Buzzards Bay Black Lager
Buzzards Bay Brewing

 

 

 

 

 

 

12 oz bottle into a pint glass.

Pours a VERY dark clear amber, topped with a finger of rich mocha froth. This sticks around with a thin but still robust looking retention, which leaves some heavy spotty lacing down the sides of the glass. I'm honestly not getting a whole lot out of the aroma but I would say that the hops mostly control thing with a floral, earthy, and citric character. I am getting some sweetness and roast from the chocolate malts but it's not nearly enough to leave me satisfied with this nose.

The taste fairs much better, with dry roasted chocolate malt and some lighter coffee flavors showing themselves the most. The hops are also fairly bold in this, giving this some leafy and green tasting bitterness. Finishes with lingering notes of earth and dry burnt malt. The mouthfeel is medium bodied overall with some crispness up front that then smoothes out towards the back of the palate. This is maybe a little light in spots and I'm also getting a touch of a chalky feel as well, which mostly clings to the chocolate flavors.

This was a bit ho-hum for a Schwarzbier, with the aroma in particular not really providing anything to get excited about. The flavor brought just enough to the table to help keep this mostly drinkable.

I got this beer from TheManiacalOne, thank you. Poured into a pilsner glass.

Appearance: A one finger head that has some retention. The head is a light brown color that is creamy and foamy. The color of the beer is a dark brown color with dark garnet hues. The clarity of the beer is almost opaque. The head left some lacing.

Nose: A low malt aroma that has coffee, chocolate, a burnt character, and some some roastiness. There is some low hop aroma in the beer. There are some hints of diacetyles and subtle sweetness.

Taste: A medium to mild roasted malt, a hint of burnt character, and coffee. There is low diacetyles.

The mouth feel is smooth, creamy, and clean. The body of the beer is medium and a medium finish. This is a good beer and has all the characteristics of a good schwarzbier.

12oz bottle from shaebs99.

Pours dark, dark brown with hints of copper around the edges underneath a small thick cream-colored head. A hefty collar and spotty lacing linger for a while.

The aroma is heavily roasted black malts with hints of coffee and a light caramel sweetness way off behind the roastiness.

The taste is much more bitter than I was expecting and the toasted malts almost take on a metallic bitterness as the glass goes down. There is very little underlying sweetness, just toasty bitterness.

The mouthfeel is medium bodied with strong carbonation and very smooth overall. It's just the metallic aftertaste that takes away from things.

This one smells great but the taste doesn't quite deliver the goods for me. Still good, but the lingering bitterness knocks this one down a notch for me.

Pours a dark brown, almost black, with a great rocky tan head that left tons of foam stuck to the sides of the glass.

Rockin smell here. I could smell it as I poured it into the pint. Coffee? More like burnt toast. Smoky edge here. Stick your nose in the pint, and you get smoke and a bit of bready/boiled grain elements. Terrific.

Smells better than it tastes. Thinner than expected, with bitter and burnt up front and nothing to follow. Malt is non-existent. They went for the charred flavor, and that's what they got.

On the thinner side, but because of the nature of the taste of the beer, it works. Any heavier and it would be bitter pill.

Saw this and grabbed a single, as I know the brewery is discontinuing this overall brand.Glad I just grabbed a single. This one is ok, but not great. A one trick pony. Great structure, great scent, but then everything falls apart (and when it comes to taste, it matters). Still, I'm glad I got to have it before they all disappear.

Appropriately alliterative title... good for fall/winter.
Clear but dark brown. Hint of red. Tiny ring of a head sticks to the side.
Nose is strong roasted smoky malts. Hints of smoky meat. Pleasant.
Taste is heavy liquid smoke and some malts. One-noted, but a good note. Unfortunately, the mouthfeel is very watery.
Overall it's still interesting, but doesn't really come together.

The beer comes out dark brown from the glass, which turns to black in the glass with brown at the bottom. The head has a great formation with a creamy texture.

There is a slight roasty, burnt aroma along with some chocolate. Not distinctively ale or lager like. There is a slight dark malt aroma to it, probably crystal. You really have to swirl and stick your nose in the glass to detect most of this, aroma is pretty absent just from sipping.

