Lager – Dark – The Tap Takeover

Beer Review: Chilton Mill Brewing’s Schwarzbier – Black Lager

Name: Schwarzbier – Dark Lager
Brewing Company: Chilton Mill Brewing Company
Location: Long Valley, NJ
Style: Lager – Dark | Schwarzbier
ABV: 5.6%

A delicious, elegant, dynamite Dark Lager from one of NJ’s smaller, yet more robust breweries.

From the untappd page for the beer:

This German style dark lager exudes smooth roasty characteristics, balanced by traditional Noble hops. Dark in color, while remaining exceptionally drinkable!

Chilton Mill Brewing is a “Pandemic” Brewery, having the unfortunate timing to open during the early days of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Their ability to pivot to crowlers for offsite consumption, coupled with the great beer they brew, allowed them to survive the pandemic and grow as the world recovered (and still is recovering) from the Pandemic. I visited once earlier in the year and made my way back because I wanted to try this beer in particular.

So…this beer, a Germanic Dark Lager. Three words describing a beer I very much enjoy. German Dark Lagers come in a few varieties, Munich Dunkel, Dopplebock, and this, the Schwarzbier which literally translates to “Black Beer” from the German language. The style has more roast/smokiness than most lagers and in some ways, could be considered the lager-cousin to the Porter of the ale family. There are also similarities between the German Schwarzbier and Czech Dark Lager, or Tmavé Pivo.

Mini-style lesson over, on to Chilton Mill Brewing’s Schwarzbier.

The beer I’m given is black, as black as any beer I’ve had. A nice, light khaki head about the thickness of my pinky sits atop the beer. Picture perfect, I would say.

I skip breathing in the aroma of the beer and take a sip. I am very pleased with my first taste of this beer. There’s a very nice roast character, which is a hallmark of the style. It isn’t overpowering to the point that it is a smoked beer, but just enough to make that element of flavor’s presence known. On my second quaff of the beer, I get something unexpected, yet pleasant – some kind of sweet fruit element. Not sure what specifically, but that element likely comes from the Noble hops. But that sweetness is a great level of complexity in this beer.

This beer, Schwarzbier – Dark Lager is one of Chilton Mill’s most popular beers, it has more check-ins on untappd than any other they have brewed. I was speaking to owner/head-brewer Mike about the beer and he said it was the first (or one of their first) beer he made available and it proved extremely popular. What I like about the beer is how elegant, well-crafted, and balanced the beer is. I have a very strong appreciation for the level of complexity especially considering the beer is only 5.6% ABV. This isn’t a very common/popular style and what I also appreciate about Chilton Mill is the dedication to these kinds of classic, flavorful styles, keeping them in rotation (the other beer I had on my visit was an excellent English Brown Ale).

This is one of the best Dark Lagers I’ve had all year and maybe even since I’ve been on untappd..

Recommended, link to 4.50 bottle cap untappd rating check in.

Beer Review: Schilling Beer Company’s Modernism

Beer Review

Name: Modernism
Brewing Company: Schilling Beer Company
Location: Littleton, NH
Style: Lager – Dark /Czech-Style Dark Lager
ABV: 4.8%

A delicious dark lager from the Granite State brewery that hits the style notes elegantly.

From Schilling Beer’s landing page for the beer:

Modernism is inspired by the Czech black lager tradition. It features a deep complexity from the decoction process and a hop schedule typical of Bohemian beers. Notes of dark malts, bittersweet chocolate and caramel dominate. The finish is dry.

Prior to this review, no beer from the Granite State (New Hampshire) has been reviewed here at The Tap Takeover. When Schilling Beer Company began distributing their Lagers and European-inspired ales to New Jersey, I had an inkling that would change. I knew of the brewery and their well-regarded lagers so I was eager to try one. I made an impulse decision to stop in a liquor store on my way home from work, that decision paid off when I saw a four pack of this Czech Dark Lager in the beer cooler, especially as the style (as pointed out when I reviewed the Icarus/Hackensack Brewing collaboration) has become a favorite lager.

