Saranac Black Forest
Brewed to pay homage to our founder’s homeland, our German-Style Schwarzbier is brewed true to style with a deliciously sweet malty flavor.
It may be dark in color but it’s not heavy on roasted flavor like most people expect in a dark beer.
BEER STYLE:
Bavarian Black Beer
MALT:
Two-Row, Caramel
HOPS:
Mt Hood, Hallertauer
ABV:
5.3%
It may be dark in color but it’s not heavy on roasted flavor like most people expect in a dark beer.
BEER STYLE:
Bavarian Black Beer
MALT:
Two-Row, Caramel
HOPS:
Mt Hood, Hallertauer
ABV:
5.3%
3.1
880 reviews
Utica, United States
Community reviews
At the Loop Hotel with Hrabren, visnja666v and Goran (thanks guys!).
. Blackish, extremely dark amber really. Dull sweet aroma, raisins. Light, light creamy, raisiny taste, more sweet than dry. Vague soapy notes, pollen. This is awful for a Schwarzbier and just an average Dunkel, below average even. There is ABSOLUTELY NO reason to import it here. Useless and way too expensive (again, here).
0.33 at Loop hotel, Folka. Dark brown with small head. Raisin, malts, dry figs, maybe some chocolate, caramel. Light body, roasty bitterness, malty taste. Watery. Not good.
Do yourself a favor and drink 2 before rating, the initial taste will throw you off , but it delivers a decent mouth feel and taste.
Clear dark brown color with big tan head. Chocolate aroma, roasted malt. Spicy taste with roasty finish. Kind of weird (or unique?) notes. Too bad it’s so watery. Different than usual schwarzbier, but i’m not impressed.
(Pivoteka 0,33l bottle)
Less than average black lager. Lacks the creamy chocolate sweetness. Thin body.
Drank from the bottle, purchased at Matt Brewing Company. Aroma of roasted malts, caramel, and slight chocolately aroma. Tastes gross, roasty with a not so nice hop finish. Go get a different beer.
not too shabby - still a little thin and prickly, but they get some of the nuances of the style right and it was a pleasantly light dark beer :)
Dark brown/cola colored, almost no beige head. Aroma is malty, caramel, black malts some melano. Taste is medium sweet malt, caramel, roasted malts, some breadiness in the finish, floral, grassy, almost chewable hops but very low bitterness. Light and watery.
My first beer from this brewery, apparently a Schwarzbier. Moussy and dense, lacing, thick head, even gushing a bit; colour is a transparent, very dark wine red, almost black but not quite. German dark lager-like, malty sweet and, frankly, rather weak aroma of cookie dough, home made caramel, iron, hazelnut oil, candi syrup, toasted bread, molasses, banana, faint hints of vanilla, dried leaves, chocolate topping, black pepper corns, liquorice and pear. Taste begins with a smooth, soft sweetishness, some restrained fruitiness (raisins, pears and dried plums), sourish accent (sour cream), medium carbonation with slightly minerally effect, supple but somewhat thin body; middle phase is clearly metallic, a bit thin and malty all the way through, caramelly, a bit nutty, sweetish with a toasted accent in the end, (practically) not evolving into roasted bitterness at all but instead remaining soft and sweetish with only a light bitterness on the root of the tongue, dominating the finish. Some leafy hops add a further basic bitterness but the maltiness continues and toasted malts will be the last thing you’ll remember from this. Seems a little sweeter than most German Schwarzbiere, with insufficient roasted bitterness; too metallic as well. Nothing truly off-putting, but still far from the best in the style, I’m afraid. Yet I am willing to admit this particular style does not offer too much complexity in general.
Beer #4 of 6 from my mixed dark beer 6 pack. Vanilla porter move over, Black Forest beer is taking the winner’s podium. The color is a nice opaque brown/black with hints of cola when held in the light. Aroma is malty and beckons you into the forest. Taste is delicious and complex. Chocolate, vanilla, malt, caramel, nutty all at once, all singing in perfect harmony. Palate starts creamy but finishes thin, not in a bad way. Overall : I will be buying more of this soon and adding it to my ’attempt to homebrew’ list.
*Old rating. 2010. The beer starts smooth, chocolate, slightly smooth, dark roast, intense but not too malty. Very dry, smooth, round but a bit too watery. Nice.
Bottle to shaker glass. Pours red/black, small off white head, very little lacing. Aroma of faint caramel. Taste of sweet malts, faint bitterness. Medium/light bodied, lively carbonation, mouth feel is kind of thin. Finishes sweet with notes of roasted malts, chocolate, vanilla and caramel. It’s not bad.
Caramel noir, fruits et pointe cendrée sont les parfums captés par mes narines. Goût de pils noire. Je peine à rajouter autre chose. Légère en bouche. Plutôt facile à boire. Correcte dans son ensemble.
Bouteille. bb 31 jan 2015. Provenant de la caisse mixte d’automne. Une bière noire avec une mousse beige. Un nez légèrement chocolaté. Une bouche ronde, légère, avec des saveurs simple de chocolat et un houblon européen agréable.
Decent looking nearly black pour w/ a thin tan head & some lacing. Aroma is faint w/ some very subtle caramel malt. The taste is light but finishes slightly roasty. It’s nice & quite drinkable but nothing all that special going on!
Transfer from BA review on 9-27-13-
Poured from bottle into a pint glass
Appearance – The beer pours a dark brown cola color with a small fizzy white head. The head fades quite fast leaving some light lace on the sides of the glass.
