May The Schwarz Be With You
Loose Screw Beer Co. - Downtown Brewery Taproom

pro take on the style here, nice and robustly dark, love all the roast in it, nicely lagered, just a touch of balancing sweet malt, and very well refined beer too, high shine, nice carbonation, rock solid, i feel like these folks have taken big steps forward with beer quality of late, liked pretty much all i had in there yesterday. maybe this is a little light on german authenticity, if i am looking for something to be critical about, like the grain nor the yeast really exhibit old world qualities, the ferment is more neutral than expected, but what is lacks in this regard it more than accounts for with malt depth and overall flavor intensity, it certainly isnt hurting for character. listed now at 4.7% abv, perhaps they backed it off a bit this time, feels full and round for this lower strength, hearty beer with all the grain in it. black, obsidian luster, frothy tan head on it slowly settling, strong nose of roast and char but short of burnt and doing neither the coffee nor the chocolate thing beer this color often does, its earthy and ashy and neat, high mineral character, almost woody to me, with just a bit of caramel type malt sweetness to balance, quick with the lagering it all kind of hits at once, subtle cola or something to it as well, toasty, sturdy. the flavor is all of this, not too bitter for its color and roastiness, some sweetness to this that does push into the finish, so maybe not quite as light and drinkable as the best examples of the style are, but i like the compromise, more body is connected to more flavor in this, and the sweetness makes is soft and round and balanced, i dont mind it. the lager yeast element is minimal in the taste, but the technical side of the ferment is appreciable as high quality, and overall i think this is good to great, very much their own take, and i appreciate that. well done. fairly sure ive had a dozen beers or more by this name, but never mind that...

On-tap at the brewery; dark brown pour shows chestnut highlights of light on the edges, with a nice coating of tan lacing left on the glass. Smooth, earthy, very malty, with some nice roasted coffee notes, light bodied and quaffable. A decent little dark lager.

Taster pour at the taproom. Near black pour with a thin beige head. Roasty malt aroma, bitter, coffee. Taste follows with dark roasted malt bitterness, light notes of chocolate, coffee.