Saranac Black Forest | Matt Brewing Company / Saranac Brewery
Brewed by:
Matt Brewing Company / Saranac Brewery
New York, United States
saranac.com
Style: Schwarzbier
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 5.50%
Availability: Year-round
Notes / Commercial Description:
No notes at this time.
Added by BeerAdvocate on 10-15-2001
This beer is retired; no longer brewed.
View: Beers | Place Reviews | Events
Ratings: 1,137 | Reviews: 570
3.98/5 rDev +7.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
4.01/5 rDev +8.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
3.76/5 rDev +1.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.4/5 rDev -8.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5
Pours opaque, dark brown in color with 1/4inch head, Taste is fresh malt, grain, and light chocolate..Light bodied, sweet, with moderate carbonation..Very clean..Makes for a solid, average schwarzbier...Worth a shot if you like the style..
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look: 3.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5
Pours opaque, dark brown in color with 1/4inch head, Taste is fresh malt, grain, and light chocolate..Light bodied, sweet, with moderate carbonation..Very clean..Makes for a solid, average schwarzbier...Worth a shot if you like the style..
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3.5/5 rDev -5.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
4.4/5 rDev +18.6%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
3.33/5 rDev -10.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Poured from a bottle into a pint glass.
Appearance: Darker reddish brown with a thin beige head.
Smell: Fruity tones and Malts.
Mouthfeel/ Taste: Smooth medium bodied. Taste of sweeter malts.
Overall: Good beer. I would have this one again.
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look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Poured from a bottle into a pint glass.
Appearance: Darker reddish brown with a thin beige head.
Smell: Fruity tones and Malts.
Mouthfeel/ Taste: Smooth medium bodied. Taste of sweeter malts.
Overall: Good beer. I would have this one again.
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3.59/5 rDev -3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
The beer pours a nice off white and creamy head that dissipates rather quickly. The beer itself is a very nice black color with a decent texture and sheen to it.
The smell is okay. It has a light dark chocolate and weak caramel note. There is a light roasted malt note but it does not come out much.
The taste is okay. It has a light dark chocolate and light roasted note with a slight hop note to it. It also has that slight 'clean' taste you get with a lager yeast. There is also a very light caramel note that travels with the chocolate but gets easily overtaken by the other notes.
The feel is okay. It's a beer that's bordering between light bodied and medium bodied but falls on the lighter side due to the biting carbonation. It has smooth and clean and slightly dry finish.
Overall, a less than stellar beer but not entirely worth writing off. The beer is drinkable and decent when it's fresh instead of when it's close to its expiration date.
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look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
The beer pours a nice off white and creamy head that dissipates rather quickly. The beer itself is a very nice black color with a decent texture and sheen to it.
The smell is okay. It has a light dark chocolate and weak caramel note. There is a light roasted malt note but it does not come out much.
The taste is okay. It has a light dark chocolate and light roasted note with a slight hop note to it. It also has that slight 'clean' taste you get with a lager yeast. There is also a very light caramel note that travels with the chocolate but gets easily overtaken by the other notes.
The feel is okay. It's a beer that's bordering between light bodied and medium bodied but falls on the lighter side due to the biting carbonation. It has smooth and clean and slightly dry finish.
Overall, a less than stellar beer but not entirely worth writing off. The beer is drinkable and decent when it's fresh instead of when it's close to its expiration date.
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3.78/5 rDev +1.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75
4.12/5 rDev +11.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
3.43/5 rDev -7.5%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.88/5 rDev +4.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Dark brown with three fingers of light brown head that leaves solid lacing. "Lager-like" aroma of floral hops, with some sweet malt and, yep, a hint of cinnamon behind. Taste is malt forward, with a dry finishing roasty-caramel-and-stale-hop combo thing going. Just a hint of the muted sourness traditional to the style. A slight creaminess to the mouthfeel, too. Not my favorite schwartzbier, but it at least hits all the right notes.
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look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Dark brown with three fingers of light brown head that leaves solid lacing. "Lager-like" aroma of floral hops, with some sweet malt and, yep, a hint of cinnamon behind. Taste is malt forward, with a dry finishing roasty-caramel-and-stale-hop combo thing going. Just a hint of the muted sourness traditional to the style. A slight creaminess to the mouthfeel, too. Not my favorite schwartzbier, but it at least hits all the right notes.
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4.18/5 rDev +12.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
3.74/5 rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
3.67/5 rDev -1.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Saranac Black Forest from Matt Brewing Company / Saranac Brewery
3.71
out of 5
based on 1,137 ratings.
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Poured from bottle into tulip, little under a finger of tan colored head, recedes after a minute so so lacing. Dark ruby brown in the glass, little light filters thru. Smells of roasted malt, some caramel peeking thru. Taste is pretty complex for a schwarzbier, initial caramel sweetness, roasted malt taking a backseat here, more predominant on the nose than the palate. There is some dark fruit in the middle there, reminiscent of what you pick up in quads, but very muted. Finishes up with a very mild bitterness. This is a really nice Schwarzbier, perhaps beating out my old favorite Reasonably Corrupt (which I have to give a real review one day)
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