Schwarzbier is 4.9% alcohol by volume, with 23 IBUs and luscious malt aromas, highlighting roasted nuts, cocoa, hazelnut coffee, some caramel, bread crust, and perhaps a touch of licorice.

Story and photo by JON ABERNATHY • For The Bulletin

Van Henion Brewing Co.’s latest beer, Schwarzbier, released at the end of September, tightens the company’s focus on German-style lagers. It’s not a terribly common style to encounter in a market that favors IPAs and other hoppy ales, so I contacted the brewery to find out more.

“We knew we wanted to have a good fall/winter offering,” said founder and brewer Dana Henion via email. “Typically those styles tend to be on the maltier, boozier and darker side. Not typical characteristics of the styles we make. Because we are a lager-forward brewery, the Schwarzbier seemed like the perfect fit. It is a malt forward German-style lager that is dark in color, perfect for cold days.”

Schwarzbier started as a regional style during the late Middle Ages, primarily in the German regions of Franconia and Thuringia. Monasteries in the towns of Kulmbach and Bad Köstritz brewed these dark, somewhat roasty beers. They were darker in color than the dunkel lagers and bocks favored to the south, in Bavaria, using roasted malts for color and flavor.

These “black beers” enjoyed regional popularity until World War II, and after the war, pale lagers dominated the industry, so the style receded from view. In the aftermath of the war, however, Bad Köstritz found itself located in East Germany, where it continued to brew schwarzbier. This may have helped preserve the style, and after German reunification in 1990, it grew in popularity once again.

Schwarzbier literally means “black beer” in German, though ironically, while it can range from dark brown to nearly black in color, it is almost never completely black. Similarly, the color doesn’t anticipate the flavor — in modern versions of the style you shouldn’t taste anything harsh or burnt. Instead, expect rich malt character with chocolate, cola, dark bread, and other similar flavors; a small amount of roasted character is fine.

For Van Henion’s version, the brewers began with research. “We didn’t have a particular beer in mind,” Henion said. “We sampled as many Schwarzbiers as we could find in the stores, and analyzed what we liked about those beers, and tried to re-create it in ours.”

With that baseline in mind, they started with a variety of German malts, including darker Munich malt, to develop the recipe. “Our aim was to achieve a very dark and rich color, without overdoing it on the body and roastiness that many of the malts used for this style impart,” she said. “That was a bit of a challenge, but we did succeed in the color and light body we were hoping for.”

Henion provided me with cans of Schwarzbier to preview ahead of its release. It is 4.9% alcohol by volume with 23 IBUs.

It pours a dark brown color that has great clarity when held to the light, with layers of red and reddish-brown highlights topped with a tan head of foam. It’s full of luscious malt aromas, highlighting roasted nuts, cocoa, hazelnut coffee, some caramel, bread crust, and perhaps a touch of licorice.

The flavor gives up nutty coffee notes with a hint of roast, toasted bread, and some caramelized or even slightly burnt sugar. It’s not sweet; there is some dry nuttiness with a crackery character that makes you immediately want to go in for another sip. Hop flavors are subtle with earthy overtones. It’s lighter in mouthfeel than you’d expect, with a dry and clean finish.

It’s toasty, nutty, bready, and quite drinkable; I found it to be a textbook example of the style. Henion agreed.

“Overall we are very happy with the way it turned out,” she said.

If you’re looking for a new fall seasonal beer to try, Schwarzbier is available in six-packs and on draft at Van Henion’s tasting room and at locations around the area.

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Field to Ferment Fresh Hop Pale Ale — Fremont Brewing 

Fresh Trop Fresh Hop IPA — Bend Brewing 

Oktoberfest Lager — Ecliptic Brewing