Heavyweight Black Ocean

Formerly brewed at Heavyweight Brewing Company
Style: Schwarzbier
Ocean Township, New Jersey USA

Thanks Secret Santa. Brown with a blazon orange hue when held to the light. Tallish khaki colored head and some isle of lace as it diminishes. Toasted bread and heavy caramel and butterscotch scents. Some light cream and coffee aromas as well. Not much depth in the scent, yet pleasant enough. Fairly thin in feel, nearing watery, but the flavors help out. Light coffee with a touch of butterscotch flavoring added. Not much sweetness, but there are hints of dark syrup. Dry finish and linger. A touch of roasted or black malt, perhaps even coffee, bitterness late in the linger.

Bottle: Muddy brown, very dark, large frothy light beige head, fairly nice lacing.   Soft roasted malt nose, slight ash/campfire, a little milk sugar like twang too.   Semi-sweet malty start, lightly roasted malts, campfire and charred wood on the backside.   Seems a little lactic, well the sweet side at least.   Not sour, but I can see it going that way over time.   Has a cream & sugar aspect to it too, moreso than other examples.   I might sum this beer up as being semi-sweet subtle campfire with cream and sugar.   Interesting take on the style.   Body and mouthfeel are moderate.   Thanks Paul for this rarity!

Date: 01/26/2007
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting

dark ruby red, wispy beige head, touch of lace, sweet caramel and butterscotch aroma, creamy body, sweet roasted malt flavor, touch of the butterscotch sweetness,

Aroma: 4/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 5/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 9/20
Rating: 2.5/5.0
Drinkability: 5/10
Score: *4

750mL bottle courtesy of Dorwart, consumed on 5/26/07
Yet another in the line of perfect-appearance-beers from Heavyweight. Big and lasting chocolate-beige head tops a dark brown-black body with some maroon highlights. Lacing is strong.
Unfortunately it’s, "yet another in the line of very-buttery-but-otherwise-good-beers from Heavyweight". Arg! How annoying is their bottling line? This one seems to have a wonderful maltiness, smooth, slightly chocolatey and with some chocolate liqueur-like dryness and light earthiness for balance. Cakey with vanilla and mild fruit esters, it, nonetheless, is dominated by diacetyl.
The flavor seems a bit underattenuated in its sweetness, with lots of sticky caramel and chocolate, but still enough raisin and flakey roast to keep it mostly manageable. The carbonation, very tight, helps mitigate this somewhat and a light cherry and honey flavor is noted on the finish. Some breadiness (dry roast) and a bit of sweet vanillin collect on the palate as well, but it’s eventually all drowned out by butter. Would be a pretty nice beer were it not for all of the diacetyl....

From a 750mL Bottle. Pours a dark brown, slightly hazy color with a thin, yet healthy layer of foamy cream head. The appearance isn’t at all disappointing, making this the only quasi-pleasant characteristic of this beer. Don’t breathe too deep; new research suggests studying the nose of this beer may lead to lung disease. We have a new poster child for diacetyl problems. Absolutely, without a doubt, the worst example of diacetyl I have experienced to date. The dark malts are completely overwhelmed by the buttery character, making the nose seem like somebody sprinkled a dusting of potting soil over rancid movie popcorn and served it. A hint of light chocolate mingles with stale butterscotch, but enough is enough - I need my lungs. Light bodied, sparkling carbonated mouthfeel. Light chocolate, and... butter. Butter pretty much sums it up, the light chocolate comment might even be a stretch at this point. Simply gross.

750 ml bottle sampled at Spuyten Duyvil, Brooklyn, in early March 2007. First of all, it was a bit of a letdown that they didn’t have the Wee Whale still on....sob sob. Second of all, I didn’t actually know anything about this before getting it, so I was pleasantly surprised that it was a schwarzbier, and a fairly decent one at that. Pretty dark, lightly hazy/transparent with a small but lasting off-white head....caramelized malts, tobacco, a bit of chocolate/toffee, pretty spot on-in the nose....the body is a little on the thin side, not supporting the light and supple malts too well; this was probably just starting to go downhill....smokier and drier than most I’d say, with low-ish carbonation and high drinkability. Probably was stellar when really fresh, but still not at all bad when I managed to get it.

750 mL shared with awaisanen, cquiroga, and KAME. Aroma bubbles with caramelly, almond sugar. Nips of lagered toast and a faint waft of tart acid. Clean and bright. Pours a brown-black. light haze, with soapy off-white head. Flavor is a little fainter, with sweet salt and a light apple tang. Dry and with lower carbonation. Fairly standard for a schwarz. Nips of sour tang in the background.

Bottle sampled on 1/26/07: Pours a barely transparent dark mahogany with a nicely-lacing cream-colored head. Lightly toasty, grainy caramel malty aroma has a touch of butterscotchy notes. Body starts sweet and slightly oxidized with more butterscotch and a touch of tartness. This doesn’t seem like it has aged all that well.