Schwarzbier
Hereford & Hops Restaurant & Brewpub

At length, this is black. Closer up, this is a shadowy cola brown. Either way the head is tight, lasting, and beige.
The nose is slight, but intriguing. In trace amount exists molasses, roast nuts, toffee, grainy bread, leathery tobacco, and burnt herbs.
Taste begins with a caramel-frosted pumpernickel loaf. It's a featured flavor that lasts throughout. But in between, brown-sugared nuts and dry leaf tobacco are evident. Hints of carob, in that not-quite-chocolate, not-quite-coffee sense. Minor swells of molasses and liquorice late. It's got that rushing water, well-lagered feel. Hopping is negliable with faint notions of herb.
The body is a substanciated medium-light. Quaffable in huge sums, and interesting all the while.

Thanks for the hand-bottled sample, Hugey. I'm not sure how you managed to not drink your entire growler. But I thank you for it.

A very solid, tasty, smooth schwartzy...Pours a nice drak brown...roasted malt are big on the nose..also just a hint of java and chocolate....this feels like a dark lager but with more character...clean like a lager though...strong roasted malt characteristics on the taste...just a hint of milk chocolate in there too...body is on the light side of medium

Very easy drinking...tasty...top notch...tought to find good Schwartzy's but this definitely fits the bill....I think it won the Gold Medal at the GABF last year too...

1/2 gallon growler sample from the brewpub.

This is a great schrarzbier. It is very close in quality to my favorite schwarzbier, Sprecher Black Bavarian, but falls just short. I remember the Sprecher being just a tad more complex.

Pours a clear dark ruby. Creamy beige head sits on top and laces very nicely. Head is well-retained. Aroma is of deep roasted nuts. Very nice. Maybe a hint of hazelnut as well. This beer has a definite schwarzbier character to it, which I've found hard to come by (only Sprecher and New Belgium have had it). It's somewhat "porter-like" but smoothed out by the lager characteristics imparted. The taste has a nice deep roasted flavor to it. A bit of burnt character, but it's really rounded out on the edges nicely by the smoothness of this beer. Some slight java characteristics come and go throughout. Mouthfeel is like velvet. Silky smooth. And the body is a titch low in my opinion. It's about medium. All in all, everything adds up to a very enjoyable beer.

This beer looks gorgeous in the glass (which unfortunately was frosted) rich black body with a frothy tan head that sticks around. The serving temps are initially too cold, but as the beer warms some aromas and flavors appear. There is a hint of roasted malt of some sort, but not as much as there should be. The flavor seems washed out and the body feels light for the style. This beer needs a bit more tinkering to compare to either Kostriker or Sprecher Black Bavarian.