Wynkoop Brewing Co. Denver, CO This German-style schwarzbier features roasted flavors, understated hops and a hint of smoke. A 2008 GABF gold medal winner, it’s a thirst-quenching version of dark beer that’s scintillating and sessionable. ABV: 5.1 ABW: 4.08 COLOR: N/A BITTERNESS: 19 ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 1310 AVAILABLE: CO
Grand Teton takes the traditional German Schwarzbier style and almost “doubles” the ABV to 7.6 percent to create the 5 O’clock Shadow. Despite the beer’s moniker, it pours a dark burgundy with a light-bodied brown head. The aroma brings heavy chocolate and espresso and precedes a surprisingly bitter character for a lager. The mind thinks stout... View Article
How good is the beer coming out of chain brewpubs? Pretty good if the 2011 Great American Beer Festival results are any indication. TAPS Fish House & Brewery, a California chain with seven locations in Orange County, was named Brewpub Group of the Year, winning a gold medal for the German-Style schwarzbier made in Corona,... View Article
Bayou Teche Brewing is releasing the fourth in their LA-31 series of beers. Their newest beer, Bière Noire (black beer in English) is brewed as an alt-schwarzbier – an up to now extinct style of German beer.
We’re a nation obsessed with burgers. We want ’em bigger, badder and burgerier. The biggest was made at Mallie’s Sports Bar in Southgate, MI, weighing in at 185 pounds, the same as the average American male. The most expensive appears on the menu at Burger Shoppe in NYC for $175 because Kobe beef, black truffles,... View Article
Buckbean Brewing Co. Reno, NV Available: CA, NV, OR The Black Noddy Lager is named after a tropical seabird, despite the brewery’s location in Nevada. The brewery itself takes its name from a herb that grows in mountain bogs, the leaves of which have been used as a substitute for hops in beer, as well... View Article
Black beers have been winning over the hearts of craft beer devotees for 30 years now, but until quite recently, stout and porter have dominated the affair. In the past few years though, the unusual black lager known as schwarzbier has been crashing the party with both American microbrews and German originals. Schwarzbier, literally “black... View Article
Ft. Collins, CO Available: CO, CT, FL, GA, IL, IA, KS, MA, MN, MO, NE, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, PA, RI, TN, WI, WY Kidd Lager is an unusual American example of a schwarzbier, a German black lager. ABV: 4.9 ABW: 3.9 Color: 29 Bitterness: 23 Original gravity: 1047
Originally brewed in Thuringia, a state in eastern Germany, these lager -style brews were known to be darker in color than their Munich counterparts. Often relatively full-bodied, rarely under 5 percent ABV, these beers classically feature a bitter chocolate, roasted malt note and a rounded character. Hop accents are generally low. This obscure style was picked up by Japanese brewers and is made in small quantities by all of Japan’s major brewers. Schwarz beers are not often attempted by U.S. craft brewers.
