Nanjing Black Beer
Master Gao Brewing Company

my first beer from this operation, really cool pottery looking can, kind of blurry to read actually, but still artful and cool, so much asian craft beer out there that most of us have no idea about, i love discovering them. an unexpected style here for a chinese brewery i guess, not positive its listed correctly here as a munich dunkel, this would be an exotic take on that to some extent, but its certainly european, and overall i didnt totally love this, but its interesting and i have respect for it, darker as these go, pushing black, porter-esque looking rather than brownish red, some carbonation, bigger bubble size actually, but very little head after the initial pour, quite a bit of body apparent, slick looking, some shine, maybe just reddish on the edges of the glass. nose and taste are super sweet, molasses and brown sugar, this seems like it could have been fermented out quite a bit more, not a lot of lager character apparent, but some cool grain depth from nuttiness to licorice and raisin, tobacco, cocoa powder, lightly peppery, dark bready, and toasty, kind of warm and cozy, very long on the palate with all the residual sugar, and a fair bit of body because of it too, a lot of beer in this can frankly. a little bit of an odd companion to my meal, claypot eggplant, which had some similar soy-like umami and richer aspects, but its cool to have an option other than a macro asian yellow beer in this context, thankful for that. neat experience, the packaging is better than the liquid, but i would be real curious to try some others from these guys, this seems original, all things considered. sturdy as they go, wintery, big. maybe lacking freshness and a bit of refinement, but it was fun to try something new like this, intrigiung for sure.

Dark, clear pour, body looks near-black and opaque.; thick, khaki colored head, long-lasting, dense, soon fades to a thin wisp. Pleasant dark grain roast element to the smell; mild milk chocolate. Sweet grain char greets the palate; milk chocolate; grain char bitterness. Heavy, silky mouthfeel.

Per the brewery's parent company description of the beer, this beer is "a small lager beer version of Master Gao’s award winning Lunar Eclipse imperial stout". I'll buy that. Sort of like a Baltic porter as such. The beer is smooth, malty, and drinks easily. Pretty good overall.

ABV: 5.2%; pouring temperature: 56.2 °F; canning info: n/a
Source: local purchase (Coaltrain Fine Wine, Craft Beer & Spirits)

 

RB transfer

Aroma is roasted malts, fruit and a hint of burnt toast. The flavor is fruit, mild chocolate, a hint of burnt toast/wood, thin body and a slightly acidic roasted malt finish.

 

12oz can. Poured out an opaque, black color with a small, off-white head of foam. It left sudsy lace. It smelled of coffee, chocolate and roasted malt. Sweet chocolate, coffee and caramel with a mild bitterness.

 

 

Poured from 330mL can into a dimpled mug. This can says it's 5.2% ABV.

Appearance: rich dark brown, almost black, hue, with just some brown highlights around the edges. Color is good, but head dissipates entirely almost immediately.

Smell: sweet, bready malt, with toffee, caramel, and chocolate notes. There is also a little raisin and date in the mix, which I like. This kind of reminds me of a high-test kvass.

Taste: like the aroma, it's sweet, with coffee, chcoolate, raisin, date, and even some ashy roastiness. It's good, and interesting, but I don't really know what the style is supposed to be. Doesn't taste much like a Euro dark lager, but I find the flavors enjoyable.

Mouthfeel: as suggested by the lack of head, there is a pretty low carbonation here. Texture isn't terrible, but it isn't great ether. Moderate creaminess.

Overall: if you told me this was supposed to be a kvass, I'd believe you, from the somewhat thin body to the lack of head to the bready flavors. An odd duck, this beer.

 

12oz can from Boise Co-op. Dark brown pour, foamy tan head, minor lacing. Sweet aroma, cola, tea, roasty malts. Taste offers notes of chocolate, coffee and some of those grainy, adjunct flavors you'd find in a cheap lager. It tries really hard to be good and just misses

11.2oz can into a pint glass. Canned in either January or May 2021, so around a year old.

Mixed look here. Black body, no light can penetrate it. The small off white head quickly shrinks to a thin ring, no lacing.

Kind of a licorice/molasses aroma. Not unpleasant, but a bit jarring.

On tasting, somehow it all comes together. Sweet, smooth licorice, a faint hit of bitter coffee. Really quite nice overall.

Mouth closer to full than medium, finish a lingering licorice which might get a bit tiring in a larger format.

Overall, decent drink, glad to have tried it. 3 more in the fridge. Lucky me.