Smell – The aroma is of a sweeter smell overall with lots of caramel mixed with some chocolate and vanilla. Along with these smells is a decent showing of roasted malt and a little bit of coffee. Other aromas of a more cola like nature are there as well; overall the aroma is sweet and dark smelling.
Taste – The taste begins with a sweet chocolate and roasted malt flavor. A good dose of caramel and vanilla are present as well. As the flavor moves from the initial it remains relatively constant with the roasted flavors growing slightly stronger in flavor. The roast flavors increase only to decrease once again toward the end of the taste. In the end, with a bit of more sweetness and chocolate coming to the taste, it leaves a nice sweet and roasted flavor on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – The body of the beer is on the slightly thicker side for a brew of 5.5 % with a rather average carbonation. Both are decent for the style as they make a drinkable brew while still maintaining some of the darker flavors of the brew.
Overall – A decent beer overall. A little on the sweeter side, but tasty overall.
Bottle from my neighbour -- thanks man! -- who refuses to join RateBeer. Just may be the ugliest beer I’ve poured in a long time: pure cola soda, no hint of foam, thin watery limp black liquid. Taste is okay. Malty lager. Yippie. Could be worse, but it ain’t good.
An interpretation of a Schwarzbier I’ll agree. Yet it lacks on nearly every angle. The watered down caramel malt body equals meh. Nose is blistering ephemeral. So much so little can be discerned. An abrupt finish leaves one thinking ...... I’m glad that my wife pass d for this carp and not me.
Pours a clear dark brown, with thin tan head. Aroma of malts and dark fruits. Taste is typical of a schwarzbier, dark, smooth and malty. Thumbs up!
Bottled. From old notes. A decent Schwartz bier with chocolate and coffee notes. Light in flavor. Nothing very special, but a pretty nice black beer. Not much aroma or finish, but likeable.
Appearance: clear dark ruby brown, with a short, very creamy light beige head. Aroma: toasted pumpernickel bread and caraway seed, light roast, fresh cut grass, light pepper . Taste: soy sauce, charred black bread, light chocolate, burnt cardboard, drying hay. Finish: lingering toasty, salty, and grainy notes over some wet grass. Notes: Watery palate...oof. Definitely not my favorite in the style. Far more savory/umami characteristics than I prefer.
It pours a dark reddish brown with a big creamy tan head. The head makes nice lace that slowly slides down the sides of the glass. Its aroma is sweet with roasted malts and caramel. The flavors of the dark roasted malts and caramel move across the tongue as nice bitter notes slide in from the sides to finish slowly with a light bitterness. It has a smooth and creamy palate with soft carbonation that sets you up for anther sip.
Pours a dark brownish red with a decent tan head. Licorice, coffee and malty nose. Flavors of licorice and chocolate up front with a bit of a sweet flavor at the back. Little thin for a dark beer, watery thickness detracts from the overall appeal.
From bottle. Coppery black colour, not much aroma. Caramel and roasted malt flavour, with a bitter finish. Ok, but Saranac do other better beers
Bottle pour. Dark blood red in glass. Thin head. Aroma is chocolate covered cherries, mildly roasted malts and trace ashiness. Taste follows. Bittersweet, with the finish on the sweet end. More drinkable than interesting. Works best as a third or forth beer in the evening, not the first.
ins Glas ergießt sich ein dunkelbraunes Bier mit schöner schaumkrone. Geruch röstmalzig, erdig, Schokolade. Geschmack sehr röstmalzig, Kaffee, Schokolade, leicht trockener Abgang.
Poured from a 12oz bottle into a glass. Its a very dark ruby red with a small foamy head that’s almost mocha color. It disappears rather quickly. no lacing. Not much to the smell a bit of malt, underwhelming. Taste is sweeter than I expected, with caramel and malt. a bit of toffee. Low carbonation very easy drinking so smooth. Great all around beer give it a try! Note: more flavorful as it warms up!
Reviewed from notes. Consumed November 22, 2011.
The appearance has a dark, almost purplish-brown body with a small creamy colored head and had a slightly reddish beige color of the head with very small lacing.
The smell has black cherries, some light malt, some berry aromas, and subdued chocolate.
The taste is basically the same as the previously mentioned flavors through a decent bittersweetness.
The palate is about a medium; comes across slightly creamy; with a quick clean finish, berry/chocolate aftertaste, slightly sessionable.
Overall, this is good for the style and good for me.
Type: 12-oz. bottle
Glass: 16-oz. glass
From: My aunt Jenny
Price: N/A for a variety 12-pack
Purchased: N/A
Consumed: Jan. 17, 2014
Misc.: N/A
Poured a pitch black color with 1-to-2 fingers of khaki tan head. Below average sporadic lacing on the sides. Minimal retention.
Smelled malt heavy, metallic, smoky wood fire, red malts and rye hops.
Tasted caramel, toffee, amber malt, light wood fire and overall a bit lighter than I thought it would be.
Medium body. Thin-to-oily texture. Soft carbonation. Abrupt finish.
Wasn’t a fan of this beer. I probably even overrated it a bit.
Color marrone scuro parzialmente limpido con un fragile e sottile velo poco persistente di schiuma color cappuccino. Aroma dolciastro con sentori di caramello, luppolo e malti debolmente tostati; gusto in bilico tra dolciastro e amarognolo con note di malto, zucchero caramellato e un finale leggermente più asciutto e luppolato. Corpo lieve, struttura leggermente acquosa, effervescenza gentile. Non è cattiva, ma è oltremodo banale.