Old reliable

Today's beer, Death & Taxes, is a black lager which was suitcased to Dublin by Jay Brooks, from California, where it was brewed by Moonlight Brewing. I'm very happy with the choice of style.

It looks like a good example, too, showing a little bit of heft at 5.3% ABV, presenting dense and shiny-black with a beautifully Germanic café-crème head. The aroma is quite sweet, hints of cola and caramel giving me Czech vibes. It's thoroughly lager-clean, even though the body is full, stout-like, and almost chewy. I thought that would mean a big kick of malt, but there's almost no foretaste at all, and for a second I feared it was going to be bland. The flavour was merely delayed, however, and after a couple of seconds there's a wave of burnt grain and sharp mineral hops -- exactly the sort of thing you get from good German Schwarzbier. 

That's pretty much it. Nothing fancy, or silly, happens, and that's generally for the best with lagers, I reckon. The brewery might be a long way from Schwarzbier's natural home, but whoever put this recipe together knew a thing or two about brewing them properly. The result is pure, clean and wholesome dark beer fun. Cheers Jay!