with semi-sweet molasses as it warmed.

The taste was malty, but a little dry up front, the dryness continueing throughout the mouthfeel.

I thought the body a bit thin, but I always do with German black beers, they just seem to lack character where they most need it and have very little richness or depth.

I checked this beer out at the Würzburger Hofbräu and was a little disappointed to find that you can only get it from the bottle. Apparently it must be strictly and export beer like a lot of dark German beers considering that everything on the bottle was written in four languages. I enjoyed it from a normal Seidel and it pours a dark brown with ruby tints throughout. It had great, thick lacing throughout, very impressive. The smell has some notes of roasted malts with a little toffee, but overall not very strong. The taste is smooth, but I was really expecting this beer to pack more of a punch. It's easy to detect the roasted malts at first, but this quickly fades and the beer is seemingly very water-like in nature. This beer isn't really the premier beer from this particular brewery.

Purchased from the "Beers of Europe", a British online Beer Shop. 4.9%abv., BB 17/09/08, served chilled in a straight imperial pint glass.

A: pours a deeply dark brown hue with some mahogany shades; the tan frothy head is thick and creamy with good retention. Unknown carbonation level.
S: very settled, the aroma... deeply roasty with a lightly sour touch of roasted malts and walnuts, lightly leather-ish, dried black dates, and absolute clean-iness on the nose. A light touch of doughy sourness sustains at the fringe. Very well-matured is the overall impression.
T: a neutral, even slightly plastic, taste of roasted black malts prevails upfront (almost like black sugar deprived of any sweetness), followed by a clean palate of roast-bitterness from malts and lightly chewy root-herbal hop bitterness, while a refreshing edge of lager is retained throughout the drink.
M&D: super-clean, crisp, just-about-right on the carbonation level, and medium-minus bodied... this schwarzbier is of good quality and in the "puritist" fashion. Alas, this superb clean-iness on mouthfeel and flavour doesn't fare too well as far as my preference is concerned. A refershing, light, quaffable black lager well worth a try, though!

Presentation: Tall dashing 500ml (1 Pint 0.9 fl.oz.) brown glass bottle. Main label is a gold rimmed black oval which has the words “Würzburger Schwarzbier” in gold text. The crown cap has gold crown inside a six-pointed red star all inside a white circle. The v-shaped neck label is similar in style but has the words ‘Das gute bewahrt, seit 1643’. Brewed and Bottled by Hofbräu Würzburg. Imported by Morandell Imports based in LA and picked up at the excellent Hollingshead Delicatessen in Orange during a recent visit. No advertised strength or freshness date.

Appearance: Shockingly dark, but not quite jet-black, closer examination reveals a dark murky brown body. The head is awesome, deep aerated beige brown cap that has a very Teutonic presentation. Supreme conditioning. In my large handled Mug it looks simply stunning!

Nose: Lots of fresh Earthy hints, soil-laden woody aromas peek out from behind a dark toffee and caramel base. Dark malts, a hint of sweetness and some dark cooking chocolate.

Taste: Rich complex flavors come and go as the beer drinks and warms. Dark toffee, rich malts, caramel, hot sponge Parkin and Bonfire toffee rise as the temperature does. As the tongue becomes adapt at probing further, liquorices, anise and some raisins flash in the profile. Black treacle, prunes and figs lie in wait in the finish with some dark brooding bitterness that laps the edges of the darker malts. I loved trying to break down the flavors in this one, yet I think I fail miserably to adequately describe how complex this feels. What a treat this Schwarzbier is.

Mouthfeel: *Incredibly* smooth body, creamy, silky and Teflon-like, yet it still feels chewy and massive on the tongue. This one has Black Balls larger than Chef’s from South Park. Huge.

Drinkability: I have no idea how strong this one is, but thanks to the great looks, super nose, inviting complex taste profile and the supremely formed Mouthfeel – this one goes down without a fight. An easy 4.5.

Overall: Wow, how come I have never heard or even seen this one before, it is *SO* good I am at a loss to explain why it only has 3 prior Reviews. Maybe it has a limited availability – shame if that is the reason. This is one seriously excellent Schwarzbier, one of the better ones that I have ever had. I’m very impressed by this one; I’m getting more when I had back to Hollingshead soon.

Highly Recommended, if you ever see it that is! Sehr Gut!!

A very fine, STRONG, Bavarian holiday black beer. This brew will lay you out, if you have too many. It is very smooth, with a big, rich toffee-like malt flavor and a strong alcohol presence. Very warming with a long rich malt aftertaste. Very smooth going down. Not too easy to find, and usually only available during November-December.