Light & Dark Oatmeal Vanilla Black Lager
Cowbell Brewing Co.
- From:
- Cowbell Brewing Co.
- Ontario, Canada
- Style:
- Schwarzbier
- ABV:
- 4%
- Score:
- +5 ratings needed
- Avg:
- 3.7 | pDev: 2.97%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 3
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Nov 04, 2022
- Added:
- Oct 15, 2022
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 1
NO SCORE
-
-
A classic German-style lager brewed with rich, roasted, and highly caramelized grains, fermented cool and lagered cold, then with an addition of natural vanilla. The resulting beer is exceptionally smooth, delicious, and memorable. Six specialty roasted malts provide a balanced character of roasted espresso, dark toast, and chocolate, white 20% oats build a silky smooth body and creamy mouthfeel.
18 IBU
18 IBU
Recent ratings and reviews.
Reviewed by thehyperduck from Canada (ON)
3.58/5 rDev -3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
3.58/5 rDev -3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
473 mL can from the LCBO; dated Sep 21 2022 and served barely chilled. Not Cowbell's first stab at an oatmeal vanilla black lager, as they have released a similar seasonal in years past. This one is lower in abv, and hopefully an improvement.
Pours inky black with glints of ruby red; it's crowned with more than two fingers of lumpy, foamy, tan-coloured head that falls back within five minutes or so. A gorgeous swath of arcing lace is deposited as it recedes, with a creamy collar and filmy cap living on - lookin' good so far. Plenty of roasted grain and vanilla on the nose, with hints of oatmeal, molasses, coffee and cocoa.
It's a pretty decent black lager, but you need to have a fair tolerance for (or fascination with) vanilla to really get into this one. I'm tasting milk chocolate, cocoa, espresso and oatmeal with brown sugar at the forefront; the back end is somewhat more roastier, with flavours of burnt grain, herbal hops and lots of vanilla. Light-medium in body, with low carbonation and a velvety smooth mouthfeel from the oats. Very easy to gulp back quickly, but the vanilla build-up makes me want to move on to something else.
Final Grade: 3.58, a B grade. It's impossible to say for sure, because I can't try them side-by-side, but I think I like Light & Dark better than their original OVBL - the vanilla is slightly less overdone, and the lower abv seems to result in a less sweet, more enjoyable & drinkable black lager. I'd still take a regular schwarz over this 90% of the time, as the vanilla is mostly an unwanted distraction for me - but the underlying lager is fine, and other people seem to like this sort of stuff, so who am I to rain on their parade?
Oct 27, 2022Pours inky black with glints of ruby red; it's crowned with more than two fingers of lumpy, foamy, tan-coloured head that falls back within five minutes or so. A gorgeous swath of arcing lace is deposited as it recedes, with a creamy collar and filmy cap living on - lookin' good so far. Plenty of roasted grain and vanilla on the nose, with hints of oatmeal, molasses, coffee and cocoa.
It's a pretty decent black lager, but you need to have a fair tolerance for (or fascination with) vanilla to really get into this one. I'm tasting milk chocolate, cocoa, espresso and oatmeal with brown sugar at the forefront; the back end is somewhat more roastier, with flavours of burnt grain, herbal hops and lots of vanilla. Light-medium in body, with low carbonation and a velvety smooth mouthfeel from the oats. Very easy to gulp back quickly, but the vanilla build-up makes me want to move on to something else.
Final Grade: 3.58, a B grade. It's impossible to say for sure, because I can't try them side-by-side, but I think I like Light & Dark better than their original OVBL - the vanilla is slightly less overdone, and the lower abv seems to result in a less sweet, more enjoyable & drinkable black lager. I'd still take a regular schwarz over this 90% of the time, as the vanilla is mostly an unwanted distraction for me - but the underlying lager is fine, and other people seem to like this sort of stuff, so who am I to rain on their parade?
Reviewed by taxandbeerguy from Canada (ON)
3.82/5 rDev +3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
3.82/5 rDev +3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
473 ml can served cold into a pint glass. LCBO purchase for around $3.75 CDN.
Appearance - Very dark brown with slight reddish hue. A finger plus of loose light tan head that stays for a while.
Smell - Light roasty notes and some vanilla. A touch of chocolate for a sweeter than expected aroma.
Taste - Vanilla and light chocolate notes are strongest. Nice roasty backbone with just enough bitterness. Surprisingly intense flavor for a 4% ABV brew, would've expected closer to 5.5% based on flavor intensity.
Mouthfeel - Medium-light bodied, a little creamier than usual with middling micro-carbonation.
Overall - Better than expected lager that somehow packs good and fairly intense flavor into a light brew.
Oct 23, 2022Appearance - Very dark brown with slight reddish hue. A finger plus of loose light tan head that stays for a while.
Smell - Light roasty notes and some vanilla. A touch of chocolate for a sweeter than expected aroma.
Taste - Vanilla and light chocolate notes are strongest. Nice roasty backbone with just enough bitterness. Surprisingly intense flavor for a 4% ABV brew, would've expected closer to 5.5% based on flavor intensity.
Mouthfeel - Medium-light bodied, a little creamier than usual with middling micro-carbonation.
Overall - Better than expected lager that somehow packs good and fairly intense flavor into a light brew.
Reviewed by InspectorHound from Canada (ON)
3.64/5 rDev -1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
3.64/5 rDev -1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Look: Pours jet black with a strong 2 finger tawny head. The head gives way to a 1/4 finger cover with good lacing around the sides of the glass after 5 minutes.
Smell: Strongly of vanilla, with touches of leather, dark chocolate, and smoke.
Taste: Dark bakers chocolate and vanilla adjunct on the front end. The vanilla is ever present throughout the sip. Leathery dry notes from the mid sip till the end. Oatmeal presence from the mid sip onwards. Finishes with a syrupy sweetness.
Feel: Crisy medium bodied. Plenty of creaminess due to the oats. Plays on the palate and sides of the tongue. The syrupy end is disappointing. I felt like a glass of water was in order after finishing to clean the syrup out of my mouth.
This beer earns a decent B. It has some nice elements, and I'm always happy to find a black lager/dunkel which are hard to come by in Ontario, but overall the vanilla seems overdone and artificial. Almost as if a double does of vanilla extract was added to the recipe, when the recipe book clearly called for a single dose.
Oct 15, 2022Smell: Strongly of vanilla, with touches of leather, dark chocolate, and smoke.
Taste: Dark bakers chocolate and vanilla adjunct on the front end. The vanilla is ever present throughout the sip. Leathery dry notes from the mid sip till the end. Oatmeal presence from the mid sip onwards. Finishes with a syrupy sweetness.
Feel: Crisy medium bodied. Plenty of creaminess due to the oats. Plays on the palate and sides of the tongue. The syrupy end is disappointing. I felt like a glass of water was in order after finishing to clean the syrup out of my mouth.
This beer earns a decent B. It has some nice elements, and I'm always happy to find a black lager/dunkel which are hard to come by in Ontario, but overall the vanilla seems overdone and artificial. Almost as if a double does of vanilla extract was added to the recipe, when the recipe book clearly called for a single dose.
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