BREWtality - Espresso Black Bier | Midnight Sun Brewing Co.
Brewed by:
Midnight Sun Brewing Co.
Alaska, United States
midnightsunbrewing.com
Style: Schwarzbier
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 9.70%
Availability: Rotating
Notes / Commercial Description:
Combining jet black color with incredibly smooth texture and decadent coffee flavor, BREWTALITY breaks the expectations of both rich espresso and dark beer to create a whole 'nuther beast. While brutal in alcoholic strength, this biggie beautifully showcases its roasted malt and coffee flavors without bringing on bitterness and bite. This is the first of two lagers in the series.
17 IBU
Added by AKBelgianBeast on 03-01-2009
HISTOGRAM
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Ratings: 208 | Reviews: 58
Reviews by JoeMans:
More User Reviews:
4.1/5 rDev -1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Freshness Date: None
A: Black with a moderate thickness topped off with a light brown head of microbubble foam. The head has a decent resiliency and an overachieving glass cling.
S: Strong espresso and cocoa notes with a solid foundation of wood and earth. There are also notes of caramel and brown sugar.
T: Again comes the espresso and cocoa up front. There are also a good amount of smokey wood and earthiness essentially following the nose. Then comes raisins and notes of dark fruit. The finish is syrupy sweet with moderate rum-esque alcohol and minimal bitterness.
M: Velvety smooth with a medium feel and long syrupy linger. Minimal carbonation.
O: An interesting beer which marries espresso and malt while leaving out the hop bitterness. In a hop dominate craft brew world this beer is interesting and refreshing.
827 characters
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Freshness Date: None
A: Black with a moderate thickness topped off with a light brown head of microbubble foam. The head has a decent resiliency and an overachieving glass cling.
S: Strong espresso and cocoa notes with a solid foundation of wood and earth. There are also notes of caramel and brown sugar.
T: Again comes the espresso and cocoa up front. There are also a good amount of smokey wood and earthiness essentially following the nose. Then comes raisins and notes of dark fruit. The finish is syrupy sweet with moderate rum-esque alcohol and minimal bitterness.
M: Velvety smooth with a medium feel and long syrupy linger. Minimal carbonation.
O: An interesting beer which marries espresso and malt while leaving out the hop bitterness. In a hop dominate craft brew world this beer is interesting and refreshing.
827 characters
4.35/5 rDev +5.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Bottle shared by Grant - thanks!
Pours black with a one-finger light brown head. The head recedes into a wispy layer on top leaving solid lacing.
Smells of robust espresso with dark malts serving as a backbone. Also present are hints of roasted malts.
Tastes similar to how it smells. Smooth roasted malt flavors kick things off and are joined quickly by even smoother coffee flavors. The roastiness subsides midway through the sip, allowing the coffee flavors to shine even more and allowing room for hints of dark chocolate. The chocolate fades out quickly allowing dark malts and coffee to carry through to a moderately bitter finish.
Mouthfeel is very good. It's got a smooth thickness with soft carbonation.
Drinkability is also very good. I had no problems finishing my glass and could easily have a few more.
Overall I really enjoyed this beer, it's one of the better coffee showcase beers out there as the other flavors augment rather than overpower. Well worth a shot.
983 characters
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Bottle shared by Grant - thanks!
Pours black with a one-finger light brown head. The head recedes into a wispy layer on top leaving solid lacing.
Smells of robust espresso with dark malts serving as a backbone. Also present are hints of roasted malts.
Tastes similar to how it smells. Smooth roasted malt flavors kick things off and are joined quickly by even smoother coffee flavors. The roastiness subsides midway through the sip, allowing the coffee flavors to shine even more and allowing room for hints of dark chocolate. The chocolate fades out quickly allowing dark malts and coffee to carry through to a moderately bitter finish.
Mouthfeel is very good. It's got a smooth thickness with soft carbonation.
Drinkability is also very good. I had no problems finishing my glass and could easily have a few more.
Overall I really enjoyed this beer, it's one of the better coffee showcase beers out there as the other flavors augment rather than overpower. Well worth a shot.
