Port Brewing Midnight Expression Lager (Moon Lit Sessions)

Brewed by Port Brewing/Lost Abbey
Style: Schwarzbier
San Marcos, California USA

Serve in Dimpled mug, Lager glass, Stein

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Black in color with a thin layer of brown lacing. The nose shows off coffee, dark caramel and malt. The nose is pretty simple but comes off as almost deep. In the mouth it is medium-bodied with good balance and a finish of bitter coffee. A strange combination of "heavy" attributes as well as "light".

Not my favorite from Port, by any means. Pours black, with a slightly tan head. Smells like smokey meats, burnt toast and a bit of coffee. Dry, but thin. Slightly watery palate, with the same flavors, and just a touch of sweetness. The flavor is mostly bitter, but without the bittersweet flavor of hops I’m so used to - it’s just bitter. Needs more carbonation. Not a fan.

a roasty black lager, goes down smooth, pours dark, bitter hops and roasted malts. pretty damn good.... reg. 5% alcohol vol.

Color: Black Aroma:Roasted barley, some coffee Body:Initially sweet breadish flavor moving over to burnt coffee and a hint of chocolate. Finish:Roasted flavors continue with some remaining sweetness. Over-all/Mouth-feel:Medium, medium to medium-high carbonation.

Bottle@Home. Black chocolate aroma with hints of coffee, cola and sulphur. Black, light brown head, good lace. Plain in flavour, bitter, coffee and black chocolate hints. Dry mouth feel. Uninteresting but not bad.

Bottle 650ml @ yngwie
Pours black with a tan head. Aroma has notes of roasted malt, chocolate and caramel. Taste is medium sweet and light bitter. Body is light to medium, texture is thin to oily, carbonation is soft.

Pour is a very deep shade of brown, nearing black with almost no head at all. Nose is very roasty, almost like that or a porter. Taste is deep malty, and roasty, almost like a smoked porter again. Rather thin on the tongue.

I read labels and try to relate. I read this one and cannot. It's verbal diarrhea. What does surfing at midnight have in common with a schwarzbier? Moving forward. Pours abysmal black...think Siberia darkness 24x7 season...yeah it's bleak! It meets the standard and is a tastier black lager than the newer Guiness black watery lager. There is value in your choice tonight. Coffee, earthly, terroir and bitter. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

I’m actually rating this against the style of American Dark Lager, I don’t think that it is a schwartzbier. Just because it’s a really dark lager doesn’t mean it’s a schwartzbier. Aroma- Burnt roastiness, smells like a campfire. I even got the impression of smoked meat. Appearance- Murky, Dark Chocolate color, no clarity... perhaps due to the bottle conditioning. Very little dark tan head is appropriate for style. Taste- No sweetness and no esters, both qualities are appropriate for style. Roasty, burnt flavors dominate, BJCP says that this is a defect for the style, but I kind of like it. Low sorness, moderate hop bitterness. Low hop flavor. Palate is light in body, heavy on the carbonation. There is a very little astringency. It works for the style. Overall impression- I enjoyed this beer because you don’t see too many dark american lagers. If you made this with ale yeast instead of lager, it would be an awesome stout. The roastiness is a bit out of place, but it works for me because it is different. It tastes like they just heaped the roasted malt in the beer. For the price, it’s worth checking out.

A little smokey, warming, malty and dark. Some light bitterness and some nuttyness. A little roasted toffee and coffee. Not bad.