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Eastside Dark
Lakefront Brewery, Inc.
- From:
- Lakefront Brewery, Inc.
- Wisconsin, United States
- Style:
- Schwarzbier
Ranked #115 - ABV:
- 5.8%
- Score:
- 83
Ranked #23,749 - Avg:
- 3.68 | pDev: 12.5%
- Reviews:
- 243
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Jan 17, 2024
- Added:
- Apr 12, 2002
- Wants:
- 23
- Gots:
- 84
Pours a clear, dark color with an off-white head. Hints of roasted malts find their way into the aroma, and form a pleasant background to the dark, rich flavor. The German lager yeast rounds out this brew with a smooth, complex finish. Winner of the 2014 and 2016 European Beer Star Gold Medal for Bohemian-Style Schwarzbier
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Reviewed by defunksta from Wisconsin
3.93/5 rDev +6.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.93/5 rDev +6.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Appearance: Pours a very dark, but clear, brown, black, but mostly dark ruby color with a mild tan head. SRM of 22. (4.00)
Aroma: Moderate aromas of dark and roasted grains upfront that are quickly finished by some caramel and roasted chocolate notes. (4.00)
Flavor: Strong flavors of malted grains, barley, with some caramel sweetness. Hints of some roasted cocoa present, but ultimately finishes clean, dry, with some roasted cocoa and vanilla off the end. (4.00)
Feel: Medium-bodied. Carbonation to match. Finish is rather clean and dry with a little bit of vanilla. (3.75)
Compared to Steel Toe Brewing Schwarzbier 1/2023: Pours lighter, milder aromas. Milder head. Less chocolate and grain flavors. Less flavor all around
Compared to Sprecher Black Bavarian 1/2023: Pours lighter, milder aromas. Milder head. Less chocolate and grain flavors. Less flavor all around
Compared to Lakefront Noche 11/2023: Pours darker, stronger aromas and flavors. More black malt, roast, chocolate. Less Vienna malt. More flavorful and rounded.
Overall: A nice German Dunkel here. Roasty off the nose. Dark malts, with some caramel, cocoa, and vanilla. Sweet but also roasty on the tongue. All the right flavors are there. Leans with slightly more brown caramel and vanilla and it's starting to grow on me. (Rating: 3.93)
Jan 01, 2023Aroma: Moderate aromas of dark and roasted grains upfront that are quickly finished by some caramel and roasted chocolate notes. (4.00)
Flavor: Strong flavors of malted grains, barley, with some caramel sweetness. Hints of some roasted cocoa present, but ultimately finishes clean, dry, with some roasted cocoa and vanilla off the end. (4.00)
Feel: Medium-bodied. Carbonation to match. Finish is rather clean and dry with a little bit of vanilla. (3.75)
Compared to Steel Toe Brewing Schwarzbier 1/2023: Pours lighter, milder aromas. Milder head. Less chocolate and grain flavors. Less flavor all around
Compared to Sprecher Black Bavarian 1/2023: Pours lighter, milder aromas. Milder head. Less chocolate and grain flavors. Less flavor all around
Compared to Lakefront Noche 11/2023: Pours darker, stronger aromas and flavors. More black malt, roast, chocolate. Less Vienna malt. More flavorful and rounded.
Overall: A nice German Dunkel here. Roasty off the nose. Dark malts, with some caramel, cocoa, and vanilla. Sweet but also roasty on the tongue. All the right flavors are there. Leans with slightly more brown caramel and vanilla and it's starting to grow on me. (Rating: 3.93)
Rated by NCSapiens from Indiana
3.92/5 rDev +6.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
3.92/5 rDev +6.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Had fresh on brewery tour. Light and easy drinking, nice malts and good for the style.
Jul 23, 2022Reviewed by TheOccasionalBeer from Wisconsin
2.52/5 rDev -31.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.5
2.52/5 rDev -31.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.5
Mild scent of coffee, toasted malt, and a bit of hops came away from the bottle when the cap did. A two-finger head of beige formed on the pour, only to be quickly subsumed back into the transparent red-cola brew. The toasted malt also seems to have gone missing as I'm now detecting a hops-over-coffee scent. The taste is even more hopped-up the more I drink it. There is still a hint of coffee bitterness in there, but it becomes less evident every sip. Not what I was wanting at the moment, and likely not at any other moment.
May 01, 2022Reviewed by JohnnyHopps from Indiana
4.38/5 rDev +19%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
4.38/5 rDev +19%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Appearance - The beer poured a dark brown color with little visible carbonation and a slight layer of bubbles crowding the glass.
Smell - Light notes of roasted malts rose from the glass. Darker coffee notes were also present.
Taste - Dark malts seem to get progressively more bitter as they go to the back of the tongue. Yet the overall profile was not overly bitter. A soft creamy lager feel smoothed out the bitterness. A soft lingering roasted bitterness finished the taste.
