Störtebeker Schwarzbier - Stralsunder Brauerei

humulus

Sweden

3.5/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Drank in a pilsnerpokal.

A: pours a deep, reddish brown with a sturdy, one finger high dirty white/beige foam, leaving small traces on the glass.

Smell: coffee, bitter chocolate and roasted malt dominates the smell.

Taste: coffee, roasted malt, small bitterness and a finish that reminds me of salt liqorice.

Mouthfeel: medium carbonation, light but creamy feel.

Overall: not bad at all, really. Nice roasted flavour, bit of liqorice and coffee. All good.

Serving type: bottle

05-24-2013 14:52:27 | More by humulus

BlackHaddock

United Kingdom (England)

3.65/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.75

33cl Bottle poured into the correct vase shaped glass in the lovely Sophien'Eck a bar in Berlin on 21 Feb 2013.

I found the beer to be a lot sweeter than I expected.

Looked good in its glass: dark reddy brown in colour with a good off-white head of creamy foam that covered the vase with lacing as the beer level sank.

The aroma was of malted biscuits and toasted brown bread but with no real hints to the sweetness within the brew.

Sweet malty molasses ruled the taste completely for me: it was OK but a shock to my system. I'd had a draught Schossler Alt just before this and the contrast was huge flavour wise.

Medium to thin on the body depth, not unusual for a Schwarzbier I suppose.

Overall I enjoyed it: but I do have a sweet tooth.

Serving type: bottle

03-07-2013 11:00:35 | More by BlackHaddock

bark

Sweden

3.23/5  rDev -4.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

The colour is dark brown (80 EBC), the liquid is clear. There is some yeast sediment in the bottle. The two finger head is pale beige. Good retention, some lacing.

The smell is dry and roasted, almost burned. Some raw rye sourness and hints of cocoa. It is clean and balanced, maybe a little weak.

The taste is roasted/toasted with malty flavours of dark rye bread/Pumpernickel and a touch of salt liquorice. The body is light. Light clean bitter notes and hints of raspberry jam in the aftertaste, as well as some chocolate and wholemeal bread. Yeast in the short finish.

The carbonation is medium strong, the large bubbles short-lived. The liquid is rather light.

In a blind tasting, I would definitely have taken this for a 3-4 % English or Danish porter. Not as refreshing or hoppy as the best Schwarzbiers.

Serving type: bottle

12-21-2012 20:51:42 | More by bark

rarbring

Sweden

3/5  rDev -11.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A hazy brown colored beer. An off-white head with good lacing and some curtains.

Smelling of bread, dates, coffee and licorice.

Tasting of dark toasted bread, figs, coffee and some soy sauce.

Medium carbonation, a soft texture. A small body with a somewhat dry finish.

Very average.

Serving type: bottle

10-28-2012 18:39:43 | More by rarbring

StJamesGate

New York

3.68/5  rDev +8.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Mahogany black with creamy taupe head. Sour roasty nose with some smoke meat and chestnut.
Sweet coffee cake malts with some char and a touch of vanilla bean, then vague earth and grass hops.
Kola finish, faint anise linger. Light, round, soft.

Not the most challenging black lager. Goes easy on the roast in favor of sweetness, though the ash is still there. Nice, and not much more.

Serving type: bottle

03-17-2012 23:37:42 | More by StJamesGate

stevoj

Germany

3.4/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A decent schwarzbier fro Germany. Poured deep brown, some rddish hues with backlighting. Faint head faded quickly, but left a fair amount of lacing on the glass. Mild roast grain flavor, but no aftertaste.Seems a bit more watery than some of the others I've had.Still a good example of the style, and nice to have a dark, cold winter day.

Serving type: bottle

01-21-2012 20:05:09 | More by stevoj

dasenebler

Maine

2.83/5  rDev -16.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

.5L, best before 4/20/12.

Pours a murky chestnut brown with reddish highlights. The head is off-white and creamy, retaining nicely at a finger and with good lacing.

