Oscura - Furthermore Beer

esch

Minnesota

3.95/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A: Nice deep copper in color. Brilliant clarity. Pours with not much head. A small ring of tiny white bubbles leave a nice ring around the edges of the glass.

S: Coffee's the first thing you'll notice and while prominent, it's still pretty subtle. I find myself searching for the roasty, chocolate notes you usually in the stouts that most often make the base for coffee beers. Medium malt sweetness, no noticeable hop aroma. No esters. A very clean aroma.

T: Strong coffee flavor. Refreshingly smooth, no trace of roastiness. Malt sweetness comes mid-palate to remind you that this isn't a cup of iced java. Despite the lack of hop flavor, this finishes far toward the bitter side...

M: Mouthfeel is a bit higher for this style than normal but it pairs with the flavor quite well. Carbonation is low. Low creaminess. Bitterness stays with you, leaving the corners of your mouth tingling.

D: Very well constructed beer. The coffee flavor ends up canceling out any of the subtlety of the base beer so that's a bit of a bummer. Quite appealing otherwise.

Serving type: bottle

09-18-2008 01:46:24 | More by esch

mfnmbvp

Illinois

4/5  rDev +3.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 oz bottle, no bottled on date present. Poured into a LunaR brewing pint glass.

A - Pours one finger of head that disappears quickly. A golden orange / brown colored body. No lacing.

S - Smell is of beautiful fresh roasted grinded coffee beans.

T - Taste reminds me of what I would imagine a coffee infused IPA would taste like but I am probably wrong. Again, a wondrous freshly grinded coffee bean characteristic to it along with a hint of hops. This beer has more beautiful coffee elements to it than the most prestigious coffee stouts I've ever tried.

M - Feel is bitter sticky and dry.

Overall a decent interesting unique beer. Never had anything from this brewery and never heard of the style "California common / steam beer" either. Definitely something I will be looking into again though. An intriguing beer, to say the least.

Furthermore Oscura ---4/5.

Serving type: bottle

05-14-2013 18:13:22 | More by mfnmbvp

BigLittleHokis

California

4.25/5  rDev +10.1%

05-14-2013 06:50:50 | More by BigLittleHokis

sbricker

Illinois

3.5/5  rDev -9.3%

05-11-2013 18:50:21 | More by sbricker

wyckydsceptre

Minnesota

4/5  rDev +3.6%

05-10-2013 06:27:37 | More by wyckydsceptre

EGolfer4

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +16.6%

05-03-2013 22:11:05 | More by EGolfer4

cnbrown313

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +16.6%

04-25-2013 13:50:20 | More by cnbrown313

Lawl3ss

Texas

4.23/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Chilled 12 oz bottle into 8 oz mini-shaker.

Look- Medium brown with a sticky, dense espresso foam cap. Excellent retention, thick ropes of lace cling to the glass. Not quite clear, but not what I'd call hazy.

Smell- Toasted caramel, unsalted pretzel, light, smoky coffee notes, makes me think of half-green beans (coffee, that is.) Some earthy spice and dark fruit emerge as it warms.

Taste- Similar to the nose, but even more coffee. Milk chocolate, more pretzel, graham cracker, mild but discernible herbal spice towards the finish, rounds out the last of the soft toasty-roast-coffee, which manages to linger for an extremely long time. Aftertaste of molasses-laced cornbread. Low bitterness, not nearly as harsh as most coffee beers. Brings to mind a creamy mocha-spresso. Mild charred fruity something as it warms.

Mouthfeel- Soft, full, extremely creamy - feels like drinking half and half or an extremely well executed cream ale. Low astringency, little of the tannic character often found in similar brews. I could have a few of these.

Overall- Well, I don't know quite what to make of it (the fact that it's a low-ABV experimental-something-something available in a reasonably priced sixer is probably what's throwing me off), but it's unique and I'd definitely seek it out. It's definitely got a unique green-roast-vegetal something going on that I usually associate with roasted-two-days-ago organic coffee. I'd definitely like to know more about the process and whatever the heck they put into this stuff. Recommended.

Serving type: bottle

04-25-2013 00:44:38 | More by Lawl3ss

mkennedy119

Illinois

4/5  rDev +3.6%

04-24-2013 02:10:57 | More by mkennedy119

smartassboiler

Illinois

4/5  rDev +3.6%

04-23-2013 16:21:27 | More by smartassboiler

Lemke10

Wisconsin

4/5  rDev +3.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

First off, kudos to Furthermore for their uniquely named beers as this one certainly caught my eye in the mix and match section. This is a beer with 100% fair trade coffee, or as the bottom of the bottle reads “A Nicaraguan all-female growers co-op (stop) A lusciously aromatic just coffee roast (stop) Our warm-fermented, cold-lagered cerveza oscura (huh?)” Did you understand all that?