The flavor has a very slight, burnt, roast to it but its not biting at all. Good, sweet malts that aren't too robust. Also has good earthy, hop bitterness on the finish that makes it a nice, simple schwarzbier.

The body is light as it should be, with moderate carbonation. The finish lingers a bit more than I like in a shwarzbier, it could be a tad dryer. The beer scores good for drinkability, it's light and simple, and something I would have again.

Poured from a 12 ounce bottle into my shaker glass. Appears a clear dark chestnut color with about a finger of light tan foam. Nose and flavor consist of roasted cereal grains, mild notes of bittersweet and milk chocolate, caramelized malt, some molasses and a hint of cocoa powder. Medium in both body and carbonation with a bitter slightly sour finish.

BOM Sept. 2009
Poured into a pint glass this brew is dark brown leading to black with a thick coco colored head that had great staying time and lacing. The aroma is chocolaty and has a nice deep roasted malt smell. The taste is a little sweet, a little bitter (like unsweetened chocolate) and a nice hop finish. This has a nice balance and is not too heavy to drink a good few of these. Too bad only 2 come in the shipment!

I love black lagers. Let's give it a whirl. Smells lager-like not much standing out just some malts. Pours to a jet black with a tremendous head. Just traces of light get through the murky blackness. Taste is roasted malts in a clean lager-like setting. Has some sweetness as well combined with a sharp twang of bitterness that isn't dull but hits and moves on. Hopping seems to be centennials. Aftertaste is sweet and sour, lingers a bit then disappears finishing semi-clean. A tasty beer. A great job of taking a lager up a notch. Very good.

Part of my often delicious Beer of the Month Club.

The appearance is dark dark brown, with red hints around the edges of the glass. An off-white head sticks a bit.

The aroma is a yeasty spicy nutty sort, very dirty smelling and pretty sour.

The flavor is undeniably bitter, hugely nutty and smoky. Like a porter, almost. But with the malt here, it is like burnt sugars and burnt almonds. But under all that is a very sweet finish.

Crisp and dry mouthfeel, biting and mean.

I think this could have been decent, but due to my expectations of this being a bit more mellow with the bitterness...turns out disappointing.

From the BOTM Club

Appearance - Pours a very dark, chocolate color that shows through a bit of light when held up toward the sun streaming through the window. About a finger of head that quickly subsides and leaves decent lacing.

Smell - Bready, malty, coffee, chocolate, and molasses is what I smell. Nothing overpowering but a nice lingering smell of...honestly...the more I smell it seems like a iced coffee with chocolate. Not bad at all.

Taste - Immediately I can taste the bitter roasted coffee. This is followed by a dark chocolate taste that is not too sweet, and a maltieness. After the sip there is a lingering burnt bitterness taste which is not unpleasant by any means.

Mouthfeel - Light to medium bodied with nice carbonation that prickles the tongue.

Drinkability - Easy to drink though I do not think I would have a few of these in a row. Interesting style and an enjoyable beer.

I've had this one many times but never wrote a review for it...

pours a dark black color thats transparent when held up to the light. decent head that simmers into a very small lacing. pretty typical schwarzbier look

smells good. lots of bready malts, maybe some chocolate malt in the back. very slight roasted smell with some hop backbone

tastes great. the malts come up first, with some very subtle chocolate flavors. decent hop character in the back to keep things together. very good black lager.

drinkability is great. who said dark beers aren't drinkable?

overall- a great black lager. one of my favorites.

A) Dark brown, nearly opaque. Pours with a active and tight head. Lacing is sticky and tight.
S) Bready. Light notes of chocolate and coffee.
T) Mild coffee taste. Grainy. Some smokiness. Light malty sweetness. Light hoppy bitterness in the end.
M) Medium bodied - although feels a bit thin. Gritty.
D) A nice schwarzbier. Not a stand out, but true to form.

Poured into imperial pint glass. Color was a very dark opaque black with a thick creamy head. Head thined quickly, and left some lacings. Appeared very much like a stout. Aroma was sweet milk chocolate with some coffee undertones. Taste was slightly bitter, yet sweet, with a little bit of cream. Felt good in the mouth, coated well, not overly carbonated. Felt a bit bigger than the ABV is, went down well, but one to savor.