The aroma has nice notes of cocoa, toasted malt, and fresh bread.

The flavor is okay. At first it seems very nice and dry-chocolatey, but then nothing else develops on the palate. A bit thin and watery overall. Slightly metallic finish. The mouthfeel is soda-like and just weak sauce.

Not the worst Schwarzbier I've had, but still average at best. Drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

05-17-2011 21:02:23 | More by dasenebler

crossovert

Wisconsin

1.78/5  rDev -47.5%
look: 1 | smell: 3 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1.5

500ml bottle. MHB: 16.03.12.

The pours is more reminiscent of coke than beer. It literally looks exactly like cola, the head sticks for a bit longer but other than that exactly the same, and I don't like it.

The smell is raisny with some slight hop presence and some dough.

The flavor an body is also reminiscent of soda, perhaps a root beer. This is utterly confusing.

This beer just sucks.

Serving type: bottle

05-10-2011 17:11:00 | More by crossovert

czfreeman

Michigan

4.33/5  rDev +27.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Another offering in My mixed six pack of Stralsunder beers I picked up a few days ago. I really enjoy Schwarzbier, so glad this was included.
Poured into a chalice,nice ruby brown tone of deep burnt brown, not quite balck Nice medium tan head, good carbonation. Good looking so far. I must say from this six pack 4/5 so far have been really good, the 1402 Kellar was a bit dissapointing, but the Roggen exceeded my expectations. Hopefully that is the case here.
Aroma- not very complicated, but rustic and inviting. Dark bread, bitter cocoa, touch of coffee, dark schwarzbrot, plum, musty roasted grain, reminescent of a dark cool cellar filled with bags of grain. I like the rustic factor of it.
Flavor is spicier, more well pronounced roasted note than expected with a nicely restrained sweetness. Dark bread, cocoa, coffee, toasted grain, dark fruit, finishes a bit dry with a lingering bread/cocoa flavor. love-it. I find a nice roasted balanced keeping the sweetness in check, and the light boday makes it dissapear quite fast.
Drinkability is high. Its intruiguing, roasty, but not heavy and perfect on a slightly chilly evening like now.
After my recent visit home, and a U.S east coast beer tour, it was hard at first to find complexity in a beer like this after the likes of Southern Tier Mokka and BORIS, but I really like these rustic, old styles and actually appreciate them more now than before going home. This beer is native to the region of Germany I am living now, and it really is perfect on this chilly late-summer evening.
---after letting the beer warm a good 20 minutes, the cocoa-coffee-dark bread note becomes so nice,and balanced, I have to go back and add to my original score of 4.0 for aroma and taste.

Serving type: bottle

09-20-2010 19:07:05 | More by czfreeman

Sunnanek

Sweden

4.03/5  rDev +18.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: Pours very dark, almost black with a hint of redish brown at the bottom. The beige head is large and kind of compact. Slow dissipation leaves decent lacings.

S: Roasted malt with a hint of smoke. Vanilla and some sweetness. Dark dried fruits. Slight coffee and dark bitter chocolate.

T: Taste is heavier smoked and roasted. Vanilla and the sweetness is a bit held back by the heavy roast. Dry and nice. Dark dried fruits. The coffee feels stronger and the chocolate is more in the background.

M: Aftertaste stays for some time and holds a roasted bitterness - nice. Body is medium to full and carbonation is rich.

D: A very nice Schwarzbier. Balanced! I could buy myself a whole case next time in Germany.

Serving type: bottle

08-13-2010 19:57:51 | More by Sunnanek

DerBayer

Germany

3.58/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a dark slightly reddish chestnut with creamy offf white head

The smell is faintly nutty, malty and coffee.

There is some malty sweetness in the taste which quicly fades to coffee bitterness.

Slightly fuller body than I would expect of the style and I am drinking this quicker than I should.

Serving type: bottle

07-29-2010 16:28:54 | More by DerBayer

sfprint

Germany

3.43/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A: a very very dark red color. not much head.

