Dark Lager Tasting (May 13-15)

Nah, that's Phil. He is much better looking than me.

The way the photo went down:

Me (walking towards the picnic table): "Phil, you want to be famous?"
Phil: "Why, are you going to take a picture of your beer for your (I think he said article?)?
Me: "Yeah, you want to be in the photo?
Phil: "Sure, hand me the beer"

And then Phil appropriately rotated the glass in his hand so that the Sly Fox logo was readable.

Phil is a pro when it comes to modeling!

Cheers to Phil

 

Very excited to learn about these styles I have limited experience with (perhaps two dozen total across the five combined styles). Hoping we get several beers across each of the styles for future suggestions. It was hard to come across the two beers I purchased for the event. I believe many of these beers are brewed in the Fall and Winter.

My recommended six pack covering the five styles I've tried are:

Vienna: Juxta Nomad / Tenaya Creek Collaboration Fields of Anthem Rye (4.75 - Las Vegas, Nevada)
European Dark Lager: Dovetail Czech-Style Dark Lager (4.50 - Chicago, Illinois)
Rauchbier: Dovetail Rauchbier (4.50 - Chicago, Illinois)
Rauchbier: Brauerei Heller-Trum Aecht Schlenkerla Eiche (4.25 - Bamberg, Germany)
Munich Dunkel: Brauerei Hirt Hirter Morchl (4.25 - Micheldorf, Austria)
Schwarzbier: Revolution Usethe Schwarz (4.25 - Chicago, Illinois)

My beer for today is my last Dark Czech Lager from the four pack I purchased.

Goldfinger, Niteglow & Sugar Creek Malt Company Collaboration - Czech-Style Dark Lager



Pretty consistent with the review linked above. This beer used barley not previously used since prior to WWII, in an attempt to recreate a pre-prohibition style Czech-Style Dark Lager.

The primary difference for me between the 4.50 Dovetail Czech-Style Dark Lager and this one is the sweetness factor. This one is very sweet, whereas the Dovetail offering is a better balanced beer, at least for my tastes. The beer held up well refrigerated since purchase, nearly three months since canning.

This is likely a one time release, due to the unique barley provided by Sugar Creek Malt Co. Niteglow Beer Company is a new brewery. No location information, but I believe they are based somewhere in Illinois since they are participating in the BUG Craft Beer festival later today.

Anyway, that is all I have today, looking forward to the weekend and thanks again Frank for hosting!

 

I gotta say, that picture does make me want to have a beer so I 100% agree.

 

Much appreciation and thanks to @FBarber for his efforts in these online tastings. Thanks for hosting this one, and for hosting/moderating the ideas thread, and all you do!

My first beer for this tasting will be a Dunkel from Modelo. I replied to @Squire in the ideas thread suggesting this beer as an available dark lager, and since I was doing my shopping in early May, I thought, "why not?" After all, Cinco de Mayo was coming up... So, I bought a 6 pack. I had a couple on May 5, and now I'm having another.

Modelo Negra
ABV: 5.4%
IBU: 19

Clear dark amber to brown body. 1 inch off-white head with moderate retention leaving some lacing. Moderately carbonated.

Nice aroma, but a little weak. Malty, brown bread, nutty, a bit sweet.

The flavor is, as with the aroma, malty, maybe a bit toasty, caramel, nutty. The initial taste is very slightly astringent, which carries throughout. “Astringent” is perhaps too strong a word, but it is just a bit sharply drying. Again, describing it that way makes it sound more intense than it is. The finish is dry and the aftertaste is very slightly bitter.

Mouth feel is thin, with the slight astringency making it feel thinner.

Overall, this won’t challenge the best of the German Dunkels, but it is OK to accompany a meal at a Mexican cafe (or a Tex-Mex style meal made at home).

L: 4.0 | S: 3.5 | T: 3.25 | F: 3.0 | O: 3.25 | Rating: 3.33

 

If you are into heritage barley you might be interested in knowing that Crisp Malting Co. (English) is producing a malt using the Haná variety barley; Haná was the barley used by Czech brewers in the 1800’s:

“Moravia, in the southeast Czech Republic, is known as the ‘capital of malt’. It has perfect growing conditions: the soil is rich, fertile and holds water well, the region gets just the right amount of sun and rain and the land is flat – perfect for harvesting!

