Most of these are repeated above, but I’ll recommend Black Butte Porter, Moose Drool and 1554 (brewed by New Belgium). Pipeline Porter is pretty good too.
Double Chocolate Stout. It sounds gross, I know, but pair it with a bar of really good chocolate and prepare to die . . .
Get it in the bottle - I’ve seen it in cans, and they just don’t taste as good.
If you live in a New Belgium served area(Fat Tire is their big one) look for 1554. It is my favorite Black ale.
not a stout but
Negra Modelo
and when you can find it
Mississippi Mud
are both great dark beers.
Rogue Mocha Porter and Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout are very enjoyable. Given that I will be sure to try the others in your list. I also enjoy Old Engine Oil, although only very rarely as it is quite expensive.
I have two words that are going to blow your mind: Trois Pistoles.
Keep in mind that “dark beer” covers a massive spectrum of tastes and styles. There’s probably more variety covered in “dark beer” than in “red wine” and definitely more variety than in any single hard liquor.
The color of a beer is not indicative of its strength, its bitterness, or its flavor. Negro Modelo, mentioned above, is a lager, and its flavor is a lot closer to something like Lowenbrau than it is to Samuel Smith’s Taddy Porter.
The following is a VERY VERY rough starting guide:
English/Scottish/Irish dark beers are almost all ales. They were made for the working class men, and they tend to have a lot of flavor. The color comes from a dark-roasted malt (roasted at high temperature). Stout is actually an offshoot of porter (what we now know as “Guinness” was originally known as “Guinness Extra Stout Porter” and the last word was dropped). There’s a great variety just in stouts, from the dry stouts (e.g., Guinness) on one end to the Imperial Stouts on the other, which use far more malt, and end up much stronger and often much sweeter. The whole “Brits drink it warm” thing is wrong. The best drinking temp for a porter is “cellar temperature,” or around 55 degrees F.
TRIVIA: Guinness Extra Stout has less alcohol and fewer calories than Coors.
German dark beers are almost all lagers, hence they should be served colder. They, like the British beers, are not all alike. Try a good dunkel, an Oktoberfest, a Marzen, and a doppelbock (many doppelbocks have names ending in “ator”, e.g., Celebrator, Optimator, Bajuvator, Troegenator, Maximator).
There are a few styles that are uniquely American. Don’t be afraid to experiment with American styles even if you didn’t like similarly-named imports. American pale ale (although not “dark”) is quite different from English pale ales. Steam beer (from Anchor Brewing in San Francisco) is a fascinating beer made with lager yeast, but using an ale process.
“Dark” beers from some of the North American megabreweries are darkened using carmel or other coloring agents as opposed to using high-temperature roasted malts, so if you’re looking for the flavor of a porter or doppelbock, you won’t get it from those.
Experiment, experiment, experiment!
When I first heard that and told Zyada, she instantly asked “So did Arnold really say ‘I’ll be double bock?’”
Alex, I’ll take “two beers available on tap at Brickskeller last weekend,” for $200.
And both delicious.
I always keep a few Celebrator at hand for when I’m in the doppelbock mood at home… I have quite the plastic goat collection.
Along those lines, Brazilian Xingu and Maltzbier. Warning: Both are sweet, with Maltzbier being the sweetest beer I’ve ever tasted (hence why I love it so much).
Abita Amber is good, and darker than it is Abita TurboDog, which I want to try next.
is Sam Adams Black Lager considered a good dark beer?
Samuel Smith’s are probably the best bottled beer I’ve tasted.
I’ve never tried that one but have you tried St-Ambroise Oatmeal Stout? I’m a big Innis & Gunn fan but St-Ambroise is close to dethroning them. I haven’t recommended it yet in this thread because I don’t know how available it is outside of Canada.
Sam Adams is a notch above Coors, Bud Light, or PBR, but it’s definitely not a “good” beer. It’s mediocre. It’s about on par with Leininkugel or Henry Weinhard’s; not great beer, but nothing you’d be embarrassed to have in your fridge, either.
:rolleyes:
Yes, sales volume and beer quality are inversely proportional…yadda yadda yadda.
Well, there’s some truth to it. It’s not a hard-and-fast rule, but it’s a reasonable rule of thumb.
Sweeter than Samichlaus? I had a hell of a time trying to finish the only bottle I ever drank.
I’ve never try Samichlaus… Country of origin, ease of finding? I’ll try it on my next trip to the (actually decently stocked) neighborhood liquor store.
But yes, the few times I’ve drank it (in Brazil), it was sweet. It tastes like malta, the non-alcoholic sugary beverage that (for me) is the best drink ever. Except it has a kick of alcohol in the aftertaste… and you feel the effects (or at least, I do).
No, but I will now. Thanks.
Austria, from Schloss Eggenberg (brewers of the wonderful Urbock 23) and I found it at the Saloon in Washington DC. It’s obviously available for import, but I make no assertions as to ease of finding.