983 characters
3.93/5 rDev -5.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Reviewed from notes, thanks to Alex for bringing this. Poured into a tulip, color is opaque brown with a small tan head, good retention and some lacing. Smell is chocolate, espresso, raw grains and molasses. Bitter coffee dominates the flavor followed by some hops, roasted malts, some sweetness, and finishes with more coffee. Medium bodied with a light carbonation. This is a decently drinkable beer, maybe a bit high on the ABV for the style, although the alcohol was not present in the flavor or smell. Probably a bit more coffee bitterness then I would have liked for the style. A good beer but probably not the best schwarz I have had (although it definitley falls in my top 5 coffee lagers, thanks again Alex!).
718 characters
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Reviewed from notes, thanks to Alex for bringing this. Poured into a tulip, color is opaque brown with a small tan head, good retention and some lacing. Smell is chocolate, espresso, raw grains and molasses. Bitter coffee dominates the flavor followed by some hops, roasted malts, some sweetness, and finishes with more coffee. Medium bodied with a light carbonation. This is a decently drinkable beer, maybe a bit high on the ABV for the style, although the alcohol was not present in the flavor or smell. Probably a bit more coffee bitterness then I would have liked for the style. A good beer but probably not the best schwarz I have had (although it definitley falls in my top 5 coffee lagers, thanks again Alex!).
718 characters
4.22/5 rDev +1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
A large Espresso Black Bier brewed by that one new guy...hahaha. Cheers Jeremiah. Had to choose a style category, so forgive me. Really not a schwarz, at least not in the traditional sense.
Pours an almost impenetrable black with some very slight ruby highlights around the edges of the glass. A light tan head rises well, but doesn't hold its retention very well and leaves minimal lacing. I poured a bit vigorously on the second pour, and got a little better retention, but Still little to no lacing.
The nose at first quaff is balls out coffee/espresso. Promising start for the style. Hard to get anything out of the nose through the espresso really.
Taste follows. Very intense espresso flavor. I tasted this one prior to the coffee addition and man, what a difference. (duh). Espresso flavors fast out of the gate. Smooth espresso flavor with a touch of noticeable sweetness through the taste. Fairly one dimensional before the finish, as this one is just a straight up espresso bomb. Doused. The finish has a slight touch of coffee bean bitterness. Defenitely not hops. The finish is fairly slick. Almost Oatmeal slick. There is more of a sweetness in this brew than most coffee doused brews, making it a bit smoother than your typical burnt coffeesque brews out there. The aftertaste is really just lingering espresso, but there is a slight dark fruit lick as the flavor fades.
Mouthfeel is pretty good, defenitely a slick beer. Glad its not too dry. Carbonation is about right, maybe ever so slightly undercarbonated, but for all intensive purposes it is where it should be, despite the retention issues. Viscosity of the brew is where it should be.
Drinkability is very solid for the abv. I wouldn't have thought this was nearly 10%, 8 maybe. The espresso slap in the face makes this one a little bit tougher to drink, but you gotta expect that if you read the damn label.
Overall defenitely a good first "signature" brew for Jeremiah. Although slightly one dimensional, that dimension is the one you want in a coffee/espresso brew...coffee. If you are a coffee beer fan, do NOT miss out on this one. A respectable kickoff to the 2009 Crew Brews, looks like yet another classic series from the crew at Midnight Sun. Excited to see what Gabe and Yukon Cornelius come up with. Anyway, a good espresso beer, and good start to the series. Get some and Chug-0-lug-0-yo coffee mug.
2,391 characters
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
A large Espresso Black Bier brewed by that one new guy...hahaha. Cheers Jeremiah. Had to choose a style category, so forgive me. Really not a schwarz, at least not in the traditional sense.
Pours an almost impenetrable black with some very slight ruby highlights around the edges of the glass. A light tan head rises well, but doesn't hold its retention very well and leaves minimal lacing. I poured a bit vigorously on the second pour, and got a little better retention, but Still little to no lacing.
The nose at first quaff is balls out coffee/espresso. Promising start for the style. Hard to get anything out of the nose through the espresso really.
Taste follows. Very intense espresso flavor. I tasted this one prior to the coffee addition and man, what a difference. (duh). Espresso flavors fast out of the gate. Smooth espresso flavor with a touch of noticeable sweetness through the taste. Fairly one dimensional before the finish, as this one is just a straight up espresso bomb. Doused. The finish has a slight touch of coffee bean bitterness. Defenitely not hops. The finish is fairly slick. Almost Oatmeal slick. There is more of a sweetness in this brew than most coffee doused brews, making it a bit smoother than your typical burnt coffeesque brews out there. The aftertaste is really just lingering espresso, but there is a slight dark fruit lick as the flavor fades.
