Tag Archives: lager

West Coast The Schwartz

Brewery: West Coast Brewing
Country: Japan
ABV: 5%
Style: Lager – Black / Schwarzbier

Brewer Description: (from website) Ladies and Gents, It’s officially dark lager time. Hop Dude lager aficionados are ringing in the fall with “The Schwartz” our first ever take on a dark classic, schwarzbier. Lightly roasted coffee feels with hints of milk chocolate and dark fruit in an easy to consume low ABV elixir format—helllll yes. We may not end up comparing the size of our Schwartz, but we will end up having a damn good time taking it down. If and when, the next iteration we will def aim for a touch more bitterness, but for now we’ll gladly take the roasty drinkability.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.57
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.5

Intro: A 500ml can, canned on 11th October 2023. Poured into a winebar glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a two fingered tanned head that had pretty good retention, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Light roast, milk chocolate, a touch of coffee, and dark fruit notes.
Taste: As you’d expect from the aroma, light roast, malty, black coffee, milk chocolate, with light plum dark fruit notes.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Aroma and flavours were a little light in that I was hoping for stronger and more bitter roasty notes.

Brewdog Kingpin

Brewery: BrewDog
Country: Scotland
ABV: 4.7%
Style: Euro Pale Lager

Brewer Description: (from bottle) For years people have been suffering the maddening delusion that lager tasted of nothing. Well, we’ve got some 500 year old news for you – it tastes and then some. Kingpin is on a crusade to put lager back on top. It is lager reborn, a taste sensation for the 21st century. The crowning glory of the Pilsner dream. Brewed with 100% malt and a juggernaut of hops, this cold-conditioned King lies recumbent for a full five weeks. Expect the first wave of robust, full-bodied malt character to hit, then spicy citrus notes charge across the palate and an assertive bitter finish win the day. Kingpin, centuries in the making, moments in the glass. Lager is dead, long live the King.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 2.68
My ratebeer.com rating: 2.5

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 14th May 2017 and poured into a Mikkeller pint glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear golden colour with a one finger white head that settled to an extremely thin cap and leaves some decent lacing.
Aroma: Grain, grass, some corn and a hint of lemon.
Taste: Bready, grain, corn sweetness and grass.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Ahhh, no, I don’t get it. This was not a 21st century lager for me. Lager is not dead, Jack’s Abby makes great 21st century lager. And there are other great lagers around; this was just not one of them…

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

brewdog kingpin 4

brewdog kingpin 5