Lakefront Eastside Dark

12 oz. bottle, "Bottled during Feb." Nice dunkel smell in my tumbler, a bit of phenol perhaps, no yeasties. Darker ruby color than most stuff passing itself off as "dark beer." Column of bubbles supporting a thin creamy head. Taste has some toffee and caramel grains to it. Now, I let this sit for 15 minutes while doing other computer stuff, and found this somehow settled to a lightly carbonated, almost cask type texture. Not quite the coffee roast they claim, but still pretty smooth and enjoyable. Then again, this may be an older bottle.

Bottle. Classic lager smell, like I just sat down at a Wisconsin German restaurant. Sweet and malty aroma with hints of plums and raisins that also show up in the flavor. Pours a sparkling, gold-tinted brown color with a medium amount of gray/beige head. Sharp, almost sour hop taste balances the fruity, malty sweetness. There is also a smokiness from the roasted malt. Pleasant coffee-like bitter aftertaste, reminiscent of a porter. Clean, crisp, drinkable, and refreshing in the palate. Despite its classic German scent and the fact that it is a brown lager, Eastside Dark tastes remarkably like a brown ale. Still, the lingering lager character makes this an unusually satisfying brew and one well worth trying.

Lighter appearance than I was expecting. Light coffee aroma which, upon hitting the tongue, disappoints. Slight caramel character to it, but the hops just don’t seem to balance this one out. Eh, average in all respects.

Translucent toast-colored body, thin off-white head. Toasty aroma with caramel and brown sugar. Cerealy sweet body with toasty notes and light hops bitterness. A pretty good sip.

This wound up ever so slightly better than the last LF I had from sampler purchased in Boulder. This rating may not be "fair" to the brewery, but it serves as a reminder to me to see if ever I can have a fresh one, whether my mind will change and also as warning to those in Boulder that perhaps these are past their prime. Not bad, something good lingers beneath the surface, but I seriously doubt this was meant to be either tart or funky. Characteristics of the roast malt are hidden behind that. Sad.

ABR, poured from a bottle. Another brewery that showed up with worthless fucking beer at the ABR. Thin watery tasteless swill ass beer.

Draft at the Durham World Beer Festival. Dark brown with a white head. Roasty malts, mild nuttiness. Flavor is more of the same, but adds a mild cocoa and citrus hop zing.

12oz bottle acquired in trade with DavidP (thanks!). Poured a dark brown (almost a dark, dark orange) color with an averaged sized off white head. Aromas of roast, chocolate, and light nuts. Tastes of roast, toasted malts, light chocolate and caramel. Thinner body.