Mouthfeel is pretty good, defenitely a slick beer. Glad its not too dry. Carbonation is about right, maybe ever so slightly undercarbonated, but for all intensive purposes it is where it should be, despite the retention issues. Viscosity of the brew is where it should be.
Drinkability is very solid for the abv. I wouldn't have thought this was nearly 10%, 8 maybe. The espresso slap in the face makes this one a little bit tougher to drink, but you gotta expect that if you read the damn label.
Overall defenitely a good first "signature" brew for Jeremiah. Although slightly one dimensional, that dimension is the one you want in a coffee/espresso brew...coffee. If you are a coffee beer fan, do NOT miss out on this one. A respectable kickoff to the 2009 Crew Brews, looks like yet another classic series from the crew at Midnight Sun. Excited to see what Gabe and Yukon Cornelius come up with. Anyway, a good espresso beer, and good start to the series. Get some and Chug-0-lug-0-yo coffee mug.
2,391 characters
4.42/5 rDev +6.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Bomber thanks to akbeerfiend on BA, shared at a tasting of many, many accomplished tickers.
Pours pretty black in color with a one-finger light tan head and good lacing.
The aroma has lots of awesome espresso, roast, and dark chocolate.
The flavor is really dominated by coffee. A nice sweetness to it with dark chocolate.
Slick mouthfeel with fairly light body.
Awesome for the style. Would like to have tried this fresh, but am impressed with this even with a year or more on it.
486 characters
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Bomber thanks to akbeerfiend on BA, shared at a tasting of many, many accomplished tickers.
Pours pretty black in color with a one-finger light tan head and good lacing.
The aroma has lots of awesome espresso, roast, and dark chocolate.
The flavor is really dominated by coffee. A nice sweetness to it with dark chocolate.
Slick mouthfeel with fairly light body.
Awesome for the style. Would like to have tried this fresh, but am impressed with this even with a year or more on it.
486 characters
4.46/5 rDev +7.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
4.34/5 rDev +4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
The appearance well, all I have to say you’ll never see any Schwarzbier that pours a smoother jet black color than this beer, holy smoothness - pure black, awesome one finger white to off white - maybe somewhat of a tan colored head, no lacing whatsoever. The smell had a dark and very roasty espresso up front, some light milky chocolate does come out eventually. The taste was smooth espresso and milk chocolate flavoring that pierces the taste buds in a fine sort of way; smooth espresso aftertaste, dry espresso/chocolate finish. On the palate, this wants to be somewhat light, but due to the ABV and the darkness of it - I wanna say it actually sits pretty "medium" on the mouth. I say awesome try to Midnight Sun to try to make a somewhat sessionable Schwarzbier of that ABV, but this does hit ya after a while - this beast does show its strength - don’t think this is any "kitten." Carbonation - wow exceptionally smooth - boy oh boy, personally I don’t think I’ve ever tried any Schwarzbier this smooth if I ever find any Schwarzbier so smooth I will definitely seek this one just to compare. Overall, Schwarzbier, this is a Schwarzbier, and a really nice one.
1,176 characters
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
The appearance well, all I have to say you’ll never see any Schwarzbier that pours a smoother jet black color than this beer, holy smoothness - pure black, awesome one finger white to off white - maybe somewhat of a tan colored head, no lacing whatsoever. The smell had a dark and very roasty espresso up front, some light milky chocolate does come out eventually. The taste was smooth espresso and milk chocolate flavoring that pierces the taste buds in a fine sort of way; smooth espresso aftertaste, dry espresso/chocolate finish. On the palate, this wants to be somewhat light, but due to the ABV and the darkness of it - I wanna say it actually sits pretty "medium" on the mouth. I say awesome try to Midnight Sun to try to make a somewhat sessionable Schwarzbier of that ABV, but this does hit ya after a while - this beast does show its strength - don’t think this is any "kitten." Carbonation - wow exceptionally smooth - boy oh boy, personally I don’t think I’ve ever tried any Schwarzbier this smooth if I ever find any Schwarzbier so smooth I will definitely seek this one just to compare. Overall, Schwarzbier, this is a Schwarzbier, and a really nice one.
