Dark Swan
Lagunitas Brewing Company

Dark SwanDark Swan
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From:
Lagunitas Brewing Company
 
California, United States
Style:
Wild Ale
Ranked #632
ABV:
8.7%
Score:
87
Ranked #16,924
Avg:
3.87 | pDev: 10.34%
Reviews:
131
Ratings:
489
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jun 01, 2023
Added:
Oct 29, 2016
Wants:
  13
Gots:
  91
An experimentally hopped sour ale fermented with dark red wine grapes. Observers of yestercentury once doubted the existence of the Dark Swan, stating the fair-feathered fowl was the only color of its kind. Explorers eventually upended that theory, shocking the world and shining light on the Dark. This beer might just do the same. It’s a sour ale fermented with dark red wine grapes, giving it its uniquely deep and rich purple hue. Then it received the signature Lagunitas treatment with a healthy dose of experimental dry hops. This might just shock your taste buds!

There just really isn't anything else like the Dark Swan... it's a dark purple hybrid ale the takes our house yeast and feeds it some Petite Sirah grapes to munch on. It's smooth, slightly sour, and superbly strange. Give it a taste, if you dare!
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by schoolboy:
Photo of schoolboy
Reviewed by schoolboy from Ohio

3.92/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Woopha! This is a big one of sour ale! Best of the lot of wild ales released recently. And why? Maybe because Lagunitas always has a wild streak and all they had to do is crank it up a notch.

It's purple. A crazy shade of it. It looks like I'm drinking wine from an ale glass. The aroma is a fruity yeast smell that is entirely pleasant. The taste takes that to the sour side. It's kind of boozy and fruity, like a punch, but it does it with flare. You weren't going to gulp that, were you?

Highly recommended. I need to see if I can find more.
Jun 28, 2017
More User Ratings:
Photo of stevoj
Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho

3.49/5  rDev -9.8%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Draft at the Handlebar. Pours out like grape juice, but with more bubbles. Even the smell favors the grapes, without the win-y-ness. Taste is fruity and only minor tartness. Pretty light weight despite the ABV.
Jun 01, 2023
Photo of StonedTrippin
Reviewed by StonedTrippin from Colorado

4.25/5  rDev +9.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
everything about this beer is amazing, unsung as it is, its one of the best of lagunitas all time, weird and unexpected from them, a strong sour ale, more tart than funky, not sure if its wild but i suspect more a kettle sour thing, done with red wine grapes, petite sirah i believe, but then also rather liberally hopped with pekko hops, which were relatively unknown when this dropped the first time, so clever and awesome. stunning high saturation beet root purple color in the glass, real deep but still some shine, looks clear and well refined, and has a belgian looking inch plus of wispy just pink stained head, looks amazing! the aroma is nuts, tannic tart grape skins, weird almost candy sweetness, hints of blackberry and marionberry, lots of minerals, very little grain, and the herbal almost noble hops to me, sour but not over the top acidic, and in the apparent absence of oak, it all seems fresh and poppy, vinous with a little alcohol coming through too, more at temperature, unlike anything else lagunitas has ever done before it. the fruit drives the flavor way more than the ferment does, theres not even all that much taste to the sourness, a little piquant bacterial lemon thing just serves to further highlight the grapes, which seem so bold and so real, jammy but also winey, subtle black currant and black cherry depth to the fruit, a port wine thing even, but the beer overall is crazy light for its abv, which is not really there much in the taste, the malt is super light to me, and the carbonation is uplifting. the hops are not the first thing someone would talk about with this one, but its subtly a very unique facet of it, all on the finish, highly herbal, light lime and grassiness to them, a neat finishing touch. acidity is clean, moderate, and enhancing, maybe ever so slightly medicinal which only adds intrigue, while the beer overall is sort of tannic and even gritty from the fruit. really special stuff, done at a real high level, and something i definitely hope comes back around again. one of the cooler beer/wine hybrid types to have existed. more accessible than the expensive fully wild types, this really carves out a neat niche for itself! love it.
Jan 09, 2023
Photo of tekstr1der
Reviewed by tekstr1der from New Hampshire

3.38/5  rDev -12.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
This one was a miss for me. Love wine, but imparting wine into beer just too bizarre for me to enjoy. While not indicative of the overall selection from these folks, hopefully the buyout doesn't ruin some of their respected brews.
Feb 24, 2022
 
