Parallel 49 Black Hops CDL Schwarzbier at 6.5% ABV | 41 IBU (C$7.49 at Oak & Vine, 650 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 25-May-2018, reviewed 1-Jun-2018)
Appearance: clear brown with two fingers of rocky light beige head, good retention and moderate lacing. (4/5) Aroma: roasty malts, toasted bread, coffee, dark fruit, hint of solvent. (5/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (6/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry moderate bitter finish. (3/5)
I’m seriously starting to wonder why people bother to brew lagers. (Other than Baltic Porters, I mean – those are aces.) I mean, yeah, I acknowledge that there’s an artistry to making a really good example – but why bother when nine times out of ten any approval of that single good example is gonna be qualified with “for a lager”? (And, many more times, that example isn’t all that good at all.) This, rather unfortunately, is one of those times where it’s not that good at all. I sort of see where they’re going with this, with dark roasty malt notes and so on – but the dark fruit feels bruised instead of dried, and there’s a light but very real gluey solvent note that really puts me off. It’s hard enough to get a Cascadian Dark Ale right – why handicap yourself by trying to do a Cascadian Dark Lager? (12/20)
6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