1,176 characters
2.78/5 rDev -32.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5
Pours a deep brown color with a minimal beige head that settled into a light ring.
The aroma is sweet with some caramel notes with a very light hint of coffee. I dunno I am just not picking up much from this one.
The taste is of a brown bread malt with a faint kiss of coffee. I pick up a strong presence of dark fruit; raisin and plum. Perhaps some fig as well. There is some caramel sweetness and some milk sugars. There is a subtle tart cherry flavor. Me thinks this brew did not hold up well on its trip from Alaska. There is a little bit of a roast flavor but it is quickly over-taken by the dark fruit flavor.
Moderate feel with spritzy carbonation; good for the style. Sweet for the style but does have some roasty bitterness.
Man, what happened to this brew. Very much not like an "espresso black beer". It doesn't taste funky except for the dark fruit flavors. I am hoping this is a bad bottle.
April 5, 2014 update
I stand by my review. Not much if any coffee flavor. The beer itself is good but I don't get much coffee at all, thus my grade.
1,058 characters
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5
Pours a deep brown color with a minimal beige head that settled into a light ring.
The aroma is sweet with some caramel notes with a very light hint of coffee. I dunno I am just not picking up much from this one.
The taste is of a brown bread malt with a faint kiss of coffee. I pick up a strong presence of dark fruit; raisin and plum. Perhaps some fig as well. There is some caramel sweetness and some milk sugars. There is a subtle tart cherry flavor. Me thinks this brew did not hold up well on its trip from Alaska. There is a little bit of a roast flavor but it is quickly over-taken by the dark fruit flavor.
Moderate feel with spritzy carbonation; good for the style. Sweet for the style but does have some roasty bitterness.
Man, what happened to this brew. Very much not like an "espresso black beer". It doesn't taste funky except for the dark fruit flavors. I am hoping this is a bad bottle.
April 5, 2014 update
I stand by my review. Not much if any coffee flavor. The beer itself is good but I don't get much coffee at all, thus my grade.
1,058 characters
4/5 rDev -3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Poured awfully thick for a lager this holds a deep ebony color under a cap of nice even foam.
The nose is malty, smoky and chocolatey but do I smell peanut butter? If I did it was fleeting. This has a dry roast coffee at the end.
The flavor is a dry malt ,coffee bean, chocolate and then a slight espresso sweetness.
The feel is thick and smooth for a lager and is more akin to a dry coffee stout.
Very enjoyable beer for a new and unusual style.
451 characters
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Poured awfully thick for a lager this holds a deep ebony color under a cap of nice even foam.
The nose is malty, smoky and chocolatey but do I smell peanut butter? If I did it was fleeting. This has a dry roast coffee at the end.
The flavor is a dry malt ,coffee bean, chocolate and then a slight espresso sweetness.
The feel is thick and smooth for a lager and is more akin to a dry coffee stout.
Very enjoyable beer for a new and unusual style.
451 characters
4.53/5 rDev +9.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5
4.02/5 rDev -2.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Appearance. Pours dark brown, close to black in the glass and topped with half a finger of light brown head.
Smell. Big coffee for sure, some sweet caramel and dark roasty malts, molasses, and a bit of chocolate and fruit.
Taste. Big sweet dark malts and coffee, some dark fruit and molasses again. Quite like the nose.
Mouthfeel. Fairly full bodied and a touch sticky on the lips, low+ carbonation.
Overall. Super solid stuff here. Maybe a touch sweet for me, but a very well made beer.
491 characters
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Appearance. Pours dark brown, close to black in the glass and topped with half a finger of light brown head.
Smell. Big coffee for sure, some sweet caramel and dark roasty malts, molasses, and a bit of chocolate and fruit.
Taste. Big sweet dark malts and coffee, some dark fruit and molasses again. Quite like the nose.
Mouthfeel. Fairly full bodied and a touch sticky on the lips, low+ carbonation.
Overall. Super solid stuff here. Maybe a touch sweet for me, but a very well made beer.
491 characters
BREWtality - Espresso Black Bier from Midnight Sun Brewing Co.
Beer rating:
4.14 out of
5 with
208 ratings
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