UPDATED: SEP 4, 2020 12oz bottle from a 7 Eleven in Portland, OR and drunk on 26/09/2010. A pretty tasty dark lager. Rye and chewy grain nose, with a little brown sugar. Light sweetness in the flavour.

UPDATED: AUG 9, 2019 This is a backlog rating from late 2011 or early 2012 from a bottle, from notes. When I had this beer it was average to below average for the style and not something I wanted to have again or I just didn't get back to my notes because of my technology at the time. Words to describe this beer are toasted lager malts, mild chocolate and molasses, earthy, better than expected.

UPDATED: MAY 10, 2019 Dark brown color with a small, light tan head that left nice lacing on the glass. Roasted malts, burnt bread, toasty dry finish.

Aroma: herbs and roasted dark malts. Appearance: clear deep amber color and white head. Taste: roasted dark malts, burnt caramel, herbs, heather, rather dry. Palate: low body and medium carbonation. Overall: decent dunkel, nice bitterness and clear profile.

Mouthfeel maybe slightly better, but aroma on this one was slightly skunky....so all around about the same as their regular lager, but with chocolate malt added. A tad thin for a black lager, if using Sammy's Black Lager as a benchmark...which I seem to like a lot more than this. Lacking a full flavor, both on malt and hops end. Appearance more like a dark brown versus black. Wanted to sample a single of this first b/c they have this at Whole Foods for $12.99/12-pack. Think I will pass though and go another route. I actually am liking this better towards the end, so may give another chance if purchasing a 12 for a party or something...or some kind of daytime event. Wondering if Yuengling's Black and Tan is a better choice for less.

Dark brown with medium beige head. Slight milk notes in the aroma. Moderate bitterness with some roasted notes and some sourness on the background.

Dark brown/black color; Medium slightly creamy body; Aroma of toasted malt, & some chocolate; Flavor of slight roasted malt, caramel, coffee, chocolate, and light hops; Nicely balanced; Pretty decent lager.

Roasted malts, light watery coffee, a hint of dark chocolate, toasted black bread. Feels nice on the tongue, with a medium-light body which makes it an easy drink. Refreshing, flavorful, malty and roasty. Good beverage.

DOB: 4/24/2017

2015 BJCP Category: 2C International Dark Lager

AROMA: Fairly generic lager scent of base malt and not much else. Dark malt is present, but does not come off as roasty or sweet. Virtually no hop character other than a hint of spicy/earthiness. No overt adjunct presence. Clean fermentation. 9/12

APPEARANCE: Deep brown from a distance, though more of a mahogany color overall (13-27 SRM). Clear body. Large tan froth never completely dissipates and laces well. 3/3

FLAVOR: First half of the palette is rather mild with a standard base malt character. Not particularly sweet, but far from dry. Mild dry bitterness with low spicy/earth hop flavor. There is a noticeable roasted malt and coffee flavor as it descends with a light coffee-like aftertaste, though it fades quickly. No adjunct taste. Clean fermentation. 17/20

MOUTHFEEL: Medium body; medium-high carbonation. More smooth than crisp. Not refreshing per se, but quaffable. Despite the name, it's not really sessionable at 5.4% ABV. 4/5

OVERALL IMPRESSION: Much more flavorful and interesting than your standard pale lager. Very drinkable and exemplifies the style quite well. 9/10

TOTAL SCORE: 42/50

12 fl oz bottle. Pours dsrk brown with a small tan head. Aroma is roasted malty. Light breadish. Roasted malt, breadish and sligh sweet caramelish. Lingering roasted breadish into the finish.