Taiwan Beer Strong Black
Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor Corporation

Coming in a slim 600ml green bottle, bottled on 09/09/2009 and BB 09/03/2010, possibly unpasteurised; served chilled in a straight pint glass. NOTE: the ingredients include hops, barley, pong-lai rice.

A: pours an unusual dark copper hue, coming with semi-lively streams of fine carbonation and an off-white foamy head retreating slowly to a thin cap. The colour is definitely NOT black or dark brown, as far as my eye sight is concerned.
S: rather rich in caramely sweetness, with a lightly burned edge of black sugar as well as black-sugar flavoured ginger; apart from this there's precious little to be appreciated, honestly. Interestingly, a swirl gives rise to some boiled cabbage notes. The aroma is weak and cannot be related to any "black" beer that I know of, but not far from an American Amber Lager or a lesser Vienna Lager, I'd say.
T: at first the cheap adjunct flavour prevails, closely ensued by a richer but still thin-bodied taste of caramel, faint sweet prunes, and more caramel... The finish turns somewhat chewy, as if hoppiness finally makes a belated impression, but at the same time it's still thin, lightly metallic and finally shows its alcoholic side. Notes of burned sweet rice also linger for a short while in the end.
M&D: lightly carbonated, the palate is perhaps the most enjoyable element overall; the flavour doesn't easily sit in the camp of any established beer style, but certainly this is NOT any black beer, rather like a much more caramely type of sweet lager. Not delicious but easy to drink, at least better than the brewing company's flagship watery fake lager - "Taiwan Beer".