Irish Black Lager
Cloud 9 Brewery

this really is robust and excellent, on tap at the brewery right now, they always have had a solid lager program, and this impressed me sunday evening. shiny perfect black to me, although the light is always dim in here, glossy and denser looking than expected under a full inch or more of light brown head, perhaps a little deeper looking than expected, but real attractive. it smells and tastes great, some old world lager yeast evident even though the very intense roasted barley character, which sort of defines this one for me, bitter all the way though, running over a richer yet more delicate malt middle, starting and ending the flavor experience, but i like it bold like this, and the dark grain and the yeast are awesome together. lots of minerals to this, maybe their water profile is especially flattering in this style, the body is light for its color but still a little fuller than many other examples of the style, palate coating and just a touch sweet, brown sugar or caramel there, light smoke too, wet volcanic soil, and dark bread to close, really good. these guys remain underrated in the scene here...

edit: a little stronger a year later, listed at 6.5% abv now, just as good as last years vintage!

What would you get if you mixed half a schwarzbier with half a sweet stout? This. Body leans towards a lager, bot any roastiness from the dark grains is tempered by the sweetness of the other half. Not sure what was trying to be accomplished, but it didn’t work too well.

rb

1/2 pint tonight at the brewpub... 1 finger khaki head leaves splotchy lacing... Too sweet IMO... Light roastiness says burnt coffee grounds and bittersweet chocolate.. Too much residual maltiness or perhaps even added lactose, not sure, but it was a chore to finish the 8 oz.

3.5/3.5/3/3.25/3