Think you know dark beers? Michael Donaldson invites you
to meet the new arrivals...

Dark beers are having a moment in the sun this winter, with changes in flavour profiles and techniques bringing craft alternatives to the fore.

Until recently, the “black” market was left largely to the mainstream players – if you wanted a dark beer your best bet was often Monteith’s Black, Mac’s Black, Speight’s Old Dark... or that perennially globally popular drop called Guinness.

We’ve seen craft breweries invade the lager and low carb space once dominated entirely by big breweries, and now they’re doing the same with the darker beers.

In the past month or so, we’ve seen two major releases from two of
the biggest players in the craft space: Parrotdog releasing their six-pack stout called Black, and Garage Project releasing a black-can version of their popular Beer. (Or as most people say it: “Beer beer”.)

These are by no means the only craft players in this space, but they are two of the largest independent brewers and it’s no surprise to see them making incursions into areas previously seen as too mainstream for smaller breweries.

In the past, the crafty side of the dark spectrum has been reserved for one-off releases of decadent imperial stouts, Baltic porters, and lush milk or cream stouts, usually in 440ml cans or 500ml bottles.

Parrotdog brew team leader Matt Warner was quite happy to say they took inspiration from beers produced by Mac’s and Monteith’s for their flavoursome and drinkable 5% ABV stout six-pack. '

“We wanted it to be interesting, super- balanced, and drinkable and it’s been really well received,” Warner says. “We did a lot of research and development on this beer, and when it came time to release, we actually blended two smaller batches so we could get it bang-on.”

At the time of writing the beer was so popular another batch was in tank.

Garage Project’s black version of Beer plays in the same market space as Parrotdog Black, but stylistically it is a Czech-style dark lager with a floral hop character laid over soft chocolate and a creamy body.

What redefines or differentiates these beers is a de-escalation of what many drinkers dislike about stouts or robust porters: an ashy, charred, or roasted character. This reworking has been a trend for a while in darker beers, as dialling back that “burnt” flavour tones down the acidity and bitterness and allows chocolate, nutty, biscuity and coffee flavours to play out in a more balanced way.

In general, it follows the trend of decreasing bitterness across the board in the beer world, and instead accenting sweet, fruity notes, whether they come from hops, malts or even yeast.

New malting techniques help in this regard too, with brewers having more options with their darker malts.

The other thing I like about these new beers – and others such as 8 Wired’s Maverick Stout, Cassels Milk Stout, Stoke Dark and Sunshine Stout to name a few that come in multi-packs – is that they sit just on that 5% ABV mark, proving that you can pack in lots of flavour on a reasonably sessionable base. And disproving that dark beers are “heavy” or high alcohol, which is one of the great myths of the beer world.

While winter remains a playground for big ABV pastry stouts, imperial stouts, coffee stouts, Baltic porters and treats such as Three Boys Oyster Stout, there’s a growing market for easy-drinking darker beer in the cooler months that offers a refreshing (and these beers are refreshing!) local alternative to Ireland’s finest export.

Michael Donaldson is a Beer Writer of the Year, journalist and author

beernation.co.nz