Here’s another tasty beer I’m enjoying from the Wiseacre Brewery of Memphis, Tennessee. They’re good folks there at Wiseacre, dontcha know. Have to be: my can says this beer is brewed and canned by the good folks at Wiseacre. Oh, what beer you ask? That might help. I’m drinking a can of Wiseacre Starless Schwarzbier.
Schwarzbier is a German style and the name means literally black beer. It is a lager, so is bottom fermented and cold aged. It is generally roasty but clean of fruity esters. I love Schwarzbier and I don’t see enough of them these days.
Wiseacre says:
One time Mr. Raccoon took a long walk through a long field of tall grass. When he got to the edge, there was nothing. It was space. A vacuum. Being an adventuresome tiny bear rodent, he jumped off, but not into something, into nothing. As he fell through the starless abyss, in swooped Senorita Nighthawk, grabbing him by the neck scruff and flapping him off further into the darkness. There they came upon Archduke Flying Bear, and they all sang a song of bliss and ignorance and beers and laughter before going poof and becoming nothing. This nothing becomes an ethereal smooth dark lager from Thuringia.
Kind of weird, that, even for me. This is interesting though:
We use an old german (SIC) technique for imparting darkness without extracting bitterness. Its called “mash capping” and it consists of crushed roasted grain being spread upon the mash over the top just before the grain is rinsed.
Ingredients from the website:
Bittering Hops: Bravo
Aroma Hops: Mt. Hood
Malts: Pilsner, Munich 1, Caramunich 3, Carafa de-husked
Yeast: Lager
Wiseacre Starless Schwarzbier has an alcohol content of 5.3% by volume with 21 IBUs. I got my can at Wild Hare Beer Company in Spring Hill Tennessee where it was selling for $9.99 a six-pack.
Wiseacre Starless Schwarzbier pours to a jet black color with a thick tan head of foam and a nose of clean dark roast. A thick layer of Brussels lace forms on the sides of my glass and descends with the liquid to the bottom of the glass. Taking a sip, the beer is smooth and medium bodied with dark roasted notes, free of esters and a dry roasty finish.
Very delicious and accurate to style. I’ll be back for more.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled, canned
(D)=Draft