Hermann's Dark Lager
Vancouver Island Brewing

If you live in BC this is one of the best beers you can find for the money; balanced, simultaneously full-flavoured (roasty, slightly vegetal, bitter-sweet), light-bodied, and complex. My only complaint would be the quality of the effervescence, being a bit coarse, but nonetheless it is still my go-to.

This is an awesome dark lager. It offers notes of dark chocolate, dark roast coffee, rye bread, roasted almonds, and grassy hops in the taste. It is medium bodied, and the mouthfeel has a bit of creaminess to it. Every time you have a drink of it, you just want to go back for more. This is a must try if you enjoy dark lagers.

 

What I love about Hermann's is that it has remained consistent and true to its roots for a long time - I'm pretty sure it was the first Van Island Brewing beer I tried in the mid 1990s. This is a rich, tasty and toasty beer. If you enjoy a good Dunkel, dive in because it is completely true to the style. Prost!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoyed on tap at the brewery's tasting room in Victoria, just down the street from Phillips where I missed tasting their Dr. Funk dunkel by maybe 15 minutes (keg got changed out). Oh look, here's another dunkel, and this one is in fact Vancouver Island Brewery's original beer. A ruby brown brew with some beige bubbles dappled on top, with a pleasingly roasted aroma that recalls light roast coffee, somewhat smoky and floral with no component coming off too strong. Palate is dark bready malts that come across a bit like pumpernickel bread (probably in combination with spice notes from the hops), raisin, and weak cold coffee. Its obviously full of Munich malt yet remains crisp and clean, little bright fruitiness or yeast apparent (maybe a faint whiff of sulfur) and no harsh astringency from heavy duty chocolate or black malts. A guy like Gordon Strong would be ticking off the style guidelines, giving this one high marks for adherence and steering clear of common faults. Its proficient to be sure, but also somewhat refreshing, both literally and figuratively in its strict cleaving to old-school guidelines (they actually hop this with Cluster).

 

 

 

A: Ruby brown color, clear, about a finger of thick, amber head
S: Rich caramel malt, hints of chocolate malts, toasted aromas, very slight hop aroma in background
T: Toasted malt flavor, some caramel and chocolate malt notes, very well balanced by a slight hop presence
M: Medium body, rich malt character, good carbonation, very nice finish, not too sweet and just a slight, slight bitterness
O: Nice malt profile, and very well balanced by a touch of hop aroma and flavour, rich malt body and a refreshing finish