# Guinness Black Lager **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 15, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinness-black-lager/647296 "2013-01-15T17:08:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinness-black-lager/647296/1 "2013-01-15T17:08:10Z")
Have you tried it? What did you think? ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinness-black-lager/647296/2 "2013-01-15T17:41:51Z")
I have not, but if it is in the spirit of “[Schwarzbier](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwarzbier)” akin to Shiner Black Lager, I expect to love it! ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinness-black-lager/647296/3 "2013-01-15T17:43:34Z")
Yes, I’ve tried it, and yes, I like it. I like Ugly Pug even better, though. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinness-black-lager/647296/4 "2013-01-15T17:44:26Z")
It’s awesome. I like Guinness Draught but I can only drink a couple before I’m done. The black lager I could drink all night. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinness-black-lager/647296/5 "2013-01-15T17:46:30Z")
To me, it was $11 for a letdown. Seemed kind of bland and watered down. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinness-black-lager/647296/6 "2013-01-15T17:50:04Z")
I tried it, I liked it. It was a little milder than I was expecting, but I wouldn’t call it bland. I would buy it again (still have some in my fridge). ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinness-black-lager/647296/7 "2013-01-15T18:28:53Z")
Interesting. So if my taste runs to pretty much any beer by Sam Adams and Chimay, would I find Black Lager too light? ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinness-black-lager/647296/8 "2013-01-15T18:33:36Z")
IMO, yes. I would select Sam Adams before Black Lager if presented with the choice. I tried it last year when I first noticed it, and maybe it’s gotten better, but I just wasn’t impressed with it. Perhaps my expectations were too high. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinness-black-lager/647296/9 "2013-01-15T19:04:23Z")
Yes, enjoyed it. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinness-black-lager/647296/10 "2013-01-15T19:10:09Z")
Tried it in the bottle (I assume that’s what we’re talking about?) and didn’t like it much. Don’t plan to buy it again. I do like Guinness Stout, though. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinness-black-lager/647296/11 "2013-01-15T19:20:45Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > To me, it was $11 for a letdown. Seemed kind of bland and watered down. I agree. It’s pretty piss poor for a black lager. Kind of tastes like Guinness mixed with club soda or something like that. I’d certainly take Sam Adams over it, but look for Sam Adams Black Lager, which is a very solid rendition of the schwarzbier style and fairly widely available. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinness-black-lager/647296/12 "2013-01-15T20:02:18Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I agree. It’s pretty piss poor for a black lager. Kind of tastes like Guinness mixed with club soda or something like that. That’s a pretty good assessment, IMO. The color led me to expect a fairly bold flavor, but it ended up tasting diluted and a lot like an American lager. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinness-black-lager/647296/13 "2013-01-15T20:15:34Z")
They gave out samples at a grocery store here (!), and, yes, I liked it a lot ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinness-black-lager/647296/14 "2013-01-15T21:34:19Z")
I was pretty disappointed, if only because the “Guinness” name seems to just be marketing. It didn’t taste at all like Guinness to me, just a fairly uninspiring lager. Made me suspect they just squirted some dye into Harp, although I’m sure that’s not entirely true. I’m rarely impressed with lager, though – I’m exactly as happy drinking Old Style as most imports or craft lagers. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinness-black-lager/647296/15 "2013-01-16T02:14:29Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > That’s a pretty good assessment, IMO. The color led me to expect a fairly bold flavor, but it ended up tasting diluted and a lot like an American lager. It struck me more as having the same roasted barley as the stout, but without the unmalted barley and sour tang that the stout has, as well as any yeast flavors. Without the body from the unmalted barley, and the tang/yeast flavors, Guinness Black Lager was a pretty tame rendition of a schwarzbier. Kostritzer and New Belgium’s 1554 are both way, way better versions, and 1554 tastes to me anyway, more like what I’d imagine a Guinness lager to taste like. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinness-black-lager/647296/16 "2013-01-16T02:35:41Z")
As far as I know, New Belgium’s 1554 is an ale. I’ve had it several times, and it tastes distinct (to me, at any rate), from a black lager. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinness-black-lager/647296/17 "2013-01-16T18:46:50Z")
The New Belgium site is pretty vague- they call it an ale, yet say that they use a lager yeast strain. So by my reckoning, unless they do some sort of Steam beer type thing with lager yeasts at ale temps, it’s pretty much a lager, even if they call it an ale. ---
**Author:** ![FrankJBN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@FrankJBN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrankJBN)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinness-black-lager/647296/18 "2013-01-16T22:16:38Z")
A cliche but appropriate “There is no there there.” I would not buy it again. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinness-black-lager/647296/19 "2013-01-17T04:28:57Z")
> [@bump](#): > > The New Belgium site is pretty vague- they call it an ale, yet say that they use a lager yeast strain. > > So by my reckoning, unless they do some sort of Steam beer type thing with lager yeasts at ale temps, it’s pretty much a lager, even if they call it an ale. Interesting. Like I said, it doesn’t really taste like a black lager to me. If I’m remembering it correctly, it was a bit sweeter and yeastier than what I think of as a black lager. I think of a good black lager as having a roasted taste and clean finish like a regular lager, but I remember a lingering sweetness in 1554. [According to this homebrewing blog](http://missionarybrewer.wordpress.com/2012/03/18/new-belgium-1554-enlightened-ale-clone-all-grain/), it is fermented at ale temperature, but he cites New Belgium’s website, so I don’t know if it has changed or if that’s an assumption he made, based on the mention of the light lager yeast. > [@](#): > > Fermenting using a lager yeast at ale temperatures in accordance with the notes on the New Belgium web page. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinness-black-lager/647296/20 "2013-01-17T04:30:15Z")
Actually, a better [citation here](http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?t=7173): > [@](#): > > According to the New Belgium website, 1554 “is fermented at relatively high temperatures using a European lager yeast that imparts a refreshing, zesty acidity.” ETA: Actually, [the New Belgium website itself says](http://www.newbelgium.com/beer/detail.aspx?id=5ac72c92-fd87-4ec7-858d-3380c8d465d8): > [@](#): > > Due to the lager yeast ferm at high temps and the chocolate and black malt- this beer starts and finishes dry yet the middle is round and malt rich. session! I’m going to have to try it again, because I don’t remember it finishing dry–my recollection is a good bit of residual sweetness, which is why I only have this beer every once in awhile. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinness-black-lager/647296.md?page=2)