Full Sail Session Black Lager

Brewed by Full Sail Brewing Company
Style: Schwarzbier
Hood River, Oregon USA

bottle, pours dark brown with a medium light tan head. Chocolate malt and mollassis aroma. Full bodied chocolate and toasted malt flavors end with a sweetness and burnt sugar flavor.

The boys and girls from Full Sail really hit a home run with this beauty of a beer. I dunno if schwarzbier is the style it falls under, but freakin’ tasty and easy to drink would be where I’d put it (I know, Session isn’t a style....yet). First, it comes in a very cool stubby bottle with a twisty cap. It pours out of the bottle like a root beer brown body, clear with a scan head at initial pour. I quick swirl awakens the head and it stands to attention nearly immediately for several seconds before melting.

The aroma started out rather weak, with notes of Play-Doh and banana. But after it warms up, it starts showing off the roasted malts and subtle cocoa. Upfront the dry coffee angle dominates the palate, almost like a dry stout. Light earthy notes, soft powdered chocolate also shows up and it finishes very briskly. Light on the palate, just clean, tasty and quick. Phenomenal job at creating something easily quaffable, super tasty and easy to afford.

Aroma of chocolate and coffee, with a hint of grassy hops. Dark but not opaque. Smooth on the palate, very sessionable, but the taste doesn’t disappoint. Medium sweetness of chocolate balanced by a bitter coffee flavor matched with some bittering hops. Well done.

Tallahassee, Fl. - World Market - 12 oz stubby bottle. Pours a dark ruby red to dark brown with a light off-white head. Pleasant aroma, with hints of cocoa. Flavor is subtly sweet with the same cocoa essence, some white grapes, a hint of potting soil and a brief note of citrus. Mouthfeel is dry and chalky, in a good way. Surprise find - someone had broken one of those overpriced World Market "winter beer" variety packs and this was sold as a single...pretty lucky since it was the only one I could see in the packs that I needed.

Pour is a deep brown with hints of red. Small head with an average amount of lacing. Notes of dark chocolate, light roast, and cola. Slight peppery finish. Really solid stuff here. This one I purchased as a single. I’ll be purchasing more in the future.

11 ounce stubby bottle - $5.00 at Taco Mac in Kennesaw, Georgia. Appearance: Pours a clear, deep, dark brown body with a sustained inch of light khaki-colored froth which deposits a minor smattering of lace on the descent. Smell: The malty nose is made up mostly of a basic chocolate scent with lesser, lighter hints of roast and toast and a faint, underlying earthiness. Taste: Quickly goes from toasty to roasty and then to a smooth, pleasant chocolaty taste. Modestly sweet. With a little warmth on it, it gradually adds some caramel to the mix. Light earthy hops with an expectantly light, brief bitterness, leaving the flavor to tip back towards those initial malty tastes. Finishes drying and malty. Mouthfeel: Medium-light body. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: Why, that’s a pretty tasty beer, actually! If it’s time to have a fine, flavorful beer with a reasonable amount of alcohol then Session Black is a good place to start.

11 ounce bottle courtesy of kenb. Thanks! Pours a copper-brown color with a medium tan head. Good head retention and lacing. Aroma of chocolate and faintly smoky malts. Taste is chocolate, nutty notes, light smoked and lightly roasted malts and some gummy fruit notes. Smooth, light bodied, but not thin. This lives up to the name and is quite pleasurable.

Nice roasted flavors but not so much as to be overwhelming to those who are not regular porter/stout drinkers. Good complement of flavors.