Dark Lager Tasting (May 13-15)

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a Wilmington Brewing Company Can Glass

The beer pours a clear, deep copper color with ruby highlights and 3 fingers worth of off-white head that slowly recedes to a small cap

The aroma is bready, toasted malts, caramel, and just a hint of floral hops. Very clean and inviting

The taste is much like the aroma; bready and toasty with some sweet caramel notes and just enough hop presence to balance the beer out. Quite delicious. Medium/light mouthfeel with moderate carbonation

overall, this is a phenomenal beer. One of my favorite examples of the style so far

 

My pleasure!

I'm sort of surprised to hear that it's not available for you. My local Gary's keeps it in the fridge so I knew that I could get it there. I also hoped to find some other examples on their singles shelf, but unfortunately there were no dark lagers this time around.

 

Like yesterday's beer, today's is also a leftover from the virtual Lagerfest from last fall. And like yesterday, today's selection is also a Dunkel, but instead of Schilling, it's a von Trapp Dunkel.


It's hard not to compare the Schilling Landbier Dunkel to the von Trapp Dunkel since those are the last two beers that I've drunk, so here are my findings. This beer has noticeable hops (not too much) that give it more of a crispness on the tongue as compared to the Schilling Dunkel which has a creamy mouthfeel. Both beers have just a light roastiness, but the malt in the Schilling offering had a bit of a richness to it that I don't get in the von Trapp beer. (The can carries a Best-by date of 10-18-21 which could be a factor.) However, it's still a very good example of the style.

 

Miller skated around the AOC because their product was beer rather than wine. Some others did the same, Champagne Velvet comes to mind.

 

Sad state of affairs. While at a few stores I looked for a new to me dark Lager and not only did I not see any, but even some local favorites were nowhere to be found. I'll see what I come across tomorrow and if I find something I'll be joining this thread. I've enjoyed reading the reviews thus far, though!

 

On that we can agree.

Cheers!

 

Von C has a Schwarzbier on tap (and in cans) available now and I would strongly recommend that beer.

Cheers!

 

Next I am trying the first of my lineup from the Czech Republic.

Praga Dark Lager Czech Beer 1784
ABV: 4.5%
IBU: NA

The back of the label is stamped L21060 11:58 # H/PS, which leads me to assume the bottling date was March 1, 2021. 14½ months. But as I posted earlier, for this tasting I ignored age to go for availability.

Clear dark ruby body, nicely carbonated. The head is about 1 inch tall from a gentle pour, thick, creamy-looking, off-white with good retention, but no lacing at first, but it forms a thick sheet of lacing down the opposite side of the glass as I drink.

Toasty malt aroma, some dark fruit and perhaps a touch of floral in the aroma as well.

Excellent initial flavor of toasted malts and dark pumpernickel bread. Caramel and brown sugar appears in the middle. Hints of the dark fruit. The beer is just toward the sweet side in the beginning, with a move toward drying balancing things by the finish. The finish and aftertaste is dry-sweet (like bittersweet, only not bitter) with pleasant malty flavors lingering.

The body is moderate-thin and smooth, light carbonation, and creamy on my tongue.

Overall, even though it has some age on it, I am enjoying drinking this beer. Malty and the balance is good.

L: 4.0 | S: 3.75 | T: 4.25 | F: 3.5 | O: 4.0 | Rating: 3.99

 

Maplewood In Dark Trees, I really enjoyed.....


3.98/5 rDev +1.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
by ZebulonXZogg from Illinois

Very nice looking pour, dark brown, big frothy head that lingered a bit some nice lacing. Snot machine gets some roasted malt, warm bread a bit of cocoa. Flavors are similar, more pronounced. A bit thin, nicely carbonated. My first Czech style Lager was excellent, I suspect I'll buy this again.

 

My entry is Abita Amber Lager . . .




Nice clear golden amber with orange highlights around the edges, slightly off white cap with decent lacing.

Aroma of sweet malt, caramel, medium toffee, and a light touch of spicy hops.

Taste on entry is more richly toffee with a just noticeable underpinning of lightly roasted malt. It really comes across as more confectionery than malty. Hop seasoning is also done with a light hand but is enough to counterbalance the malt.

Overall it's an above average effort on the Amber AAL style.

 

I know. My facetiousness didn't leak all of the way through, maybe. My greater point was that "The Champagne of Bottled Beer" is a great slogan, advertising, and a wonderful piece of American beer history and culture. I just wish that National's "The Land of Pleasant Living" had lived longer than the career of Johnny Unitas.

 

Sly Fox Brewing (Pottstown, PA) - Black Lager. Can dated best by 6/10/22

aroma is fairly mild - bread crust, a touch of dark cocoa, not much roast. similar flavor, is a bit sweet. thin to medium bodied. easy drinking but I'd prefer a bit more flavor.

