Mitternacht German Style Black Ale
Flatrock Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

Appearance: This beer pours a black color and is topped with just a ¼” of white colored head.
Smell: The aroma of this beer is all roasted malt with some coffee mixed in.
Taste: This beer tastes like a thin bodied stout roasted malt with hints of coffee mixed in.
Mouthfeel: This is a thin bodied beer yet it has good flavor retention on palate with a well carbonated body.

 

It looks a bit stronger than cola, but it does show the light body in the blackness. It's not effervescent, per se, but certainly active and crisp-looking. A nice light tan head shows good retention at about a finger's height before it drops to foam. It leaves a light touch with little to moderate spotting.
Light fruity esters light under some leaf and very light citrus in the aroma's hops presence, balanced by earthy and dry malts that give off some toast and nut.
The flavor really brings the Schwarzbier quality, like the nose but a little deeper and more rounded out. It's not lagered, so it's technically not a Schwarz, but i can't see an ale getting any closer than this. It's very gently spicy with the citrus, leaf, earth and roast with a touch of coffee grounds and cocoa.
The body is right. This one is crisp and light with depth to it, active and deep. It's not thin by any stretch, proving these guys know what it really means to make a light-bodied beer.

This ale is filled with deep dark roasted flavors -- nothing too ashy, like you may find in some black ales and lagers.. I get a hint of chocolate. The rich heavy malt is cut clean with refreshing german hops in the finish. I enjoyed this with some relatives in the friendly but crowded tap room of Flatrock Brewing Company.