Dark Helmet
Westbrook Brewing Co.

 

Look: Very dark chocolate brown. Three fingers of foamy tan head with slightly poor retention.

Smell: Sweet malt, spicy resinous hops, dark chocolate, mild roast coffee, oatmeal.

Taste: Slightly diluted roast malt character, mild rye spice. Very limited hop bitterness on the finish.

Mouthfeel: Smooth but slightly thin. Decent carbonation.

Overall: This would be a much better beer if it didn't taste and feel so diluted. It's like the Diet Coke of schwarzbier.

 

L: Black as pitch with initially as much head as beer when poured with modest vigor. The cream to tan head bubbles back to a finger of head and very slight lace.

S: Aroma is a blend of lager yeast and oatmeal stout, dark malts, a bit tinny.

T: Flavorful, bready, roasty. Hits those oatmeal stout notes on a lighter palate. Cola creeps in.

F: Quite thin but more smooth and coating than a light-hued lager cousin. Weight as expected for ABV. The Rye comes through on the front of the taste. Good carbonation.

O: Easy drinking and plenty of flavor. I feel if this is not your thing then neither is the style.

 

 

A: The beer is very dark brown in color and is close to appearing black when viewed from afar. It poured with a short beige colored had that left a small patch of bubbles on the surface, a narrow collar around the edge, and some lacing on the surface in between.
S: Moderate aromas of dark and chocolate malts are present in the nose.
T: The taste follows the smell and is quite and has flavors of dark and chocolate malts with hints of cola. There is a light amount of bitterness.
M: It feels nearly medium-bodied on the palate with moderate amount of carbonation and has some dryness in the finish.
O: This beer has nice malty flavors without being heavy on the palate.

Serving type: can

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one pours a dark and creamy looking black color, with a fluffy head, and lots of lacing.

This smells deliciously roasty and chocolatey, some light nuttiness, and slight earthy hops.

This is a really well constructed schwarzbier- it's really rich, with nearly spot on flavors. The roast character is killer, bitter, rich, and earthy. There's a little bit of rye spice and piney hops, with dark chocolate, char, and a hint of bitter nuttiness.

This is smooth and super creamy, with a good level of carbonation, and a very high level of drinkability.

This is definitely one of the better dark lagers I've had made in the States- it's really well done.

Good Schwartzbier!!! Pours a dense brown color with a big tan head from a pint can into a pint glass. Very little light comes through the glass. Dense as most stouts. Head retention is excellent and there are bands of lacing on the glass. Aroma is roasted malt and coffee, fairly prominent. Taste is more of the same. A nice, light, malty beer with some coffee flavor. Mouthfeel is crisp, light and amazingly smooth like a milk stout. Thought I detected some lactose here and a little bitterness in the finish. Very enjoyable.

 

 

Pours a dark, almost pitch black color. The head, and I didn't do an aggresive pour, turned out to be 4 finger, tan, very frothy, with good retention.
The nose is very slight. I just get a hint of malt, maybe a bit of coffee, but not much else from it.
Taste is roasty, slight smoke, a bit of coffee, a bit of nuts, some caramel, some chocolate.
Feel is moderate. It does linger in the back of my throat for a bit.
Tasty beer. I'll admit, I had to get it because of the name, but it is a good beer. Happy to try it.

Pours near black. Thick, medium tan head that lasts While.

Smells roasted malts, coffee, char and slight sweetness.

Tastes roasted malts, bready, light caramel, slight earthiness, light chocolate, light char and yeast hints. Finish is semi sweet with a roasted linger. Medium body and creamy medium carbonation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unsurprisingly, Dark Helmet is very dark with cola highlights. The dark walnut foamy head briefly reaches two inches before settling at one inch for a few minutes and quickly fading to a thin layer.

Roasted malt and coffee beans are followed by chocolate syrup. Faint notes of marshmallow and pumpernickel bread offset a hint of soap.

The flavor opens with chocolate syrup, followed by iced cappuccino and mocha. Bitter roasted malt balances the sweetness. The finish is mild and long with hints of chocolate, dark toast and peanuts.

This has a medium body with scratchy nylon texture. Fine soft carbonation allows a hint of crisp alcohol.

Dark Helmet was enjoyable during a late afternoon and sipped from a pilsner glass.

 

smell - roasty malt

pours really dark with a light tan head, my first pours produced a lot of foam.

taste - roasted, toasted, malty. but light and smooth. not too sweet. nice cocoa. the mouthfeel is just slightly thin in my opinion but not in a bad way.

overall its a refreshing beer, easy drinking, with substantial flavor.

 

 

I think I would have preferred this beer as a porter or a stout, given the lighter mouthfeel. The beer wasn't terrible but I think I would like it better if it was a bit heavier. There's a nice roasty, chocolate flavor to this beer, which I rather enjoyed. But I always associate that with porters / stouts.

 

First had poured from 22-oz. bomber, stamped bottled on "12/2/15," into nonic pint. Dark Helmet is an excellent selection for your dark beer fix in the summer.