Mybeerbuzz .com Highlights Deschutes / Bell’s 30th Anniversary Schwarzbier (Review)

Whether you are new to independent craft beer, or you’ve been around it a long time, you know if a brewery is celebrating their 30th Anniversary it has meaning.  Not only did that brewery fight to open and survive back in the late 1980’s when craft beer wasn’t the rocket ship it is today, but they also managed to stay successful relevant and independent for 30-years.
Such a milestone is worthy of celebration, worthy of a new beer and worthy of a really exciting collaboration between two breweries celebrating 30-Years.  Today we’ll be highlighting and sampling the new Deschutes / Bell’s Brewery Brewery 30th anniversary collaboration. 

The beer recipe was designed by Tim Gossack (Bell’s Production Manager & Head Brewer at Deschutes from 1990-1996) who was one of eight former Deschutes brewers working who participated in the brew at Deschutes (John Harris, Deschutes Brewery’s original brewmaster with Ecliptic Brewery, Frank Appleton a brewing consultant responsible for creating the recipes of Deschutes’ beloved brands such as Black Butte Porter and Cascade Golden Ale, Tony Lawrence from Boneyard Brewery, long time brewer Mark Vickery, Paul Arney from The Ale Apothecary and Cam O’Connor and Larry Sidor now with Crux Fermentation Project.).  Apparently Tim created a similar recipe after leaving Deschutes and this was the genesis of the 30th Anniversary beer.
The beer is called Schwarzbier and oddly enough, it is a schwarzbier.  If you’re not familiar with the style schwarzbier literally translates from German to English as “dark lager” so guess what it is? Yes it’s a German-style dark or black lager.
Schwarzbier pours a deep mahogany color with a rich malty aroma and a bit of roastiness in the nose.  The mouthfeel is hearty and satisfying and the flavors have a bit of roasted malt and dark chocolate.  We found some vanilla late in the flavors as the beer warmed and I really liked the balance of sweet and roasty in the finish.  Overall this is a really good example of a classic Schwarzbier with perhaps a bit higher ABV than most.  I’m anxious to also drink this beer as the nights get colder and the fall weather kicks in.  I think it will be perfect.
Bell’s / Deschutes Schwarzbier is packaged in 12oz cans and the beer hits 6.4%-AbV).  It will be available in late Aug in 6-packs so get out there and help Bell’s and Deschutes celebrate 30-years.  And when you do sample this beer, be sure to let us know what YOU think.