BREW IT YOURSELF

Love of Dark Ales and Lagers

As the temperature drops and the nights grow longer, beer drinkers often shift their beer preferences towards the darkness—dark ales and lagers, that is. Dark brews range anywhere from brown to jet black in colour, and often have flavour descriptions that include things like chocolate, roast, nuts, caramel, coffee, raisin, and others. In the Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad tells the story of Charles Marlow and his journey into the interior of Africa. Here, I explore a lighter subject: the enjoyment found in dark beer.

I often hear people say they don’t enjoy dark beers. Perhaps they believe in one or more of the many myths that surround dark beer: that they are heavy, too sweet or too full of calories, not hoppy enough, too high in alcohol, or other common misconceptions. Beer styles like stouts, porters, brown ales, and other dark beer have a very wide range of flavours and characteristics. They can range from malty and bitter to sweet and silky, and everything in between. Some are light, some pack a lot of punch. Don’t be afraid of the dark, you might just fall in love with it.

Dark beers get their colour and their roast flavour from deeply roasted malts. Just as with coffee, all malt is roasted to some degree. The darker roasted malts—ones that get heavily kilned, leading to a robust Maillard reaction—provide melanoidins (large polymeric molecules) and hetero-cyclics (ring-shaped molecules) that produce the colour, aromas, and flavours that are often associated with dark brews. It is flavours like espresso, dark chocolate, and toasted marshmallow that people tend to enjoy more in the winter months.

Locally, we have delicious oatmeal stouts like Dawson Trail’s Oater Limits and Sleeping Giant Brewing Co.’s Skull Rock Stout. Both ales aren’t heavy and despite their dark nature—they are actually quite easy drinking and refreshing. The recently opened Lakehead Beer Co. is brewing an amazing coffee porter in collaboration with St Paul Roastery called In the Ground. The freshly roasted coffee pairs heavenly with the dark beer style, leading to flavours of chocolate, toast, and raisins. For any coffee lovers out there, this beer is a must-try!

In addition to stouts and porters, there are a wide range of other dark beer styles that are worth exploring. Czech dark lagers have the smoothness and drinkability of a pale lager, but with a touch of added complexity. For those who attended the Saturday evening session of BrewHa! in September, you might have tried Godspeed’s Tmavý Ležák 12º, a beautiful dark Czech lager that is surprisingly light on your palate. Sleeping Giant Brewing Co. usually releases their “Darth Lager” in the fall—a smooth dark beer with a crisp finish.

Dark mild is an incredibly drinkable style from England, light in alcohol (<4% ABV) but still coming with that rich roast character from the darkly roasted barley. I personally don’t know of any Ontario examples of the style, but now that the border is reopening, head down to Minneapolis and try MPLS Mild at the Fulton Beer taproom. This brew combines six grains to create a garnet brown, silky, and smooth ale that is perfect for any drinking session. With a balanced mix of nutty, roast, and toffee malt characters, you won’t be disappointed.

A final dark beer style that I really enjoy are American brown ales. This style of beer blends the roasted malt character with a punch of American hops. It’s not often that a beer can provide a complex but harmonious mix of both malt and hop flavours, but this style is defined by that approach. A great example is made locally by Lakehead Beer Co.—their Deep Cuts American brown is one of my new favourite beers. Cheers to finding joy in the darkness!

“If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny….” - Yoda