San Miguel Dark Lager

Brewed by San Miguel
Style: American Dark Lager
Manila, Philippines

12oz bottle coutesy of Turbo. Sweet fruit and some mild roast for aroma. Black body held to light has red hue with decent head. Flavor of sweet rasins and a carbination cola in the mix. Decent beer to go alaong with a meal.

This beer shocked me. After this brewery’s decent but very mediocre and slightly odd premium lager and its dreadful light beer, I was skeptical about this but bought it at the same time. It is, however, wonderful. It’s a dark red brown, almost black, with a big tan head that lasts a long time and leaves some lacing. The aroma is hard to pin down, but very pleasant, full, a bit sweet, with toasted grain, hints of chocolate & leaves. The taste is even better. It is very, very nice, smooth, with a nice sweet-bitter balance and also very hard to pin down. It has a lot going on and is constantly intriguing, yet pleasant, with different taste and palate elements, making it quite complex. It is somewhat light in body, but with a full, very lively, engaging palate that lasts and intriuges, with a light tartness on the tongue and a great balance of smooth, refreshing, light elements and full taste and interest.

Slight roasty aroma. Dark, looks and smells somewhat like root beer. Many american dark lagers look like this. Taste is well behaved. Very little detectable bitterness. Comes across like a mild enjoyable porter. An easy to drink dark beer. Finish is non assuming burned wood and is just the right amount of personality to let you know its beer. Not bad.

Being a black lager fan I thought i would like this. Had a medicinal flavor that just ruined the whole thing. The color was very appealing though.

Best beer I had in the Philippines, hands down. Had a glass at the Hobbit House in Boracay, brown color with rounded cherry-red edges and an aroma of roasty malt, syrup and milk chocolate. Your typical dark lager taste that is watered down, similar to Negra Modelo I thought. Finishes quite crisp with lots of carbonation and notes of molasses, but a bit metallic. Interesting.

Certainly better than your average macrobrew dark lager (such as Michelob Dark), but still a poor specimen. Mediocre aroma mostly of malt, semi-sweet, taste fled quickly except for a minor bad aftertaste.

Bottle. Really good lager.Moderately malty aroma. Frothy, light-brown head. Head lasted entire time it took me to drink the beer. Good flavor and palate, with short duration.

12oz bottle. Pours a dark, cherry-brown color; light tan head that quickly departs. Syrupy cherries (almost medicinal) and brown sugar in the aroma. Very strange presence in the mouth: slightly tart cherries and dried dark fruits at first; some fruit leather and caramel; with a sharp acidity and carbonation - quite rough, abrasive at first - falling out to a reasonable chewy nougat, almost chocolaty core; the mid-palate onwards is an entirely different, better beer. Medium, dried cherry and brown sugar finish. Odd.