Colônia Malzbier

Can. Brown fluffy and quickly disappearing head. Pitch black body. Sweet coffee aroma with sugar and honey notes. Very sweet and sugary burned malt flavor without much hops bitterness and a low carbonation. Short sweet aftertaste.

Picked up this bottle from Ledgers in Berkeley, which was one of a few bottles left behind in his cooler. I figured for .79 cents, why not. So after about 6 months in my garage, I decided to pop this one open. Wow. I hadn’t had a beer like this in awhile. Not really sure what to think. First off, the beer pours out a dark chocolate brown color, no head with a deep garnet edge. First whiff and whoa...seriously vinous notes, almost Port like. Molasses...raisins....some chocolate too. Not really sure what kind of beer this is supposed to be. It sure in the hell isn’t a dunkel and it’s not a schwarzbier. So I take a swig of this and POW, syrupy sweetness hits my tongue like a ton of bricks. Pure, candy sugary sweetness. Pretty hard to keep on with it actually. Reminded me a bit of a raisin puree/reduction with some Port fortification. Yowza this is sweet. I have a fairly high threshhold for sweetness and this is pretty much off the charts. If a beer can make J.W. Lees Harvest Ale seem tame, you know it’s one sweet beer. Still, in very small amounts it wasn’t half bad. Maybe it’s the sugar addict in me. Not the greatest, but...ya know...different.

The aroma is somewhat chocolaty with cola and malt. The appearance is dark brown with a thin head. The flavor is like the aroma with almost no alcohol. The palate is thick. This is just a sweet beer with no redeeming qualities. There is nothing else about it besides molasses type sweetness. It’s almost like a malt beverage. Cloying.

Near black with hints of clear brown at the edges. Brown sugar, heavy cola, dark taffy and hints of herbs in the aroma. Sugary sweet with less wort than many, but still sweet. Fairly thick with a slick syrup feel. Soda flavors, with light cola with raisins and malt. Lack much hops to help the sweetness. Finish is simple syrup and just a hint of cloves. Certainly not my favorite matz.

From a 12 oz. bottle with a freshness date on the back label, sampled at cellar temperature in a pint glass. Poured a blackish brown with a small foamy, creamy tan head, looks like a Guinness Extra Stout. Aromas of caramel, toffee, raisins, and a touch of smoky molasses. Moderate carbonation and a syrupy crisp, smooth medium bodied mouthfeel. Tastes of caramelized sugar, caramel toffee, a dash of smoky molasses, a very light fruitiness and in the end, a subtle herbal licorice. A Brazilian malzbier, not as bad as I was expecting, the sweetness is under control and a important part of taste, if you familiar with German style, worth trying.