Samuel Adams

Our brewers’ interpretation of a traditional German schwarzbier.

When one sees a beer with a darker complexion these days, more often than not it’s a porter or a stout. But looks can be deceiving. There exists a style older than both and generally less well known; the schwarzbier, which literally translates to “Black Beer.” Unlike its dark cousins which are ales hailing from Britain, schwarzbier comes from Germany and uses a bottom fermenting lager yeast.  Samuel Adams Black Lager is brewed in the tradition of the latter. A medium bodied beer brewed using several different roasts of malt to create a smooth body and depth of malt character that has to be tasted to be believed.

Schwarzbier is a traditional beer style from Eastern Germany. The first references to this type of beer were found during an archaeological dig in the town of Kulmbach (considered the origin of schwarzbier). An ancient Celtic beer vase was uncovered from the 8th century containing blackened bread, which was used as an early brewing method to subject beer to the forces of airborne yeast.  This area of Germany is also considered the home of black bread.

The darkened, roasted malt is the foundation for the beer’s color and body.  What makes the style stand out among similar looking ales is its longer cooler fermentation, known as lagering.  The lagering process allows the rich malt flavors to develop while giving a schwarzbier, a clean, smooth lager taste.

Unlike dryer stouts and porters, schwarzbiers have a smoothness and crispness despite their dark color.  For Samuel Adams Black Lager we took the tradition of the German schwarzbier and used a combination of malts to create its layers of rich flavor.  In addition to our traditional two-row malts we used Weyermann’s dehusked Carafa®* malt.  Removing the bitter husks from the Carafa® malt results in a beer with a full roasted character and smoother finish.  The beer is finished with a balanced hopping of the traditional German Spalt Spalter Noble hops.

*®Carafa is a registered trademark of Weyermann Malt, Bamburg, Germany

Flavor: Smooth and malty with a deep roasted character and dry finish
Color: Deep ruby black
Original Gravity: 14° Plato
Alcohol by Vol/Wt: 4.9%ABV – 3.8%ABW
Calories/12 oz.: 191
Malt Variety:Two-row Harrington, Metcalfe, and Copeland pale malts, Munich 10, Weyermann dehusked Carafa®
Hop Variety: Spalt Spalter and Hallertau Mittelfrueh Noble hops
Yeast Strain: Samuel Adams lager yeast
Availability: Year round
First Brewed: 2004