Svartalfheim Schwarzbier
Masthead Brewing Co.

 

 

 

16oz canned on 04/05/23 poured into a becher glass at fridge temp 5.3% ABV. The beer pours opaque medium brown with light brown head. The head recedes to an uneven ring and island. Slight lacing. The aroma is mild with nutty & toasted malt more than roasted malt. The taste is bittersweet malt with notes of dark chocolate, nuts, and toasted bread. Moderate bitterness. The mouthfeel is thin to medium bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Cleanly lagered. Overall, very good to excellent Schwarzbier.

 

Poured from a 16 oz. can into one of my pokal glasses, this beer pours a dark brown color with some deep amber highlights when exposed to light. Has lots of streams of little bubbles fairly rapidly and continually rising to the beer's surface. Also has a just off-white head that's about an inch thick when first poured that settles eventually to a thick ring lining the inside of the glass at the beer's surface along with some nice cluster swirl film layers of foam and decent lacing. Aromas of some toasted, bready malt and caramel sweetness along w/ hints of chocolate and an herbal quality along w/ a hint of sassafras spice. A very similar flavor profile, w/ the aforementioned toasted, bready malt and caramel sweetness along w/ hints of chocolate along w/ an herbal note and some bitter sassafras spice. Also a hint of dank, resinous hop bitterness. This is certainly on the hoppier, more bitter side for a beer of this style. Kind of unique in that regard I feel. Has a crisp, also smooth and frothy and creamy, medium bodied mouthfeel w/ moderate carbonation. Has a clean finish. A nice beer here.

Eric

 

This is an excellent beer, the "dark" flavors are all present but subtle and does have a good twinge of hops on the finish. Super smooth drinking. Masthead seems to be really solid at lesser known German styles

From the 16 oz can in a snifter via Bluejacket74---Cheers Dude!
This solid schwaz pours a dark brown with ruby tinges and a nice
head of khaki foam that settles to a thick ring, thin fusty layer, and
shows some light lacing. Nose of dark cocoa, subtle coffee, and dark
roasted malts with faint herbal notes. Flavors nail it for the style with
dark cocoa, subtle coffee, dark roasted malts, brown sugars, balanced
herbal hops, and touches of toffee. Nice mouth feel; medium light body,
smooth, lightly creamy, medium light carbonation that gives nice lift, and a
roasted lightly bitter malt finish that is moderately dry.

Overall===love this brewery, solid stuff!

Cheers

Mahogany black with a puffy khaki head that retains well and leaves rolling peaks of sheets all around the glass.

Quite tangy, herbal and tingly at the fore, bitter sassafras comes out in the finish, preceded by a lightly coffee-cacao roast.

The soft medium body has a firm persistent froth and finishes semi-dry, exhaling tobacco.

 

16 ounce can, canned on 07/26/21. Served in a dimpled mug, the beer pours a very dark brown color with about an inch off-white head that stayed around for a long time. There's also a lot of lacing. Aroma is nice, the brew smells like roasted malt, coffee, cocoa and some earthiness. Taste is pretty much like the aroma, but there's also a hint of nuttiness and toffee noticeable too. Mouthfeel/body is light/medium, it's smooth and easy enough to drink with a moderate amount of carbonation. Wouldn't be hard to drink quite a few of these at a time! I liked this Schwarzbier, certainly worth trying if you come across some! $10.99 a 4-pack.

 

 

 

Canned on 1/13/21. 16oz can poured into a tulip. Pours a dark brown; fluffy light khaki head that fades leaving nice retention and lacing. The aromas are malt forward along with some hints of cocoa. The flavors follow the nose. More cocoa along with some hints of smoke. Mild and subtle hints of coffee. Malts do their thing. Finishes clean. Alcohol goes unnoticed. Mouthfeel is nice. It's on the fuller side of light-bodied with moderate to active carbonation. It's extremely fluffy, slightly sharp, slightly creamy, smooth and easy to drink.

This is a nice beer. It's basically everything that you'd expect from the style, more or less. It's not flashy, but it's not supposed to be. It's not a flashy style and that's definitely not a bad thing. It's simply enjoyable and well crafted. They did a nice job. I like it.