Dark Lager
Side Launch Brewing Company

Toronto 13/7 2018. 47,3 cl can from The Beer Shop, Ontarios very own depressing version of a liquor monopoly where I feel like I am purchasing my beer in a shady backroom during the prohibition. Very dynamic motive on the can reminding me of Soviet design from the fifties.

Pours hazy maroon with a modest off-white head. Settles as a thin ring of foam along the side of the glass. No lacing.

Aroma is dark and roasted. Caramel, dark roasted malts, lightly smoky with some bitter notes giving a little contrast to the sweetness.

Light carbonation. Fairly, thin and flat texture.

Flavor is medium sweet followed by a more modest bitterness. Aftertaste is of roasted sweetness with a light bitterness peeking in.

Nice carefully made Dunkel. Not too sweet and with a fine roastiness.

At my lady Pamela's house; canned and chilled, 473mL in a pint glass. From their Holiday Pack at my favourite LCBO at Tecumseh Mall in nearby Windsor. No date stamp or lot number. My 7th beer from the Collingwood, Ontario brewery, and 6th for 2025. Merry Christmas from Sundae the cat and I!...

 

Yeah, not too bad at all. Tastes like a lager but looks darker. Thus the name "Dark Lager".
I disagree with what it says on the label. I can't taste any dark chocolate or smokey roasted grain. There is a slight after taste of something like mocha but barely noticeable. Tastes just like a plain old lager to me and that's a good thing I guess. Doesn't taste anything like a stout or porter which i partially expected it to before opening the can.
The beer pours a small foam head that dies pretty quick. No lacing at all. The color is pretty cool. It's dark brown kind of like mahogany, or even a watered down coffee. Actually that's exactly what it looks like.
Keeps a slight sweetness to it. Not too much because that's when i start to dislike lagers.

I'd say overall it's a good beer. Nothing great but if you want a solid beer, then here you go. They offer online shipping Ontario wide and I was able to get everything they had to offer online at the time.

 

 

Pours dark mahogany with a fluffy tan head that lasts the whole glass. The aroma is of nutty, roasted malts, stewed fruits and a bit of lemony, herbal hops. The taste is malty with bran and caramel mixed with some herbal hop notes. The mouthfeel is full bodied with creamy carbonation. light bitterness and lots of dark malts in the long finish.

A nice, straightforward Dark Lager. I'd get it again.

 

 

 

yup, another ontario brewed red/brown/black lager, this one loosely german, but as sort of sweet and mundane as the rest of them, not to be overly critical, or let the irrelevance of some of this brews peers bring it down, but there seems to be a theme around the greater toronto area that this type of sweet, even adjuncty dark lager is what people want to drink, and it blows my mind, as common as an ipa in most craft spots in the states, the proliferation of the style is an outlier these days i have to think. anyway, this one isnt bad, its just really sweet, and the crispness and drinkability we are supposed to get from the lager yeast and the cold conditioning arent really present as a result. brown sugar, a darker cocoa flash which is cool, a raisin hint, and some redder, kilned malt character, bready and pleasant, just too sweet to drink as much of this as i would otherwise be inclined to. heard lots of locals talking up the side launch beers, but this one didnt really do much for me. lost in the crowd of lackluster similar beers in the area, at least in my opinion...