Not ready for the heavy roasted coffee and high hopping of porters and stouts?  Try a Schwarzbier! A Schwarzbier, literally “black beer” in German, is a medium to light bodied dark lager that is great for anyone who wants to turn to the dark side.  The tastes are mild and easy drinking. 

I will now do a tasting of Xingu Black Lager from Brazil, which can be found at a few ABC’s.  Using a regular pub glass for this one and kept it in the refrigerator for about twenty minutes to cool it off.

Appearance:  Pours a dark pumpernickel brown with a thin hazel head, very healthy lacing.

Smell: Very faint aroma of lager yeast with a bit of caramel/chocolaty sweetness.

Taste: The weak smell belies a very flavorful dark lager. Almost a cola taste with pale fruity notes that open up on the back. Roasted malts and a hint of coffee and chocolate notes you would expect from a stout, but very much a lager.

Mouth feel: Nice, crisp presence with just enough carbonation to hold up the taste. It leaves a very slight coating on the mouth.

Other Schwarzbiers you may find at ABC include Samuel Adam “Black Lager”, Full Sail “Session Black Lager”, Dixie “Blackened Voodoo Lager”, and Krouvice Cerne from the Czech Republic.

Beer blogger Adam Shugan lives for lager in Gainesville, Florida