S: Rubbing alcohol, rubber, sweet. and something else behind it that i can't discern.

T: Not heavy on flavor. Initially it tastes a bit like a watered down berry vanilla soda. Slight bitter coffee afterward.

M: heavier bodied, yet doesn't sit too heavy inside you.

D: pretty ok.

Serving type: bottle

04-26-2010 18:43:32 | More by sfprint

beerdrifter

Germany

3.55/5  rDev +4.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Deep dark reddish black pour with quickly fading head and no lacing. Nice complex malty nose with hints of chocolate, caramel, and coffee. Taste is much like the nose. Lots of roasty, nutty, chocolate, coffee and caramel with a touch of smokiness. The mouthfeel was a little flat which hurt the drinkability. It sweetens on the finish and is a great complement to a nice German schnitzel.

Serving type: bottle

02-10-2010 16:12:17 | More by beerdrifter

wl0307

United Kingdom (England)

4/5  rDev +18%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Courtesy of my German flatmate, who brought this beer from his home town close to the brewery of this beer. Unfiltered, BB 17/05/08, served chilled in a weizen glass.

A: very dark brown in colour, with caramely glows; the fluffy beige foamy head fast settles to a thin crown; the carbonation looks very gentle and light.
S: fullsome in roast-nuttiness, sweet coffee, and chocolatey malts, underlined by a subtle whiff of lager-ish sourness and exotic black-sugar. Overall the lovely nose is very rich, yet not on the brink of being heavy.
T: charred coffee beans, ink, and raw-ish gristy black malts together present a slightly dry-ish and sour-ish malty taste, while woody bitterness, licorice, and lots of nuttiness follow suit at the back, with a mild touch of char and lager-sourness hidden in the corner of the palate. The overall performance reminds me a lot of a good rich Dark Mild, with an additional touch of lager-sourness!
M&D: softly-fizzy and med-bodied, the beer tastes refreshing yet still full of malty flavours and weight. All in all, this is a beautifully-crafted and super-quaffable black lager; everything is just "right" in this pint!

Serving type: bottle

09-07-2007 22:17:16 | More by wl0307

TheSarge

Illinois

3.78/5  rDev +11.5%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Störtebeker Schwarzbier presents itself beautifully with a good two finger thick, milk chocolate looking head, which clumps together quite nicely and lasts all the way through. This being well bodied and quite black, but produces nice deep reddish amber hues.

The aroma produces fragrances of smoke up front, but follows up with hints of chocolate, toffee, and caramel.

In the flavor, smoke is immediately detectable. It is followed up with coffee and chocolate characters.

This is well balanced and rich and character. Just a little too expensive to mark this one a good session beer. Look to spend about 5 US dollars for a half liter bottle.

Serving type: bottle

09-03-2007 17:25:59 | More by TheSarge

rjimlad

Australia

4.38/5  rDev +29.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Poured into 500ml Weizen glass. Colour was a deep coca cola black with a persistent caramel coloured head. Smell was malty and roasty which continued with drinking. Taste was rich dark chocolate, coffee-mocha, mudcake and cream. There was a bitterness that was barely discernable but balanced off the richness of the malt. A very slight burnt note was there but not off-putting. This is a beautifully balanced and totally enjoyable beer. A dessert beer if there is one. I loved every drop. I had it at a dinner party where everone else was drinking Tooheys Extra Dry. They looked content enough. I guess ignorance is bliss.

Serving type: bottle

05-20-2007 13:40:47 | More by rjimlad

paterlodie

Belgium

3.25/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

BB 07-03-06. Nice head and a black beercolor makes presentation stylelike. Nose is sweet malty without showing much roast. Pineapple arome, sweetish, cardboard but overall not that much to detect as sweet malts. Taste is also malty sweet but thick and full with low dosed bitterness. Litle burnt taste but missing bitterness as it is IMO missed litle in the whole brew also. Mouthfeel is even cause off thickness ov brew in my opinion litle dull and pale but certainly drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

11-11-2005 17:27:14 | More by paterlodie