Let's Talk About Schwarzbier

This thread inspired me to buy a 4 pack of Kostritzer...16 oz cans.

Dated 8/18/17; they claim it's good until 8/18/18.

As someone who doesn't love trad. German styles, I found this bold & unique. I can't quite put my finger on the flavor profile...root beer? Black coffee? Cream?

Glad I took a chance on these, but I wish they were fresher.

I'm not real price conscious when it comes to beer, but the $5 price tag on a 4 pack of tall boys made it an easy decision.

Thanks for the many recommendations to try this beer.

 

Your in. Welcome to the Schwarz club.

 

In a show of "paying it forward" I gave 2 cans to some of my more adventurous friends, in hopes of indoctrinating them too.

Additionally, after reading another BA review I got a note that I wasn't accessing on my own: sourdough bread. Especially in the nose. Very different from the beers I'm used to, in a welcome way.

 

I just read an article about Czech Dark Lager in the current issue of All About Beer magazine. Doesn't look like it's available online -but in searching for it, I found this other recent article:
https://vinepair.com/articles/czech-beer-dark-lager/

 

Any one tried the Jacks Abby Heavy Trommel? Way awesome. The description is a German porter? An unfiltered dark keller bier. 5.5 percent, may have to go back to the brewery for more.

 

The thing with the use of the term "Dunkles" in franconia is-as most labels used there, it is very different to a "style" in an us-craft-sense, in that there is a lot of variation between examples, sweet,malty,nutty franconian Dunkles exist as well as dry, bitter, almost amber colored ones... I'd go so far as to say, "Dunkles" in franconia refers to a session-strength lager which is not pale.

 

Suarez Family Brewery is cranking out some killer lagers in the Hudson Valley, and their black lager, Bones Shirt, is one of the best (if not THE) best I've had made in the States.

 

I had a glass of that last winter and I would agree it was very good.

 

They are easily my favorite brewery in NYS. I haven't had a beer yet that I didn't like from them.

 

I'll have to check if he also wrote the other article. Sounds like probably.

 

Two articles that were helpful to me when I developed my recipe for a Tmavý Ležák (Czech Dark Lager) were:

· A. T. Scheppach, “Czech Dark Lager,” Zymurgy, Vol. 36 No. 5 (September/October 2013, 19

· H. Dornbusch, “Style Spotlight: Bohemian Dunkel,” The New Brewer, - I printed this out October 2013

If you are a member of the AHA the Zymurgy article is available online. I was able to access the article from The New Brewer online (and print it out at that time) but it does not appear to be available on-line now.

I homebrewed my second batch of Tmavý Ležák a few months ago. That beer drinks sublimely.

Cheers!

 

Kostritzer is probably my favorite and it's excellent on-tap (Frankford Hall in Philly always has it on). Unfortunately it seems like we don't get too many imported Schwarzbiers here in the US.

Full Sail Session Black lager was probably my favorite, easier to obtain schwarzbier but I haven't seen it around in a long time. Howl by Magic Hat is solid too.

EDIT: I also really enjoyed Von Trapp Trosten but to me it is more of a rauchbier than a schwarzbier.

 

My Czech dark lager experience is very limited but have you had Notch Black Lager (Černé Pivo)? The only other Czech-style dark beers I've had that that comes to mind is Full Sail LTD 06, which is supposed to be their take on a Cerné Speciální ("special black") but I have had nothing to compare it to.

Now that I think of it, I can't seem to find any imported Czech beer that isn't Pilsner Urquell, Budvar/Czechvar, Golden Pheasant, etc. (I saw Czechvar Dark once but the bottles were covered in dust so it was skunked for sure)

 

Nope, Notch beers are not distributed in SEPA.

A couple of times I went looking for Czechvar Dark but I never saw this beer on my local beer retailers' shelves (dusty or otherwise).

One of the advantages of homebrewing is that I can produce any beer style I like; I am not at the whims of the US craft breweries distribution footprint or the US importers of non-US beers.

Cheer!

P.S. Plus I know that my homebrews are fresh and not beat up in transport.

 

Consider yourself lucky. Many years ago I would occasionally find this beer at Total Wine & More in Delaware but they stopped carrying it. It has been so long since I bought this beer (10 years ago?) that I can't recall if they had bottle dates.

Please report back if you ever find and drink Bernard beers. My memory says that I really enjoyed these beers (the Bohemian Pilsner?).

Cheers!

 

Oh, right. I thought maybe you perhaps traded or had one at a bottle share or something like that. If I get any extras next time I go up to MA I'll send some your way (we had a bet of some sort didn't we? I don't even remember what it was in regards to)

I believe I saw Czechvar Dark was at Total Wine but it was a couple years ago and I can't recall if it was here in NJ or out west in AZ

Absolutely. I'd love to get into it again but I live in a tiny apartment and it's tough sanitizing without a hose and a sizeable area. Yeah I could sanitize in my bathtub but I'd rather not...also I'd like to advance from brewing with extracts and move into all-grain but again I just don't have the room/space for that. Same goes for lagering; I have no way to lager at consistently low temperatures.


One last question for you: how do you know how a certain beer is supposed to taste if you've never had it before? do you research the styles (or beers) and just try to shoot for what you think the beer is supposed to taste like? it must be fun digging up old recipes and using a bit of artistic license to resurrect dead beers. Cheers!

 

Sweet!

I can't remember either. LOL!

Hmm, bathing or brewing. That would be a tough choice for me!

You can brew high quality beers via extract (beer style dependent IMO. I still brew a fair bit with extract since it is a time saving brewing method.

I have read posts by a number of folks that they produced high quality beers by simply fermenting with Wyeast 2124 (Bohemian Lager Yeast) in the 60's. I have no personal experience here but if I was unable to brew lagers cool/cold I would try this.

I read beer style descriptions (e.g., BJCP style guidelines) and then evaluate how closely my beers came. In the case of my Tmavý Ležák I brought some to National Homebrewers Conference to share with friends. Luckily one of those friends traveled to the Czech Republic a couple of months later and drank this style of beer ‘at the source’. He provided me with feedback:

“My favorite dark lager while in the Czech Republic was Berounski Rodinny Dark Lager. This one did have some Crystal malt in it and Jacks recipe is a good clone of this one. (As my limited memory remembers!)”

Cheers