Baron Schwarzbier

Brewed by Baron Brewing & Lunar Brewing
Style: Schwarzbier
Seattle, Washington USA

Hazy dark brown colour. Very fresh malty aroma - it is a Baron beer after all. Light coffee flavour, fairly light but again quite fresh. Lacks the depths of dark malt I’d expect in a schwarzbier...it’s more of a dunkel but even then the freshness is more accented than the complexity.

On tap at Brouwer’s Cafe. Dark black with light ruby tints and a thick creamy tan head. Aroma is very toasty, with some nuttiness and a light noble hop aroma. Well lagered. Flavour is also malty, nutty, and toasty with some faint earthiness. Subtle noble hop flavour on the finish. Easy to drink with a bit of faint anise and sweet maltiness in the finish. These guys know how to do Germany proud.

Bottle: Dark mahogany, nice head and lacing. Nose of peanut shells and light roast, some caramel in the flavor. Nutty and roasty, nice smooth finish. A bit lacking in the roast department but plenty nutty and still tasty.

Bottle. Pours a dark brown almost black color with a small off-white head. Has a roasted malty chocolate and caramel aroma. Roasted malty caramel flavor. Has a roasted malty caramel finish with some hints of chocolate in the aftertaste.

Bomber from Sondra. Blackish color with ruby translucence. Beige head that left quickly. Aromas of dark roasted malt and perhaps coffee and chocolate notes. Near medium body with light, fizzy carbonation. Flavor is lightly sour dark roast malt. Finish is rather balanced. Fairly refreshing.

Picked up a single 22-oz bottle via Liquid Solutions in Oregon. Pours a deep brown colored brew with thin off-white rim. Aroma is dark roasted caramel malt, some chocolate bread dough and a hint of coffee. Taste is somewhat complex. Medium bodied with a touch of soda-like flavor with roasted dark malt, some floral hops and a hint of smoked wood. Finish is semi-dry, some tart fruit with chocolate and broad dough aftertaste.

This Schwarzbier pours a deep brown color from a 22oz bottle. Small sized white foamy head. Aroma is chocolate and roasty malts with a touch of earthy hops. Medium to lighter bodied dark lager. Malts are roasty and semi-sweet chocolate. Hops are earthy and floral. Somewhat toasty and nutty tasting. Nice balance. Good carbonation. This beer reminds me of the generic “dark beer”, simple, good and drinkable. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and crisp. Aftertaste is slightly bitter and a touch roasty.

Draught pint at Redbones on 1/13/2006. A deep burgundy hue is just barely perceptible against the black olive colored body, though gazing at it for a while, I do determine it to be quite clear. Head is a fizzy mess of large beige colored bubbles that quickly recedes to a ring, with no lacing. Aroma is quite unique for the style. Cinnamon immediately apparent, quickly mixing with an earthy, dry brown maltiness to give a very true barley note. As the beer breathes and warms, the cinnamon unfolds in to a more poignant roastiness, though it still seems that there is some type of phenol, as I can’t wholly attribute a spicy cinnamon-like flavor to the malt. As well, there is some dustiness to the aroma. Bits of baker’s chocolate and crusty brown bread finish out the overly dry aroma. The flavor seems decidedly dried out, very attenuated and rather lactic as well. Earthy, dry, burnt malts are too dominant amid the watery wasteland that is the body of this beer. Bordering astringent, in fact, with a terribly prickly carbonation. Some light lager yeast crispness on the end, but taken without any supple malts, it seems rather out of place as well. No alcohol apparency.