Rio Salado Thunderhead Schwarz Dark Lager

Formerly brewed at Rio Salado Brewing Company
Style: Schwarzbier
Tempe, Arizona USA

this week i visited wisconsin and sampled the sprecher black bavarian and the calumet eclipse. as subjective as the beer world is, i must say that rio salado’s schwarz is my favorite. the sprecher product has a hop component that is attractive and r.s.’s opts to minimize the hop. r.s.’s schwarz is focused on a rich malt. the last half barrel keg ot tim’s schwarz is on tap at my house in casa grande. update, 24 september, 2006 the last of the schwarz is gone. the final keg passed away in the company of three old friends, requiescat in pace.

Courtesy of Bockyhorsey. <P> Burnt and roasty aroma that approaches a stout more than a schwarz. BEAUTIFUL looking beer. Deep black with a two finger thick head that is so dark mocha it is almost black. Slightly sour in the fore then roasty with coffee and chocolate notes fromt he middle to finish. Not really to style the malt profile is lost in there.

tap at taphouse-tempe, AZ-pours almost pitch black with a beautiful tan head that was an inch thick. big chocolate and roast aroma. mocha predominates the flavors and is delivered by a velvety body that fit this beer perfect! I have a bottle of this and i hope it holds up to this fine sample. probably rio salado’s best beer! Just to add to this, i had the bottle of this the other night and I have to say that it held up just as well as the tap version. Best Swarz i have had to date!

Good pour for this one. Head brown and creamy like pouring a chocolate milk. Body was black and could see tiny particles floating arround near the bottom of the glass. The beer got better the warmer it got..

Black. Interesting aroma of smoke, marshmellow, a variety of malt (roasted, burnt, chocolate and coffee), mild fruit and subtle hopping. Very flavorful. Big for its size. Notes of burnt fruits, smoke, coffee and roasted malts. Rich, medium body with a nice texture and mouthfeel. I enjoyed this Schwarz.

Appearance: a fully black color, and a large, lush cocoa-colored head. Aroma: creamy, and nutty, and...well, that’s it, but it’s quite good on it’s own. Nice, though brief, drop of hops on the palate, but malt is cheif in this schwarzbier. Very smooth, and eminently drinkable. Quite tasty, too. Good texture, full body, taste becomes fuller as we go, rich and chocolatey and delicious. Ah, I find myself enjoying the schwarzbier more and more, and they might be my favorite lager style!

Level-headed roasted malts point the way to a succulent crème brûlée…Frothy carbonation elegantly portrays this ode to roastiness and even manages to fish out some dark chocolate flakes…Bready connotations and toffee infusions round off this fabulous example of a schwarzbier…

WOW this was good,,a nice stronger tasting beer than ive had in the past,,,but then im sill a neewby,,anyway this had a taste i really liked with a bit of a bite,,,,the dark black color looks cool to!!!!