Dark Lager Tasting (May 13-15)

This raised my eyebrow since most of the time I thought Ive seen this listed as a "Dark Ale" or "Black Ale" but on New Belgiums website they do currently say this:

"1554 defies the style guidelines of modern beer. Although dark in color, 1554 is not a porter, stout, schwarzbier or bock. Rather, it is a rebirth of a lost beer style called zwert (Flemish for black), which uses gruit for bittering. The oldest reference to zwert beer comes from 1285. However, our brewing inspiration came from a book published in 1554, which was the height of popularity for zwertbeer. First released in 1998, our whimsical improvisation includes a variety of specialty dark malts, a dash of licorice root, and a European lager yeast that’s fermented at ale temperatures."

 

Hofbrauhaus Freising Dunkel

This one is a new one for me. I stumbled across it last week when looking for Hofbrauhuas Munchen's Maibock. Serendipitous for this weekend's tasting.

I do not know how to interpret the 'Production Date' that is on the bottle and the Date Codes page/forum doesn't have an entry for Hofbrauhas Freising. Does anybody know how to translate the date?

This beer is so easy to drink that I didn't notice that I had drank over half of it while writing up my review!


1.5 x 0.33L bottles
Production Date: 21091
Glass: 0.5L Fest Mug
Temp at Pour: 55.6 F
ABV: 5.2%

Look:
Chestnut-brown that turns into a deep and dark mahogany when held up to a light. 1-finger creamy beige head that quickly dissipates to a thin but consistent creamy cover.

Smell:
Toasted and very lightly roasted dark grains. Toasted pumpernickel bread. Buckwheat honey. Some raisin, plum, and chocolate notes. Very slight touch of dark (blackstrap?) molasses.

Taste:
Follows the nose very closely. There are an additional notes of toasted toffee and sweet biscuits. No discernable bitterness. The beer dries ever so slightly on the finish. Very nice.

Feel:
Very smooth and even creamy and soft. Body is on the lighter side of medium.

Overall:
A fantastic Munich Dunkel. Extremely easy to drink and yet flavorful. This just might be my new favorite dunkel (nudging out Weltenburger's Barock Dunkel from that spot).

 

This was a great thread! Thanks to @FBarber for hosting, and everyone else who contributed!

I even have a new list of beers to look out for and to try, which is the beauty of these kind of tastings. Cheers, all.