Well after that, what do we have in Modernism?

From the can, the beer pours a deep brown, although the photo above the beer looks closer to black than brown. I suspect if the color were lighter, the beer would be translucent so there’s a nice clarity to the beer. The aroma gives off a little bit of breadiness and dark chocolate, maybe? But nothing out of the ordinary.

I like what I’m tasting in that first sip. The expected breadiness comes through thanks to the malt, but I’m also getting notes of bittersweet chocolate, very pleasant bittersweet chocolate at that which also gives a hint of caramel. A nice element that comes across from the malt is a toasted bread flavor, obviously I’m leaning towards pumpernickel, or maybe even rye-pumpernickel marble because of the color. In other words, lots of pleasant flavors coming together.

Other flavors come up in the profile as well. There’s a sharp taste that likely comes from the hops, which is a welcome element of the beer. That sharpness reminds me of coffee and maybe even menthol? Not that the beer has a menthol flavor, but it has the same feel, if only slightly. The body on this one is fairly light, which lends to my earlier statement that if this beer were lighter colored, It would likely be translucent.

The stamp on the bottom indicates the beer was canned 05/12/22, which lands this beer still in a fairly fresh status at five months old. That said, I’d love to give this beer a try from a batch and/or can closer to the canning date.

While Modernism is the first beer I’ve had from Schilling, I hope it won’t be the last beer I drink from the New Hampshire brewery and I hope to see more of their beers appearing on the shelves of liquor stores in my area. In the end, Modernism is a damned good example of the Czech-Style Dark Lager.

Recommended, link to 4.25 bottle cap untappd rating check in.

Beer Review: Tmavy Lezak by Icarus Brewing & Hackensack Brewing

Beer Review

Name: Tmavy Lezak
Brewing Companies: Icarus Brewing Company & Hackensack Brewing Company
Location: Lakewood, NJ & Hackensack, NJ
Style: Lager – Dark / Czech Dark Lager
ABV: 5.3%

Two NJ Breweries come together to brew an outstanding Czech Dark Lager.

From Icarus Brewing’s facebook post for the beer:

We decided to brew a traditional Czech-style Dark Lager with our freinds from Hackensack Brewing in anticipation of Icarus Brewing Lagerfest 2022. Tmavy Lezak was brewed with floor malted German Pilsner Malt, debittered Black Malts, and German Crystal Munich Malts. It was then hopped with German Saaz and lagered for an extended period of time. Meaning “Dark Lager”, Tmavy Lezak swirls Dark Malt notes full of Caramel and Subtle Roast through its easy-drinking yet brooding body. This one is a wonderful Dark Lager to welcome the summer and enjoy with freinds!

My Lager Leanings (over Ales) have been well-documented here at the Triple T and one Lager in particular has caught my fancy over the last year or so – Czech Dark Lager. One of my favorite beers last year was the one-off “Czech Dark Lager” Weyerbacher and I’ve had a few since. When Icarus Brewing announced their annual Lagerfest (last year the Czech Pils with Conclave was great), I was hoping a Czech Dark Lager would be one of the beers. Fortunately, they canned Tmavy Lezak, a collaboration with Hackensack Brewing and put into distribution ahead of Lagerfest. Tmavy Lezak translates from Czech as “Dark Lager.”

From the can, the beer pours a deep/dark brown but not quite black. Nothing special on the aroma – it smells like beer. That’s not a bad thing.

First sip is a pleasing mouthful of malts. There’s a nice breadiness to the beer and maybe because of the color pumpernickel bread comes to mind. There’s a thickness to the beer I don’t typically associate with lagers but find a very welcome characteristic of Tmavy Levak nonetheless.

There’s an underlying crispness to the beer, too. That’s a more common lager trait, to be sure. That crispness is most noticeable on the finish, with a snap and even a slight spiciness from the Saaz hops. It is a nice contrast to the initial malty breadiness.

