Hallertau Deception

Brewed by Hallertau Brewbar & Restaurant
Style: Schwarzbier
Auckland, New Zealand

Serve in Dimpled mug, Lager glass, Stein

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(On tap) Clear, dark brown with a reddish hue and a beige head. Lightly fruity aroma with roasted malt accents. Medium in body with a soft mouthfeel - almost a little vinous. Dry finish with a discreet bitterness. Very balanced and well made. 080208

Draught at the brew pub, black with a foamy tan head. A lightly burnt malt aroma, but a good smokiness wins through. Smoked wood and charcoal are the dominant flavours for me, but I found the malty palate a little raw. Some good qualities, but little raw and dry for me.

A Schwarzbier for Saint Pat’s, well that is how I role anyways!
This one settles with a limp and lax beige pad atop a deepest ruby brown body. Pickd up quite a lot of charred red wood on the nose giving it a richness atop hints of burnt peanuts, brine, cola beer, fresh strapped leather and peppery spice. Bitter and sharp burnt malt gives it a tongue-spasming astringency that is initially hard to shake off. Otherwise it is light, delicate even and expresses a gentle milk chocolate, cola-like malt profile and late hit of dusty, herbal hops. Dry, powdery, smoky length otherwise short for flavour. It slowly grew on me, as I took in the bitter charred-ness of it. Quite clean cut and easy to drink. Not too shabby!! 33cL, BBE 04/13, Cellarbrations Carlisle)

I’ve tried a number of schwarzbiers in my time. For me the benchmark ist Kostrizer. Billed as the East German Guinness is was a black lager that was dry, long and perfectly sessionable. It’s a style I quite enjoy and while I would say it is prone to abuse but to be fair I have a fairly open mind as there’s been few examples I haven’t enjoyed. This one looks the part with a cream coloured head that vanished as soon as it was able, clinging to the sides of the glass leaving lace of a sort. Aromas of burnt caramel and roastiness and coffee grounds. It is typical of the style in this respect. The flavour is like other s.beers but a level above. The coffee is silky and more pronounced, easy drinking and just screams that you need to order a second while this is going on. It isn’t the most complex of beers, but it does have charm, character and a certain attractiveness. In essence Thandie Newton in a glass. The finish is just long enough to let you know you’ve enjoyed something lovely, but short enough to demand another. I really, really, really look forward to having another.

Coffee mocca aroma. Dark black in colour. Nice mouthfeel of choclate mild hop bitterness.

Good full bodied black beer. Typically I find black beers lacking in length, whereas this beer has a good hit of roasted malt and cocoa that lingers.

Deception? I’d say more of a shock. The aroma struck me with nausea. A number of unpleasant suggestions occurred to me, but I finally identified what it was: quite unbelievably, that leathery coffeish scent smells like caffeine after being digested and excreted. Yes, it smells like number 1 and number 2 after a good cup of coffee (and I’m NOT referring to Hallertau beer names). Nice try, but even then it didn’t turn me off completely from drinking it. And it wasn’t that bad. Smooth, medium bodied, chalky, and full of chocolates, roasted coffee, roasted malts. Quite Spartan, as the style preaches. Not a touch of fruitiness (well, I guess except for the coffee, which are technically not beans, but berries). Perhaps this is indeed what Schwarzbiere are all about. Just the charred scars, and not a touch of flair or flamboyance. I will pursue some true German Schwarzbiere before I completely give upon this style.

330ml bottle thanks to Cam & Marita. Small creamy light beige good lacing mostly lasting head, thick dark brown/black hue with a wonderful ruby tiny. Full of a complex array of pleasant aromas - strong coco, roasted slightly burnt malt, Irish cream, vanilla, licorice, kelp, soy sauce, whisky, blackberry - yum, there are also other nice aromas there that I can’t describe. Quite bitter but enough sweet to avoid the bitterness dominating, faint salinity. Medium body creamy oily texture soft carbonation sticky then eventually slightly peppery finish. Thoroughly enjoyable, probably the nicest Schwarzbier I have had so far.

Nice one. One of the better I’ve had from Hallertau. This has really piqued my interest in the dark side. In my limited experience, it is rare for the thaste to be like the description, but in this case, it was pretty much right on. Easy drinking.

Lovely rich deep red pour, though head falters too early. Earthy coffee and licorice on the nose, very lively hoppiness in the mouth, but feels a tad too light for a dark beer. Lovely long bitter chocolate on the after taste. A very nice drop.