 

Overly aggressive pour, but I was thirsty so click away I did. This is a colab Czech style dark lager brewed at the Enegren facility in Southern California jointly with Moonlight which is located just north of San Francisco in Santa Rosa. It weights in at 5.8%.

There's a lot of roast in this one. Carbonation is low the finish is dry with quite a bit of spicy hop bitterness. It's substantial and would be a great way to finish off a drinking session with some buddies.

From the side of the can which explains why it's Czech style but is truly American.

"This year we teamed up with Moonlight Brewing of Santa Rosa, CA to brew a classic Czech-style dark lager using all American ingredients including Zuper Saazer hopes from Hop Head Farms in Michigan & California grown floor malted grain from Admiral Maltings of Alameda, CA. Though this is not a German style beer, it is an ode to Bavarian brewers like Josef Groll who brought their lager brewing expertise to Bohemia in the 1800s."

 

You beat me to the punch! One of my favorite domestic representations of a Euro style. The complexity and depth of flavor at this ABV is amazing.

 

Von Trapp Dunkel

I was planning to drink this tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon, but I couldn't wait.

Not bad all Though (as I mention in my review) it sorta reminds me more of a Schwarzbier than a Munich Dunkel. But what do I know?


12 oz can
Glass: 0.4L Mug
Temp at Pour: Mid 50s F

Look:
Dark brown with mahogany highlights, especially when held up to light. Initial 2+ finger creamy beige head settles after a time to a thin but consistent and creamy cover. Fine lacing.

Smell:
Dark roasted malts, coffee, hints of chocolate. Some char. There is a lingering dry bitterness in the scent.

Taste:
Similar to the nose but with a more intense roasted malt note. Coffee, chocolate (really chocolate or cocoa powder) and char. There is a noticeable bitterness. Finishes dry.

Feel:
Smooth and yet crisp and clean feel. Body is medium with a shade to the lighter side.

Overall:
A solid and easy drinking dunkel. Very flavorful. I find the dryness and the bitterness a bit off-putting; I am not used to those notes in a Dunkel. Those notes cause me to think 'Schwarzbier'. That could just be me and my palette, though.

 

Sorry, don't think I'll get around to taste these now, thanks for a very inspiring thread!

 

Eibauer Dunkel

Here’s a bonus beer from me. Eibauer beers have been hitting the shelves by me. The packaging and branding (from the importer?) is God awful. Their bottled range was already confusing, and now cans of more brands have just started to show up. It’s a cacophony. Happy to see a Heller Bock, I tried it and was very pleased. Then tried two different labelings of their Pilsner and was very pleased with that/them too. The beer was better than the tacky labels suggested.

With all that said, I was very happy to see their Dunkel yesterday. Not only was this thread in action, but genuine German Dunkels are very rare imports here. Buying a can was a no-brainer.

The beer was a very dark mahogany and had a poor head. Tried one sip and I knew this was going to be a ride. This Dunkel makes the Hofbrau Dunkel look thin and light on flavor in comparison (not that those are bad things though). The Eibauer Dunkel was robust and full bodied… and sweet. It was a totally different beer than Hofbrau’s.

The promising explosiveness of that first sip soon transitioned into a tire to drink. This beer was drinking like there was a lot of residual sugar in it. It was 4.2% ABV and the body on this beer was big. I was assuming it was under attenuated compared to other Dunkels… but that didn’t seem to be a conclusion that made total sense.

Well after finishing this unpleasant beer, I went to the German website of the brewer. Since the labels are all different and the importer has multiple product lines for the brewer, I can’t guarantee that the beer on the German site was a proper match for mine, but I’m willing to make the leap.

Mystery solved. I looked at the ingredients for the beer and it contains artificial sweeteners! That explains everything. Very surprising. (The other beers I had from them did not have this ingredient.) Curious if the can had the typical “German purity law” marketing claim, I fished it out of the recycling bin. It did not, but it did state, “brewed in the best traditions of brewing.”

Their website even says this beer is an "art oud bruin." The German brand name for this beer translates to "Lusatian" Dunkel. I wish I knew the context to interpret their marketing. If someone really missed so-called "Southern" English brown ales, I wonder if this beer would be a decent enough substitute all things considered. Anyone looking for a Munich Dunkel might be disappointed. I thought this beer was a chore.

@Snowcrash000
@Crusader
@jesskidden

 

The first beer I chose for the Dark Lager Tasting is Modelo Negra. I bought a six pack Friday and these are the last two



This beer pours a dark brown color with a frothy off white head that quickly fades into nothingness, leaving no lacing as the beer is consumed. The smell is light with roasted malt and adjunct corn. The taste is a pleasant bitter sweet interplay between the roasted grains and the sweet corn. The feel is appropriate for the style, moderate and slightly prickly. Overall this is a decent brew. I'm ok with regular Corona and Modelo so this beer isn't too far from either of those.

3.3/5 rDev +15.4% | Average: 2.86
look: 3.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5