Guinness Black Lager

Brewed by St. James’s Gate (Diageo)
Style: Schwarzbier
Dublin, Ireland

Serve in Dimpled mug, Lager glass, Stein

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Guinness lovers, don’t waste your time. Pours a dark roasted color, short lived khaki head, no lacing. Smells ok, but the roasted malts take a back seat to Budweiser lager type of smell. Taste is the same, lager yeast simply doesn’t work with dark roasted malts, mouth feel is that of a lager. Just a messy train wreck of a beer. An attempt at a hybrid that just doesn’t work. I like a lot of the black IPAs on the market so I thought id give it whirl. Grab a 4 or an 8 pack of the Gunness Draught widget cans and leave this one on the shelf. I hate to waste beer but the rest of this has a date with my kitchen drain.

4pack at home from Asda, 2011.
Black, fizzy, thin, burnt toast dissolved in water. Poor

Bottle - puts a dark brown/black beer with ruby highlights in your glass - a hard pour makes this look like a guinness - half black foam but there is no long term retention to the cap...demure aroma some light sweetness and roastiness....flavour starts with roasty malts but the hops show up just before the finish which is not really dry but roasty and lightly bitter. This will not displace Kostritzer as a commercial schwarzbier but it decent .

Very excited to try this as I am a recent convert to true Guinness. Sweet caramel aroma, bitter, with burnt cereal taste. No lasting flavour sacrificed for carbonation. I’ll stick to the real Guinness!

330 ml bottle from LCBO. Pours a very dark brown with smallish tan head. Aroma is roasted cereal grains with hints of coffee. Flavour is burnt cereal grains with light coffee and very faint licorice notes - a little watery. Body is on the thin side. Pretty forgettable.

Disappointing as hell, I really expected more from Guiness than this. I was somewhat excited to try this, but this black lager really just fell kind of flat for me. Seemingly geared in the advertisements for those who can’t handle real Guinness, this black lager is rather dull. Aroma is a fainter version of the real thing, light roasty sort of scent. Appearance is almost like a Guinness but with none of the enticing cascades or obvious richness - simply black beer (but that is what I suppose a black lager is). Taste is disappointing, dull - makes one wish desperately for a pint of real Guinness. Over-carbonated, boring, and no lingering aftertaste or satisfaction at all. Tastes like a sell-out drink designed to appeal to people who don’t like Guinness. Like I said, it makes one wish for a real pint of the black. If you’re a fan of the Schwarzbier style, Okanagan Spring’s Brewmaster’s Black is a far better choice if you can get it.

Black with a bit of light that escapes, looks like a porter. Small bubbly off white, beige head. Odd, malty, cereal, dme aroma. Body is thin, and watery, carb is very low, almost flat. Finish is pretty bland, light malts, more dme. Meh, i guess incredibly clod this would be refreshing? Lawn mower beer if you ask me.

The look of Guinness but none of the character, almost a watered down version. Black with tan head, some roasty notes to it, smooth and creamy feel. I could drink this on occasion but average.

This beer was nothing special here. More like a watered-down Guinness with light carbonation. Cheers.

Bottle. Pours dark brown/black with a frothy tan head. Aroma of roasted malts and a hint of chocolate. Flavor was very mild with dark roasted malts, grains and a touch of chocolate.