The Darkness of Future Past
Holy Mountain Brewing Company - Interbay Brewery + Taproom

 

 

L: Black brown body. Thick, frothy pillowy head, nice lacing.
S: Light and sweet. Dry roasty malts, faint caramel and vanilla, baking chocolate.
T: Roasted malts start to finish. Toast, burnt nuts, metallic hop bitterness lingering through the finish. This thing is almost inverted— it starts thin and mellow and builds all the way through the finish.
O: High carbonation, crisp feel.
O: Seems a bit unbalanced in the body, maybe slightly undeveloped, and a bit over carbonated. Still enjoyable, thought.

Poured from 16oz can into a dimpled mug.

Appearance: rich, dark brown hue; it’s hard to tell if there’s haze to the body but it’s dense enough that there might be. Head is a finger of frothy tan foam. Looks good!

Smell: quite yeasty with some nice chocolate and caramel notes. Maybe not as crisp as a traditional schwarzbier, but I like it.

Taste: a bit sweet with some of the yeastiness from the aroma, but with some more coffee and chocolate flavors from the roasted malts. Kind of like a cold latte. I’m into it.

Mouthfeel: medium body with a good level of carbonation and creaminess.

Overall: a solid schwarzbier. Maybe a bit yeastier than is typical of the style, but still, I am enjoying it.

16oz can

Pours two big fingers of brown head into my Willi. Retention is somewhat poor and the head mostly fades within a minute or two. Lacing is kinda meh. Body is pitch black. Looks ok, not that great.

Nose has some roast, chocolate, a little sweetness. Smells good, nothing too special.

Flavor is ok. Roast is present but not that intense, slightly malty/bready. Nice enough flavor, but slightly underwhelming.

Carbonation is somewhat low. The body is quite light, but has a nice silky feel to it. Hop bitterness is pretty low, but there is a significant roasted malt bitterness. A small touch of sweetness, less than the nose, drinks pretty wet. Pretty well balanced, the mouthfeel is nice.

Drinkability is good.

This is a pretty safe Schwarz. While it has some bitter roast, it also has some malty sweetness. I don’t mind the balance, but at times it could use more energy. At the end of the day it’s still a clean brew.