New Belgium 1554
A surprisingly bright taste and a dry, chocolaty finish -- one evocative of dark brews enjoyed in Belgian taverns 500 years ago. Not a porter, not a stout -- it's 1554.
from https://www.newbelgium.com/beer/1554 :
Enlightened Dark Ale
1554 defies the style guidelines of modern beer. Although dark in color, 1554 is not a porter, stout, schwarzbier or bock. Rather, it is a rebirth of a lost beer style called zwert (Flemish for black), which uses gruit for bittering. The oldest reference to zwert beer comes from 1285. However, our brewing inspiration came from a book published in 1554, which was the height of popularity for zwertbeer. First released in 1998, our whimsical improvisation includes a variety of specialty dark malts, a dash of licorice root, and a European lager yeast that’s fermented at ale temperatures.
YEAST Lager Yeast
HOPS Nugget
MALT Pale, Carapils, Black, Munich, Chocolate
from FoBAB dinner at dusekschicago :
Style
Belgian Dark
Malt Varieties
Munich, Caramel 80, Black, Chocolate, & Pale
Color
Brilliant, clear, dark mahogany & sturdy tan head
from https://www.newbelgium.com/beer/1554 :
Enlightened Dark Ale
1554 defies the style guidelines of modern beer. Although dark in color, 1554 is not a porter, stout, schwarzbier or bock. Rather, it is a rebirth of a lost beer style called zwert (Flemish for black), which uses gruit for bittering. The oldest reference to zwert beer comes from 1285. However, our brewing inspiration came from a book published in 1554, which was the height of popularity for zwertbeer. First released in 1998, our whimsical improvisation includes a variety of specialty dark malts, a dash of licorice root, and a European lager yeast that’s fermented at ale temperatures.
YEAST Lager Yeast
HOPS Nugget
MALT Pale, Carapils, Black, Munich, Chocolate
from FoBAB dinner at dusekschicago :
Style
Belgian Dark
Malt Varieties
Munich, Caramel 80, Black, Chocolate, & Pale
Color
Brilliant, clear, dark mahogany & sturdy tan head
3.5
1883 reviews
Fort Collins, United States
Community reviews
Fles. Aroma zoet, ook in smaak. Moutig in mond en in nasmaak. Droge afdronk met beetje gevoel bubbels. Dan pas proef je kruiden. Niet schokkend.... Om het maar te zeggen: there"s nothing wrong with the old Belgium.
12 oz bottle. Pours dark deep brown with a nice buff head. Smells of raisins and yeast. Understated balanced plum raisin and brown bread flavors with very little yeast. A kind of Belgian for beginners but quite nice.
Pours brown with a thin beige head. The aroma is milder, with what is offered being heavily malty. Its toasty and bready, and has subtle chocolate and yeast. Sipping is dry and faintly bitter. More chocolate comes through now, being complemented by a smoky element. The toast and bread are also retained, being joined by light raisin. I still get a faint yeast touch as well. Light in body, creamy in texture, and with an easy chocolate aftertaste. This drinks very easily. Its perfect for when you're looking for a malty change of pace.
Beautiful look to it. Rich Dark amber smoothness. However, the taste is a bit bitter. Won't buy again.
This is a very tasty beer, especially as it is a lager. Pours dark brown, with a medium beige head. Flavor is more like an ale. Delicious.
Black with tight mid foam
Toffee, sweet chocolate, coffee, burnt, smoke, sweet malt, honey, clean, minty
Dark chocolate, toffee, coffee, creamy, a little caramel. Yet has that lager light and crisp in the taste.
One of the best dark beer I have.
Spicy, chocolatey, very smooth, slightly hoppy, delicious! Very balanced
Nutty chocolate malty.
I poured it from the bottle into a Stella glass. It pours a dark brown with an off-white head. The aroma is chocolate, caramel, and bread. The taste is more chocolatey than expected. There was also caramel, nuts, and grain. This was pretty easy to drink. There was some good flavor. It went down very smoothly. Everything was pretty subtle besides the chocolate notes.