Rated: 3.77 by bismarksays from Iowa

Jan 10, 2022
 
Rated: 3.79 by TMoney2591 from Illinois

Nov 27, 2021
 
Rated: 3.5 by NickMunford from Wyoming

Jul 17, 2021
 
Rated: 2 by Urk1127 from New Jersey

Dec 01, 2020
Photo of sulldaddy
Reviewed by sulldaddy from Connecticut

3.81/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Sampling a cellar temp 2017 12 oz bottle poured into a snifter. Ive been sitting on this as I honestly wasnt sure what to make of this one. Figured tonight is as good as any to try it.
The beer pours a dark, but clear merlot color with a fluffy and aggressive eggshell white to tinted pink head of 3 cm. This foam fades quickly to a thin edge layer and one surface island.
the aroma is very vinous with dark grapes, some tart berry notes and even a little bit of tannic notes that really push the nose towards a more astringent note. I also get some mild biscuity yeast, but no hop character and the ABV is well hidden too.
First sip, reveals a light to medium body with very fine and tingly yet spacious carbonation. Texture is smooth and a little watery.
Flavor is kind of tart with dark fruit dominating. I get red grape and raspberry, but also acidic red wine notes on the finish. I dont really describe this as sour, but acidity. I dont get any hops and the ABV is well hidden.

I admit that I dont love this beer, but it isnt flawed and it isnt mouth puckering sour either. A cool experimental beer, but not one I would try again. Only on personal preference, I dont think the beer is flawed.
Oct 02, 2020
 
Rated: 4 by Velivolus1 from Vermont

Aug 02, 2020
 
Rated: 3.93 by TheCakePounder from Pennsylvania

Jun 28, 2020
Photo of StoutElk_92
Reviewed by StoutElk_92 from Massachusetts

4.33/5  rDev +11.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Pours dark red with a creamy frothy light khaki tan foam head. Notes of lightly tart berries, raspberry, blackberry, mild blueberry and strawberry, cherry, plum, red wine, Petite Sirah grapes, mild tropical fruit, sweet citrus, candied dark fruit, hints of chocolate, toasty caramel malt, with floral earthy herbal grassy pine. Feels medium bodied, creamy and slick with moderate smooth carbonation. Overall a nice sour ale fermented with red wine grapes.
Apr 01, 2020
 
Rated: 3.79 by jstern from California

Jan 02, 2020
 
Rated: 3.81 by nruhlig from Minnesota

Dec 22, 2019
 
Rated: 3.67 by kelvarnsen from Canada (ON)

Dec 09, 2019
 
Rated: 3.45 by taospowder from New Mexico

Oct 27, 2019
Photo of Bfaucett
Rated by Bfaucett

1.1/5  rDev -71.6%
look: 1 | smell: 1 | taste: 1 | feel: 2 | overall: 1
Y'all are nuts. This tastes like cheap whine fermented in a prison toilet.
Oct 17, 2019
 
Rated: 4.52 by RochefortChris from North Carolina

Oct 09, 2019
Photo of Bouleboubier
Reviewed by Bouleboubier from New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev +9.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
(12 oz bottle, 038 9 2 3486 1006, 7.9% abv; purchased single off shelf... poured into fat tulip)

L: crystal-clear, purple-ruby liquid; tall, pink-tinged foam stand... does keep a chunky collar; one long band of crusty lace

S: acidic, vinous fruit on the pour; once in the glass, mushy citrus hops leap out, so much so that the vinous character gets buried or at least neatly woven into the hop blast... takes another moment, but the shrub-y, fruity malt syrup undertones creep back; subdued but pointed beam of booze in the mist

T: good bit of orange and piney hop, but they're shoved to the sides by the vaguely Flemish red-like (tart, malty) base; red grape skins, floral oil, piney aftertaste; relatively dry aftertaste... grape, malt, and fruity/pine hops, with a moderate sour smack; little depth, but lots of volume

F: subtly velvety-smooth body, though its thinned out and/or opened up a bit by the MOR tart tang and rather perfectly-tuned boozy warmth... has some apparent weight to it (alcohol-influenced?), but falls short of rich or viscous; lip-smacky, soothing

O: had eyed this up for awhile now; took a paltry, all-too-familiar singles selection at a store I hadn't been to in quite awhile that resulted in this being 'single'd-out, so to speak... glad I got it and hadn't researched it at all in the past - rare unusual Lagunitas brew (though it does vaguely resemble a sour-ed version of their pointless, off-base take on a Scotch ale)... actually a nice sipper; would buy it again, and could potentially have a few (1515)
Sep 24, 2019
 
Rated: 4.12 by peachy-tay from California

Sep 19, 2019
Dark Swan from Lagunitas Brewing Company
Beer rating: 87 out of 100 with 489 ratings