Garrison Black Lager

Brewed by Garrison Brewing Company
Style: Schwarzbier
Halifax, Canada

500 ml bottle, 2007 edition (just in case there’s a 2008). Pitch black in colour with no trace a light coming through whatsoever and a mostly lasting creamy tan head. Smoky, roasty, chocolate, coffee, lightly nutty, and a touch of raisin aroma. Smoked cheese, nutty, chocolate, roasty coffee, a trace of alcohol, orange rind, and vinous flavours with a roasty and smoky bitter finish. Medium bodied, very smooth and drinkable for the abv, almost juicy mouthfeel. Perfect soft carbonation for the nature of this beer – I’d say for the style but I can’t figure out exactly what that is for sure. Not that I really care, because this is damn good whatever style it is.

Bottle procured from Troy Burtch (thanks, Troy!). 2007 edition. Very, very dark brown with a good sized creamy beige head. Aroma and flavour both hold dark roasted coffee, charred malt, dark sugar, smoke, dark bittersweet chocolate, and just a hint of booze. Body is full without being sticky, with a nice soft edge. "Imperial Schwarzbier", eh? Sure, sounds good to me!

2008-08-02. Pitch black with a modest dark head. Sweet dark malt aroma, cocoa and a light roast. Flavour is similar, smooth chocolately malt, kissed by toasty roasty malt, just a touch of bitterness. Just a great, rich overall flavour. Smooth medium bodied palate. Pretty awesome, I can’t believe it took me so long to get to it. Many thanks Bobby. Bottle courtesy of OKBeer.

500ml bottle from mullet2007! Thanks!! Nose of bigtime coffee, roastiness, and chocolate; clear very dark brown with a small tan head; flavor is coffee, rich creamy chocolate, and a very light background bitterness. Finish has a very light bitterness combined with some chocolate. Mouthfeel is very creamy. As good as most Impy stouts

Very unique beer, dark brown with a small head. Carbonation is low, creamy mouthfeel, really smooth. Smoke, chocolate, licorice, warming alcohol and a little coffee. Phenomenal beer all around, thumbs up on this one.

Pours nearly completely opaque black with hints of deep brown and red. Thin brown head that dissipates nicely. Smells a bit smoky with nice undertones of roasted malt. Flavor has strong roasted malts and smokiness up front with a hint of bitterness. Long lasting coffee or dark chocolate tasting finish. Carbonation is low, but it’s perhaps not quite as thick as a stout, very creamy though. A very nicely balanced beer.

A very generous gift from geth_in_beer. Deep black beer with a thick tan head. Rich chocolatey aroma. Nice toasty, roasty malts with a fairly prominent smokiness throughout. A soft caramelly malt base backs up these darker roasty characters. Flavour is fairly sweet and roasty with caramel and dark toasted malts throughout. A bit of yeastiness behind the clean rich malts. Fairly insistent smokiness that lingers on the palate. A lightly salty roastiness, rich and quite decadent. Sweet but not cloying and there is a nice earthy bitterness on the back that dries it out. Very tasty and a bit surprise.

Bottle, thanks to my friends Big Red and K. Pitch black, small foamy brown head -if that is a schwarzbier, I’ve never seen one that thick before - look substantial. Chocolaty sweet aroma -some molasses, hint of brown sugar and alcohol. Taste: Wow. Light tingly body (not expected upon viewing) yet silky smooth taste features tons of chocolate and lots of dark malt sweetness. Lots of hops come through, lots of alcohol, especially in finish. Porter+dunkel+Schwarzbier = this? Great combo, wonderfully balanced (somehow), complex. A stunning hybrid, Garrison is going to really really miss Greg Nash, beers like this are not easily duplicated.