Crescent City: Black Forest (USA: Dunkel: 7%ish?)
Visual: Black, half an inch of caramel sudden froth for a head. Body tinges red in the light.
Nose: Quite dry. Black cherry. Malt drinks and light cocoa dust.
Body: Black forest gateaux (no really). Light pineapple hops. Not the thickest body. Light toffee character. Chocolate cake sponge more heavily than most elements. Black cherry becomes more dominant over time.
Finish:Pineapple hops and black forest gateaux/Chocolate cake sponge. Lightly bitter, Charcoal touch. Cream.
Conclusion: You know, I was expecting Black Forest to be just a name, but noooo, it is in fact quite a serious flavour element. The beer isn’t that heavy and tends more towards the chocolate sponge than the sweeter elements of black forest gateaux, but it does have a nice mix of black cherry and restrained bitterness.
The flavour maybe could do with being a touch stronger, but most likely that would hurt the refreshing character by making it more sickly. It is also a minor point, as by the half way point the flavour level of the beer has picked up. It is only really the first third where it seems to suffer, and has a few notes between that and the half way point.
Very easy to drink, occasionally there was a charcoal touch to the finish which isn’t great, but despite that I could have a couple of these in the ever present USA sun. The tiniest of what seems to be American hop influence presence gives that fresh touch that keeps the beer from getting too dry.
So a beer with a few minor flaws, but generally a very nice beer. If I had more time in New Orleans then I would definitely have drunk it again.
Background: You may be wondering 7%ish abv? You are normally more precise than that. Well yes, but I cannot find the abv listed anywhere, either online or at the brew house. When I asked the bar staff they guessed 7%ish, so that’s the best I have for you. The brew house was one found in New Orleans, a city described as “amazing but it will steal your soul” which wasn’t too far wrong a descriptor. Crescent City is one of many places that brew on site,and seemed heavily Germany influenced in style and in their choice of beers.