Bottle in Westerville, 3-16-17
Prev 3.6
Purchase in a variety pack from my local Stater Brothers. Thick brown head on top of a dark dark Amber body. It smells sweet like molasses. It's sweet with no taste of hops on pallet. There's no little dreaded aftertaste it's quite refreshing after drinking a bunch of ipas.
This is a very drinkable, malty Belgian with a fantastic dark chocolate finish.
Celebrating drinks. This one has a really great taste with flavors of malt and grains. It goes down perfectly with my stew on this winter day. It is not really like the beers I had in Belgium but closer to home and more available.
Mild chocolate and winter spices. A quick finish and a mild sweetness that stays with you
Bottle at a Bonenkai from a New Belgium holiday pack. Enjoyed straight from the bottle. Lovely chocolate malt forward nose with a touch of cold brew coffee aromas. Medium body with good chocolate notes on the palate thoughout. Not too heavy, and very enjoyable. Great beer.
Bottle from Total Wine. Dark brown in colour, with a thin, off-white, head. A rich dark lager, with leafy hops, a hint of charcoal, dark berry and chocolate sweetness leading to a pleasantly bitter finish. Enjoyable.
Keg at 73 Enid Street. A clear nutty brown coloured pour with no head. Aroma is earthy twig, raw nutty malts, toast, apple. Flavour is composed of earthy twigs bark, toasted brown bread, earth. Palate is earthy, semi sweet, lowish carbonation. Meh.
Bottle, picked up at brewery in Asheville so as fresh as it gets. Pours dark brown-red and clear. Nice fine head, doesn't appear filtered. Aroma of dark malt and light hop. Tastes crisp, dry, dark malts without bitterness (debittered malts methink). A little hop in the background. A nice easy drinking beer.
On tap at Mali Medo Zagreb. Black coloured, medium sized brownish head, light caramel in the nose. Light roasted malt, mild chocolate, some fruits and caramel with light nutty touch in the finish. Nothing special here.
On tap at Mali medo, Zagreb. Black, medium to large creamy tan head. Aroma is toasty, malty, lightly fruity. Flavour is toasty, nutty, roasted hazelnut, bready. Charred wood. Light caramel sweetness. Dry roasty finish. Kinda watery, moving towards creamy texture. Light body. Very light cardboard touch, could be from the malts. Also experienced light green apple, nothing too intense. Not bad.
Pours clear black with a thick light creme head. Aroma of roasted malt. Taste has lightly toasted notes, creme elements. Creamy palate, nutty, light and well rounded. Good!
I was surprised to find that this is a lager. It has the appearance of a stout ale, but with a milder flavor. It appears a very dark brown in the glass with a minimal head. Mild flavor and mild aroma.
Backlog, pours a cola colored reddish brown. Tan head with decent lacing. Notes are bread, dark fruit, light toast malts, grass, and chocolate. Light bodied black lager. Alright
Black colour with luscious rocky head. Nice light coffee and choc flavour. Light body.
Brown malty bready. Light subtle. Not typing again.
Aroma is toasty, nutty, and chocolatey. Bready malt up front, which turns into caramel and roasted dark chocolate. The finish lingers with sweetness of caramel and cocoa. Clean flavors throughout and very even keeled with no spikes of hops, acidity, or fruitiness. Drinks like a 4.5 %abv brew, but it is slightly sneaky at 6%. Has a bit of a creamy mouthfeel, a little more creaminess than other shwarzbeers I've had. Roasted barley bitterness in the finish as well.
Standard taste black lager....
Very dark, hints of something chocolatey
Wednesday, December 12, 2018 10:10 PM
12 ounce bottle to wine glass
Sight: Black/ very dark Brown small brown head, goes away quickly, lacing
Smell: fragrant, roasted grains
Taste: lightly bitter, some sweetness, light tasting
Mouthfeel: lively carbonation lingers in roof of tongue, good followthrough, finish
Overall: very good beer, ok to repeat, not to look for
This is a style I really like and they seemed to get it right. Surprised they traveled to Belgium though thought this was a German style. Dark, crisp, smoky, clean, The smoke and dryness holds the normally too sweet dark in check.