Dark Lager
Forest & Main - The Brewery

 

This is one seriously dark lager. Almost pushing porter for the style.
It's very good, albeit aggressive in the dark malts, but it finishes nice and crisp.
Darker than I expected for a dark lager, but not a disappointment.
Definitely a unique brew in that style.
I also had the canned on Nov 2024 issue.
I love that they have it on the label easy to read with the rest of the beer info.
Kudos for that!

 

 

16oz can purchased off the shelf as a single for $4.12 plus tax. The can label says that it was canned in November 2024. There is an Instagram post from October 29, 2024 so if it was actually canned on that date then this beer would be exactly 10 weeks old.

Look: The beer looks amazing. It's very dark, almost black. It looks black except for at the bottom of the glass where it looks dark brown. Upon pouring, it had a fluffy, somewhat rocky light tan colored head that was two fingers tall. The head dissipated and is maintaining a very pretty thin layer. The beer appears to have a very nice creaminess.

Smell: Very nice aromas of charcoal along with roasted malts and nuttiness, bit of licorice. There's also a distinct fruitiness. Initially, I said raisins or dark cherries but now I am saying it has a grape candy note. That grape note is kind of weird, but it strangely works here.

Taste: Absolutely delicious. This beer is bonkers good. It is very smooth and it has a creamy richness that is very impressive for a 4.8% ABV dark lager. The flavors are really tasty - up front, it's malty with nice dark chocolate, nutty, and coffee notes. Molasses and dark Russian bread. The finish is dry with nice charcoal notes and some of that grape flavor comes through. The finish lingers long and it has a moderate, very pleasant bitterness. Super drinkable.

Feel: It has a medium plus body, which in and of itself is nothing special but given its size this beer is packing heat in terms of what it is pound for pound. It's super smooth and creamy and extremely drinkable. The carbonation is gentle yet lively and it is an appropriate level.

Overall: I've been on a Czech Dark Lager kick lately. Something about the style being so awesome and it really is a great cold weather beer style. Forest & Main knows how to kill it with English ales, Saisons, IPAs, and lagers. The next time I go to the pub, I think that I will have to order a side pull of this beer. This beer is so good and it is so amazing that Forest & Main is so local to me.

 

Pours a dark opaque brown with a thick brown head. Good roasty aromas and flavors, medium bitterness. Medium mouthfeel.

 

16 oz can

Pours almost black in color, with thick khaki colored head. Good head retention. Nice aroma of crusty bread, dark cocoa, a little coffee. Similar flavors in the taste, moderately roasty. Dry finish, which makes it very easy drinking. Medium bodied.

 

Canned in 1/2023; consumed on 2/14/23

Pours a jet-brown body topped with multiple fingers of pale, khaki-hued foam; great head retention yields a craggy few fingers of soapy cap, large, creamy cap, and modest spatter of chunky, sudsy lacing strewn across the walls of the glass.

Aroma shows a smoky umami laden with undertones of dark roast coffee and building to a milk chocolate char; nutty edges persist as minerality eases into black bread on the back end of the bouquet.

Taste brings burnt dark cocoa eased with a foundational minerality into black toast and smoky malt char over the mid-palate; the back end leads with milk cocoa husk and toasted almonds as the finish fades with roasty overtones.

Mouthfeel features a light body with a prickly, rounded carbonation, dispersing crisp roast and a distant bittering over the mid-palate fading a clean, semi-creamy finish.

Smoke and char weigh heavily before softening to a more attenuated roast and cocoa-laden bittersweetness; a lighter yet ultimately diverse profile.