Mouthfeel - With light carbonation and lager yeast, the body was smooth.
Overall - This beer is criminally underrated. With the world beginning to appreciate lagers, hopefully it gets its just due
Mar 27, 2022Smell - Light notes of roasted malts rose from the glass. Darker coffee notes were also present.
Taste - Dark malts seem to get progressively more bitter as they go to the back of the tongue. Yet the overall profile was not overly bitter. A soft creamy lager feel smoothed out the bitterness. A soft lingering roasted bitterness finished the taste.
Mouthfeel - With light carbonation and lager yeast, the body was smooth.
Overall - This beer is criminally underrated. With the world beginning to appreciate lagers, hopefully it gets its just due
Reviewed by GuyFawkes from Illinois
4.17/5 rDev +13.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
4.17/5 rDev +13.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
"Best by 6/14/22"; drank 2/1/22 @ the Yarchives.
Semi-opaque brown/orange appearance.
An even pour yielded a minimal khaki head; decent lace.
Rye bread, mild cream & faint caramel notes in the nose.
Medium mouthfeel. Rye bread, caramel & faint cream.
Lots of pleasant flavor but easy to drink. I like this!!
Feb 02, 2022Semi-opaque brown/orange appearance.
An even pour yielded a minimal khaki head; decent lace.
Rye bread, mild cream & faint caramel notes in the nose.
Medium mouthfeel. Rye bread, caramel & faint cream.
Lots of pleasant flavor but easy to drink. I like this!!
Reviewed by magikbagel from Wisconsin
4.1/5 rDev +11.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4.1/5 rDev +11.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A very delicious beer. Looks like coca cola after the pour, thin tan head. A slight nutty, malty scent. The flavor is seriously great, toasty malts, a dash of cocoa, and a little savory smoke. Its very rich and indulgent yet easy to drink. Definitely one of my new favorite beers.
Oct 17, 2021Reviewed by jrc1093 from Connecticut
3.56/5 rDev -3.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
3.56/5 rDev -3.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Best before 4/6/21; consumed on 3/15/21
Pours a clear, deep ruby-mahogany body capped with barely a half-finger of off-white foam, which fades almost urgently to a few paper-thin, spotty islands of cap, a mild, frothy collar, and virtually no lacing holding to the walls of the glass.
Aromas highlight a timid roasted malt outweighed by an initial array of candied plum and fig, with sarsaparilla bittersweetness and a touch of meaty smoke developing over the middle of the bouquet and a vague dark fruit medley, green apple, and lasting impressions of milk chocolate closing.
Taste opens with plum at the forefront, followed by a tinge of smoke, toffee, and distant brown bread; malted chocolate counters hints of root beer spice with a lush sweetness over the mid-palate as mild, roasty char and a tinge of minerality course through the back end of the profile.
Mouthfeel brings a medium-light body alongside a moderate carbonation; clean, mild roast allows a steady crispness to shine while a mineralic spritz eases into the back end, where the contrast of a pillowy, charry bitterness meets an overarching cleanliness along the palate, fading past the finish.
A Dunkel on the sweeter side, an untamed character freely expressed through dark fruits, chocolate malts, and smoke; while ultimately lacking some basic level of control and cohesion, the forward flavors hold attention and the relatively maintained roast/bitterness refines a sense of drinkability.
Mar 16, 2021Pours a clear, deep ruby-mahogany body capped with barely a half-finger of off-white foam, which fades almost urgently to a few paper-thin, spotty islands of cap, a mild, frothy collar, and virtually no lacing holding to the walls of the glass.
Aromas highlight a timid roasted malt outweighed by an initial array of candied plum and fig, with sarsaparilla bittersweetness and a touch of meaty smoke developing over the middle of the bouquet and a vague dark fruit medley, green apple, and lasting impressions of milk chocolate closing.
Taste opens with plum at the forefront, followed by a tinge of smoke, toffee, and distant brown bread; malted chocolate counters hints of root beer spice with a lush sweetness over the mid-palate as mild, roasty char and a tinge of minerality course through the back end of the profile.
Mouthfeel brings a medium-light body alongside a moderate carbonation; clean, mild roast allows a steady crispness to shine while a mineralic spritz eases into the back end, where the contrast of a pillowy, charry bitterness meets an overarching cleanliness along the palate, fading past the finish.
A Dunkel on the sweeter side, an untamed character freely expressed through dark fruits, chocolate malts, and smoke; while ultimately lacking some basic level of control and cohesion, the forward flavors hold attention and the relatively maintained roast/bitterness refines a sense of drinkability.
Eastside Dark from Lakefront Brewery, Inc.
Beer rating:
83 out of
100 with
613 ratings
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