Dark Lager Tasting (May 13-15)

Nice!! Will have to intentionally have a CDL ready now. Join the movement! #FreeCzechDarkLager
And never forget #SplitUpSaison

 

I'll mention this early on: not all Rauchbier is dark. Witness the new Roaring Table/Riverlands Heller Rauch that's out.

@herrburgess

 

Hmm.

 

In my opinion, this aspect of BeerAdvocate classification simply isn't good, but for the sake of this thread, I would imagine that a dark Rauchbier is keeping in the spirit of the thread and a golden Rauchbier is not keeping in the spirit. Common sense should be applied. Apologies to @FBarber if I've said anything against his intention (his post above seems to indicate that I have, so he can correct me or clarify if needed).

 

You're really asking for a lot there!

 

BJCP includes color in its style guidelines.

According to them, the lightest of the styles listed is Vienna Lager (SRM 9-15). The darkest two are Munich Dunkel (17-28) and Schwarzbier (19-30). Rauchbier is 12-22.

That, of course, says nothing about how dark any specific commercial beer of those styles will be.

 

Lately, when one of these threads happens, my initial reaction is that I won't buy any (or many) beers to participate with... and then I end up buying waaay more than expected. This event was no exception. I went from thinking I'd skip it, to buying 11 beers. Yikes! That's gotta be the most ridiculous yet for me. Speaking of keeping in the spirit of the thread and avoiding pale lagers, I'll post one spoiler pic below. This beer qualifies for the thread right? Actually, it's not a joke. I have a plan. Looking forward to next weekend.

 

Thinking about my current stash, I think I have one dark lager -- a traditional Bock, so I'll probably have to opt out on this event. My monthly budget is spent.

 

Are you looking at category 32A in the 2021 Guidelines? I didn't see any SRM listed for the style, only that it should match the base beer, but could be darker.

 

I recently received a shipment from Enegren so I'm in on this tasting. Oddly the beer was described as a Czech style dark lager on the website, but the cans say American Dark Lager. It is 5.8% ABV which I think does not fit the CSDL guidelines.

 

Thanks for kicking this off Frank! Sorry to hear about your loss, and safe travels home!

Goes to Dovetail's website: WTF - Dovetail only has one of these styles available (the Vienna Lager). Chicago J says, if it's not Dovetail, it's crap!

I'll figure something out, plus gives me an excuse to finally buy some beer (Kolsch!!!) after diligent cellar clearing these past six months.

 

I admit I'm not fully versed in navigating the BJCP document, but in the 2021 guidelines I was referring to 6B, 7A, and 8A&B.

 

Okay, so the base styles of what a Rauchbier can be.

But if you look at 32A, Classic Smoked Beer, there is mention of many styles that breweries use as their base with Rauchmalz -- including Pilsner.

Check the "Comments" paragraph in 6B.

 

Came upon one CDL in the store on Friday and picked it up. It’s chilling now, awaiting next weekend. It will be my first in that style. Cheers.

 

Why not open the Bock for this? See the quote from FBarber above.
_________

If your memory is accurate, a guideline that suggests that Czech dark lagers can't be 5.8% is silly. They can have an ABV in the double digits.
_________

Rauchbiere can be any color. The German one that just won a medal in the World Beer Cup is golden. The Brewer's Association style guide bothers to split up Rauchbiere into Helles, Märzen, and Bock categories... but this is obviously a heavy-handed way of mirroring Schlenkerla's most popular exports. The BJCP guide might work well enough for them in a competition setting, but it's just nonsense as a guide to understanding beer. Their "Rauchbier" category (6B) was only designed to describe some specific Rauchbier Märzen, and all other Rauchbiere are supposed to be entered into their "Classic Style Smoked Beer" category (32A). They view Rauchbier at Märzen strength as a "base style" and other varieties of Rauchbiere as smoked versions of different base styles rather than Rauchbier. They claim that category 32A is for beers that are NOT "Bamberg-style Rauchbier" but then they list a bunch of Bamberg Rauchbiere as examples of 32A. Regardless of certain beers being flagships, "classics" or having longer histories... creating the impression that Schlenkerla Rauchbier Urbock is not really a Rauchbier is an unreal and messy embarrassment. @herrburgess

 

Like I said, I'm not fully versed... I was just looking for some color guidelines as to what a "dark lager" is.

 

I have a 4 pack of Köstritzer Schwarzbier and I'll look for other dark lagers when I go
to the beverage center this week. I'm going to just stick to the Beer Advocate recognized styles

 

I grabbed some Prost Vienna lager and Bierstadt Tmavé 13° so I should be set.