Josef Groll (first Pilsner Urquell brewer) almost certainly used a variety of barley called Haná (now sadly an heirloom strain). This particular variety was grown on the wide flat Haná plateau, famous for its rich black soil, and has always been regarded as the Rolls-Royce of grain.

Some say Haná is the father of all modern-day varieties, having genetic ties to barley still grown all over the world, from Sweden to the States. In the 1860s, a local aristocratic landowner selected seeds from the Haná variety and sold it to brewers and maltsters far and wide, who in turn started cross-breeding it with other varieties to mimic the success of Pilsner Urquell. Haná is still grown today, but only as cattle feed and no longer for brewing.”

https://www.pilsnerurquell.com/stories/why-we-only-use-moravian-barley/

About the Crisp Haná product:

“The Haná malt was our first release in our Small Batch Series and was met with great success.

The Haná variety of barley was first developed and grown in the Haná area of Czech Moravia, an area of Europe long fabled for its high quality malting barley.

Haná’s early claim to fame was that it made up the mash of the first-ever golden-blond Pilsner lager, which was created in 1842 by Bavarian brewmaster Josef Groll at the Pivovar (Burgher Brewery) of Pilsen in Bohemia.

The subsequent global success of the pilsner beer style spawned the planting of Haná barley in many countries around the world. The original 19th century Haná is internationally recognized as the classic genetic progenitor of modern top-quality brewing barleys.

We have taken just a few Haná seeds and grown them up over successive generations on prime Norfolk malting barley land, harvested them and slowly and carefully steeped, germinated and gently kilned them on our 1870s floor maltings.

When our very first harvest was released, it consisted of just 14 tonnes. This malt produced flavours of freshly baked bread with subtle malty notes producing a clean, smooth, sweet wort.”

https://crispmalt.com/malts/01-hana-malt/

In the homebrewing forum it was brought to my attention that I could purchase some of this Crisp Haná Pilsner Malt:

https://www.northernbrewer.com/products/crisp-hana-heritage-malt

But at $3.39/lb. this malt is too pricey for me. If in the future the price comes down to a competitive price, I will buy this malt for my annual batches of Tmavý Ležák and Bohemian Pilsner.

Cheers!

 

Who says you need bikini girls to sell beer!?!

Cheers!

 

@MNAle -- that astringent (but not) character is a note I always get in the popular Mexican beers. I'm not sure what it is. It's sometimes distracting, other times not.

 

My preferred Mexican lager to drink with Tex-Mex cuisine is Victoria (categorized as a Vienna Lager on BA) but if it isn't available Modelo Negra is nice second choice.

Cheers!

 

I'm getting my 100th tattoo today and will be joining this tasting afterwards.

 

I like it! I’m starting the tasting period with a local Vienna Lager called Cravin’. A smooth beer with nice toasty and malt flavors.

 

I lost money on that horse.

 

Is it a tattoo of a dark lager!?!

Cheers!

 

Rhinegeist Steve, a black lager (erroneously listed on BA as a brown ale. I sent an update). Nice roasty notes and a full bodied, almost creamy mouth feel.



It's 84 degrees and partly cloudy...an awesome day for drinking on the roof top at Rhinegeist!

Cheers!

 

Wait, what? Who?

 

So as to avoid FOMO -- and also because I found a new-to-me beer to try, I'm in for a little participation.

BrouCzech Dark found locally at a really decent price of $2 for a .5 liter bottle. No date or ABV on the label, but I see BA listing at 5%.

L -- Deep, dark brown with ruby highlights and a short, but resilient, cream color head.

S -- Roasted malt, light caramel and light vanilla.

T -- Roasted malt up front, but not Schwarzbier-like. Light touch of dark fruits, Pumpernickel bread crusts, touch of earthy & herbal hop bitterness in the finish and some light diacetyl in the aftertaste.

M -- Mouthfeel is soft and silky with a light-robust body.

O -- Not as roasty as some CDLs I've had, a touch sweet to balance out the roasted malts and hop bitterness. Very tasty -- should have bought a couple!

 

Vienna lager number two for the day is Pond Farm’s A World Gone Amuck. This is a smooth, sweet and tasty beer! Highly recommend.

 

Hey, if you are selling your beer and willing to ship to Michigan, I’d be very interested!