Heban Black Beer
Browary Warmińsko-Mazurskie Jurand Sp. Z O.o.

Dark russet with fiery orange edges. I like the color and I like the head even more. It's a dense mass of toasted tan foam that has a wonderfully bubbly upper surface. The very best part of the appearance might be the thick sheets of Swiss cheesy lace that are beginning to show up on the glass.

The nose's biggest fault is that it's too subtle. Each sniff brings gentle aromas of chocolate malt and mildly musky, somewhat stale hops to my nose. It's hard to say if more power would be a good thing or not since I can't really get a handle on what I'm smelling.

Heban is definitely more flavorful than it is aromaful. I'm not overly impressed though. It's a decent schwarzbier that is unlikely to put a scare into the world's best versions. It's too simple and doesn't deliver the constellation of flavors that I've come to expect in beer of this style.

Yeah, there's a barely roasted black maltiness goin' on, but precious little else. Heban tastes flat somehow, and I'm not talking about the mouthfeel. It's a little better than the Russian schwarz that I had earlier in the week, so I'm not complaining too loudly. On the other hand, I have no choice but to call it average in the end.

The mouthfeel didn't make an impression either way since I was so focused on the flavor to this point. When I shine the bright light of attention on it, it doesn't fare so well. It's too thin and is borderline watery, even when taking style into account. A lack of bubbles doesn't help.

Heban Black is the fourth beer from this brewery that I've had. The first one (Kozlak Bock) is the only one that's worth a damn from where I sit. It doesn't look like any of them are very widely distributed, so most of you won't be tempted by a beer that looks good in the bottle and in the glass, but goes rapidly downhill from there.

Heban Black Beer pours out a nice tan head,
which disintegrates into lace pretty quickly,
over a black brew. Carbonation seems pretty
sedate and the nose is mostly of malt and a
spice- anise, maybe. The flavor is of malt, and
is dry and a bit tannic with a subdued hoppiness
way in the background. As it warms, a sort of
bisquit flavor comes out too. The aftertaste is very
subtle- and tiny bit of malt and a tiny bit of hop.
At 5.4% alcohol by volume, this would make a
decent session brew. like Alhambra Negra, a
tasty Spanish Black Beer, it would make a good
dark summer beer that wouldn't drag you down.
Amiable and quite decent.

This is the black beer for people who say they don't like "dark beer."

Dark color with off-white head. Aroma of chocolate and coffee. Taste is a very approachable coffee/sweet with very faint hop. Very smooth and drinkable. A great choice for a session beer, and cheap at that.

Also, the name should be "Heban", not Hoban.

Appearance: Must be the same beer, even though it is misspelled. Maroon clear body, dark with a big off-white head, slow fade. fairly creamy.

Smell: Grassy and slightly sweet euro malt smell, very grainy with a bit of cocoa, not bad.

Taste: Malty, with chocolate and nuts, a little bready. Extremely smooth to drink, but a little bland for my liking.

Drinkability: One of the better beers from Poland, worth a try.

"Heban Black Beer", says the label, "first Polish Black Beer", though, oddly, the brewer or city of origin is not given. Only Berlson Imports, Minneapolis, MN. A little web searching leads us to the Jurand Brewery.

Now, let's crack open this black beauty and see what lies within...

Blackness, absolutely, in appearance, under a prodigious helping of creamy cocoa/ tan foam.

Nutty in the nose, creamy, lovely cocoa aroma, a hint of coffee, sweet, yet dry. Nice.

Tasting it...nice, full flavor, big chocolate, minor nuts, prevalent coffee tones. Brisk carbonation, nice sweetness, swiftly offset by bitter. Medium bodied, with a long, tasty, sweet finish. Very supple and easy-going in the mouth. Quite likable. Nice dessert beer. Mellow and tasty. Take your time and relax with it.

Stuck figuring the style though. Is it a lager or an ale? Could pass for a stout, but it really plays like a dark lager, and it is identified elsewhere as a Bohemian schwarzbier, so that's gotta be it. I'm a sucker for a well-done version, and this is that.

Well worth the $1.88 for the 16.9 oz. bottle.