Black Lager
Niagara Brewing Company
- From:
- Niagara Brewing Company
- Ontario, Canada
- Style:
- Schwarzbier
- ABV:
- 5.2%
- Score:
- +8 ratings needed
- Avg:
- 3.59 | pDev: 0%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 1
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Sep 22, 2023
- Added:
- Sep 01, 2023
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 0
NO SCORE
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Schwarzbier (which means “black beer”) is a dark lager from Germany that has its origins in the middle ages. It has a slight malty flavour with no up-front bitterness, medium body, black, nearly opaque in colour and soft and mild despite its dark appearance. It is a lager with a bittersweet, chocolate flavor with hints of coffee or vanilla. Fruity aroma with a hint of cherry. 18 IBU
Recent ratings and reviews.
Reviewed by thehyperduck from Canada (ON)
3.59/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
3.59/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
64 oz growler filled at the brewery, bought and delivered by a generous friend. Served slightly chilled.
Pours inky black with crimson red highlights, producing three fingers of foamy, puffy tan-coloured head that lasts for more than five minutes. An intricate coat of spidery lacing is traced onto the glass, with a quarter-inch cap and collar of creamy suds lasting for considerably longer. Looks downright beautiful. I got a big whiff of mushy peas on the nose, with coffee grounds, burnt grain and an intensely earthy, roasty note; hints of caramelized sugars and cocoa.
It's not bad - the flavours don't deviate much from the aroma, featuring hints of dark chocolate and vegetables at the forefront, giving way to dark roast coffee and caramelized sugars by mid-sip. Burnt grains and coffee bitterness on the back end, with earthy hops, vanilla, ash and coffee grounds lasting beyond the finish. Light-medium in body, with middling carbonation levels that briskly agitate the palate; feels crisp and lively on the tongue, with great drinkability.
Final Grade: 3.59, a B grade. Niagara's Black Lager is a passable dark lager - maybe a little rough around the edges, but those are also the features that differentiate it from the crowd. I don't necessarily expect this much coffee or burnt grain/ash bitterness from a dark lager, but I'm not exactly complaining. It's not an exemplary schwarzbier, but I enjoyed my first glass and shouldn't have any issues polishing this off within the next day or two. This place seems to be worth a look if you're headed to Clifton Hill.
Sep 22, 2023Pours inky black with crimson red highlights, producing three fingers of foamy, puffy tan-coloured head that lasts for more than five minutes. An intricate coat of spidery lacing is traced onto the glass, with a quarter-inch cap and collar of creamy suds lasting for considerably longer. Looks downright beautiful. I got a big whiff of mushy peas on the nose, with coffee grounds, burnt grain and an intensely earthy, roasty note; hints of caramelized sugars and cocoa.
It's not bad - the flavours don't deviate much from the aroma, featuring hints of dark chocolate and vegetables at the forefront, giving way to dark roast coffee and caramelized sugars by mid-sip. Burnt grains and coffee bitterness on the back end, with earthy hops, vanilla, ash and coffee grounds lasting beyond the finish. Light-medium in body, with middling carbonation levels that briskly agitate the palate; feels crisp and lively on the tongue, with great drinkability.
Final Grade: 3.59, a B grade. Niagara's Black Lager is a passable dark lager - maybe a little rough around the edges, but those are also the features that differentiate it from the crowd. I don't necessarily expect this much coffee or burnt grain/ash bitterness from a dark lager, but I'm not exactly complaining. It's not an exemplary schwarzbier, but I enjoyed my first glass and shouldn't have any issues polishing this off within the next day or two. This place seems to be worth a look if you're headed to Clifton Hill.
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