Black Friday, Black Lager

The typical mobs of crazed bargain hunters did not swarm the shopping malls like a plague of locusts this year for Black Friday, due to the Amazons and Wal-Marts of the world advertising their online shopping websites to acquire the latest trinkets and gewgaws. Rather than overindulge in the annual bacchanalia of capitalism, I decided to binge on Black Lagers for Black Friday.
The macrobrew drinkers in the audience can be forgiven for their unfamiliarity with Black Lagers, as they are uncommon outside of their native Germany, where the beer style is known as Schwarzbier, which a trip quick to Google Translate will tell you simply means Black Beer.
Schwarzbier is a fairly uncommon beer style in Canada, but has long been a favourite of mine, and is on the must-try list of any beer snob. Schwarzbier is a dark beer for those who claim to not like dark beers, as the lager yeasts and cold conditioning make it a clean-tasting beer with plenty of dark malt backbone, but relatively low residual sweetness and only low to moderate hop bitterness.
My first exposure to Schwarzbier was on a European vacation near the turn of the millennium, sitting in a centuries-old brewery in Düsseldorf in the historic town square beside the train station, contentedly washing down a spicy bratwurst with a lager beer that was dark as night. For many years, I could only wistfully yearn to for another pint, as there were slim pickings in Alberta for this uncommon beer style.
Imagine my joy when Township 24 Brewing opened their doors in Chestermere in 2017, with their Meridian Black Lager as a flagship beer, made in my beloved Schwarzbier style. This was my go-to beer for many years, until they sadly closed their doors a few months ago, the taps now forever run dry, or at least until another brave entrepreneur tries to open their now-shuttered space on Rainbow Road.
Experienced boozers in Alberta may recall a sadly now-defunct craft brewer named Brew Brothers, who operated in Calgary for 20 years, before closing their doors in 2014. The Brew Brothers Black Pilsner was the only local Schwarzbier available in Alberta for many years, and was missed terribly by the local beer nerds when Brew Brothers shuttered their doors.
Fortunately, the brewery and taproom location was soon acquired by Last Best Brewing, part of the same family as Jasper Park Brewing, Banff Avenue Brewing, and Edmonton’s Campio Brewing. Knowing the faithful following of the Black Pilsner, Last Best Brewing pays homage to Brew Brothers with their own spin on the classic recipe, now known as Dirty Bird Black Lager, a patio favourite of mine for many years.
Another local gem is the Munich Lager from Fahr Brewing in Turner Valley, which faithful readers may recall produces the most authentic German beer this side of Munich, being operated by a German-born brewmaster of great renown. Named for its use of Munich malts in the grain bill, this brew gets its dark garnet colour from specially debittered dark roasted malts, providing notes of coffee and burnt chocolate to the light and clean base lager, resulting in a robust flavour more commonly found in ales.
Calgary’s own Village Brewing has another fine example, namely their Village Blacksmith, introduced way back in 2011, and has been widely available on tap and in cans across Alberta for all those years. While this is technically an ale rather than a later, the notes of roasted barley and dark cocoa followed by its clean finish makes it similar enough to be a worthy competitor to my other favourites.
While dark beers have traditionally been the domain of ales and stouts, these dark lagers are the perfect gateway brews for those who enjoy light and crisp lagers, but also crave the richer and more robust flavour profiles of ales. I have converted many a macrobrew drinker to the dark side with a pint of Schwarzbier, so ask your favourite bartender or bottle shop staff for a local example.