I want to call out the can art on this beer, too. Frankly, the can art on Icarus’s beers are some of the best in the State of New Jersey and this one is no exception. I find the font for the beer name very appealing and the colors and overall design evoke the flag of the Czech Republic with the historic center of Prague silhouetted in the background of the center of the can. Everything, design-wise, comes together quite nicely.

I’m a fan of Hackensack Brewing’s beers (particularly their outstanding pilsner, Parking Lot Pilz) so I thought the collaboration would be really good. I was right, these two breweries know how to make lagers separately and they’ve collaborated on a relatively obscure (at least here in the us) lager style with excellent result.

This beer was released ahead of Icarus Brewing’s annual Lagerfest, which happens June 18thLagerfest, which happens June 18th of this year. Many of the beers they are pouring will be collaboration brews like Propriety Pils brewed with Conclave Brewing, I LIFE (with Lime) brewed in collaboration with Destination Unknown Brewing. Icarus recently installed a slow pour tap, for their lagers. It is worth the trip any time for a visit to Icarus Brewing, but this weekend especially if you enjoy the Lager Life.

Recommended, link to 4.25 bottle cap untappd rating check in.

Beer Review: Lakefront Brewery’s Eastside Dark Lager

Beer Review

Name: Eastside Dark
Brewing Company: Lakefront Brewery
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Style: Lager – Dark / Bavarian Dark Lager
ABV: 5.6%

“A flavorful, every-day, easy drinking lager. What’s not to like?”

From Lakefront Brewery’s landing page for the beer:

Honoring the eclectic East Side of the city, this Bavarian dark lager is a blend of three specialty grains, creating a rich, smooth, dark beer that anyone can enjoy. Our most award-wining beer of all time!

ABOUT THE BREW

Pours a clear, dark color with an off-white head. Hints of roasted malts find their way into the aroma, and form a pleasant background to the dark, rich flavor. The German lager yeast rounds out this brew with a smooth, complex finish. Winner of the 2014 and 2016 European Beer Star Gold Medal for Bohemian-Style Schwarzbier.

What is the most common image conjured for the word “lager?” I would guess in America, that image would be fizzy, yellow liquid. While understandable, that idea undermines the fact that long before Pilsners came to dominate the world, dark lagers were far more prevalent. In their Eastside Lager, legacy Wisconsin Craft brewer Lakefront Brewery looks to evoke that classic, old-world style. This beer would seem to land somewhere between a Schwarzbier and a Munich Dunkel, both of which are styles I like. How does the final result match up?

The beer pours a translucent brown, looking more the part of a Munich Dunkel than a Schwarzbier. Aroma doesn’t stand out too much, it smells like a bready lager.

There’s a very pleasant malt element in this beer that gives me bready hints. The malt gives a very balanced sweetness, it is far from cloying, but is definitely present. I don’t know if it is the color of the beer that has me down this path, but pumpernickel bread comes to mind as what the bready malts evoke in my palate.

While this beer does indeed remind me of a Munich Dunkel, I’m also finding similarities to an English Brown Ale. If you put this beer next to an English Brown, it might not be easy to correctly pinpoint the style of the beers from a visual standpoint. Some of the flavor elements are similar, but the lager yeast in this beer would be where the differences would be noticeable. This is not to knock Eastside Lager but what I’m saying, more or less, is if you enjoy English Brown Ales, you’d likely enjoy this beer.

One of the important characteristics of a beer is how it finishes in one’s palate. For me, Eastside Dark has a strong finish – the pleasant flavor makes me want more. The sweetness and refreshing elements often associated with lagers is on point here, I want to enjoy more of the beer..

Eastside Dark is a flavorful, easy drinking lager that would work well alongside any meal or anytime you’re in the mood for a no-nonsense tasty beer.

Recommended, link to Untappd 3.75-star rating.

Untapped badges earned with this beer (one of the cooler looking badges, in my opinion):

Schwarz-buckler (Level 3)