It pours a medium brown color with a light brown head. The aroma is mostly coffee to the degree that if we did a blind smell test, you would never guess this was a beer. Overall it is very inviting for the coffee beer lovers. This just might rival some of the best coffee beers that Wisconsin has to offer.

The taste is smooth yet quite bold. Once again is this beer of coffee? The texture is very much like a beer but the coffee flavoring overpowers the malts and hops. It is quite unique as you usually only see coffee used in stouts and porters instead of an American lager. It leaves behind a mild coffee after taste.

This was a pretty interesting find. It’s not something I am going to want all the time, but it is certainly a well made, good tasting brew. The creativity to put coffee into a lager was a good choice as this turned out to be a pretty damn good coffee beer especially since I’m not a coffee drinker. Keep up the good work Furthermore.
-Chris Lemke of WisconsinBrewReview.com

Serving type: bottle

01-29-2013 05:26:55 | More by Lemke10

guityler83

Wisconsin

3.6/5  rDev -6.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

A: Dark maroon to copper color with moderate haze. bright white head with very low retention and no lacing.

S: Sweet, carmel and toffee notes. plum, raisen and other dark fruit detected also. slightly sour.

T: Sweet and slighty fruity (peaches, bananas) at first, followed by carmel and then the coffee comes through at the end and lingers on the pallet. Each part is very distinct and seperate, the aroma doesn't indicate the taste at all. as the beer warms up the coffe and carmel comes out more.

M: Dry finish, moderate carbination. the coffee adds a slight astringency.

O: This was not what I expected when I cracked it open, but not a bad thing. Very sessionable as a Cali Common should be, but the coffee adds an interesting complexity that puts it into a whole different category. While I enjoyed it, i don't think I could drink more then two in a sitting.

Serving type: bottle

01-28-2013 01:26:02 | More by guityler83

Illos

New Jersey

3.75/5  rDev -2.8%

01-21-2013 03:54:00 | More by Illos

TheSSG

Illinois

4.15/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours a nice, soft, dense head that isn't overly persistent. Aroma is interesting; sweet malt combines with a fruity coffee note. A very dark amber that has a touch of coffee blackness to it (an interesting shade). Starts off with a DEEP, RICH coffee flavor. A hint of bitterness, then more toasted, roasted coffee. The finish is coffee and a bit of bitterness.

What the hell? I don't really smell or see the coffee, but this FLAVOR! This is fantastic!
This is like a lagered cup of FANTASTIC coffee!

Serving type: bottle

11-17-2012 02:47:43 | More by TheSSG

Ourchestra

Wisconsin

3.25/5  rDev -15.8%

11-15-2012 04:43:20 | More by Ourchestra

Wiscivore

4.25/5  rDev +10.1%

11-04-2012 01:24:17 | More by Wiscivore

kawilliams81

Illinois

4.1/5  rDev +6.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 12 oz bottle Half Acre tulip.

A- Pours a dark amber with a 1 finger light tan head. Big walls and leopard spotting of lacing all over the glass.

S- Amazing coffee aroma, sweet malts, light roast.

T- Sweet roasted malts, lots of mild coffee, toast, biscuit.

M- Medium body and carbonation. A little thin feel but nice and creamy still.

O- REally enjoyed this beer. Would have guessed this was a brown ale or dopplebock (reminded me some of Perkulator) but the coffee works well with the steam beer.

Serving type: bottle

10-09-2012 02:42:11 | More by kawilliams81

eawolff99

Minnesota

3.5/5  rDev -9.3%

10-08-2012 00:07:04 | More by eawolff99

jcparish88

3.75/5  rDev -2.8%

09-25-2012 01:37:03 | More by jcparish88

Joeyuwp

Wisconsin

4.25/5  rDev +10.1%

09-22-2012 23:38:06 | More by Joeyuwp

Kunstman

Wisconsin

3.75/5  rDev -2.8%

08-19-2012 04:09:47 | More by Kunstman

vande

Illinois

3.5/5  rDev -9.3%

08-05-2012 03:03:22 | More by vande

MaxOfMetal

Wisconsin

3/5  rDev -22.3%

07-15-2012 23:27:18 | More by MaxOfMetal

TimRasmussen

Wisconsin

5/5  rDev +29.5%

05-29-2012 17:29:49 | More by TimRasmussen

Rau71

California

3/5  rDev -22.3%

05-24-2012 01:42:32 | More by Rau71