All That Jazz
Henniker Brewing Co.

Can from tfontana, thanks again!
Mostly clear dark amber/brown with a decent sized odd white head that persists. Bready light chocolate and caramel maltiness. Moderate fruitiness light earthy hops. More ale than lager but tasty.

From the 16 oz. can with a Best Before date of March 28, 2021. Sampled December 13, 2020.

Attractive chestnut dark amber pour with ruby reed hues when held to the light all underneath a modest, fading tan head.

Inviting aromatic sensations of dark roasted malts, toasted malts, caramel, licorice, and a vague earthiness.

Smooth medium mouthfeel.

A definite sweet roasted malt character in the taste with light chocolate and a clean, earthy finish. It is well done.

One of the newest releases from Henniker Brewing Co., All That Jazz intrigued me because, hey... it's a "dark lager" from a small yet talented New Hampshire brewery! I'm always willing to check out stuff like this, and there's even a bit of mystery involved here because what the hell does "dark lager" even mean these days? This could have easily been like five different styles of beer, ranging from schwarzbier to Černé/Tmavé Pivo (Czech style dark lager), but I ended up adding it to BA as a Munich dark lager. If you disagree, you're welcome to grab a can (or four) and submit a change to the style yourself! Prost!

This pours a very dark brown color with an extremely retentive light-khaki head that just lasts and lasts. Not much lace, but that's mostly because the head sticks around so long, honestly. Good legs, of course, and there are some lighter brownish/mahogany notes to the hue around the bottom and sides of my glass when held up to direct light, but this is definitely a very dark lager.

In the nose, this has a superb note of pumpernickel bread crust combined with the slightest touches of coffee and roast. Herbal and earthy hoppiness backs up the malt, while very slight esters take up the rear. Some chocolate and more herbal hops here and there. Notes from the brewery itself mention smoke, and I guess I can pick up some earthy smokiness if I really get in there, but it's not quite an apparent note to my senses.

My first few sips are certainly flavorful, with roasty notes mingling with some bread crust and light elements of cocoa. The earthy, characterful hops from the nose make a good, lingering appearance here as well, bringing out some unique flavors that play well with the bready malts. Rather smooth yet lively feel that never gets too heavy but which definitely retains a solid body throughout. Slight spice and autumn leaves with rich caramel-like flavors in the mid-palate, lingering toward the finish with some light herbal aspects. Not much else to say, but this is quite a nice German-style dark lager, teetering on the edge between Munich dunkel and schwarzbier, I'd say. Roasty but not drying, herbal and somewhat hoppy without becoming unbalanced. This is fun stuff. I'd drink it again, and I urge anyone on the fence about it to try it out.