Yummy caramelized malt sweetness of unheralded medium-bodied lager nearly as worthy as godsend San Miguel Dark. Soft chocolate creaminess, light maple sapping, and vanilla bean hints create subtle milk stout illusion by transient Kahlua-like finish.

Cascading brownish tan bubbles provide nice visual accessory while pouring frothy-headed ruby-maroon Schwarzbier. Way too slick on the blanched backend (and a tad phenol besides) to recommend to serious dark lager admirers. Yet chalky nuttiness, black chocolate coarseness, fig-licorice twinge and evasive blackened wood bitterness nearly make up for poor cardboard finish.

Strange, a dark beer with an Irish moniker in a green bottle from Poland. Fleeting sour fig-prune acridity expelled by coarse nuttiness. Walnut, cola nut, and hazelnut bring bittersweet bite to dry hop-charred grain-roasted chocolate malts. Slight molasses refuge deepens resinous ash backslide.

White grape-wafted oaken tannic dryness and soured plum pungency give prune-clouded dunkelweizen lager its bitter resolve. Thick acridity overwhelms lazy wheat serenity of vinous peculiarity.

Astringent mocha scent turns acidic on the tongue, upsetting quickly fading roasted nuttiness of cola-flowing lager. Closer to weak, indistinct brown ale. Brewery defunct: 2006.

Luminescent chestnut-hued dark brew counters lighter Heineken Lager’s astringent bitterness by straying from typical yeast-soured hop pungency characteristic of most Dutch brews. Pleasing sweet caramel nose leads to roasted barleymalt mouthfeel dominating sweet ‘n sour chocolate, cocoa, and coffee. But timid finish and fizzy assertion block much-needed grain inertia.

In the 1970s, Lowenbrau and Beck’s were thankfully imported into a dire U.S. macrobrew market, but when Miller took over the formula for American consumption, flavor and strength dissipated. It has now lost its edge to more authentic microbrews. The American version lacked complexity. As for the bubbly-headed Swiss variety, mildly bitter hop nose detected amongst dark malt pungency and clammy sour vegetal sag. Try instead the creamier, tangier imported version from Germany on tap for a four star adventure.

Bottled in ’96, consumed in 2002, idiomatic 10-month-aged full-bodied lager warms like a spectacular dessert treat, bringing ripe cherry overtones and dry plum intimacy to its capacious chocolate liqueur center. Sweet raisin and sour prune juxtaposing heavy cream finish catapults prune-hued Swiss variant to exalted grandeur its Austrian version also maintains. Barleywine, burgundy, and brandy lovers should indulge in its complexity.

Extremely versatile medium-bodied English lager miles beyond simply obvious malted grain-enamored competition (presently brewed by Canada’s Sleeman). In original ’60s British incarnation, much-benigned brew gained popularity via controversial sloganeering. But bittersweet sherry sweetness rules! Rich mocha malt extract and persistent hop pop firm up grainy bottom end. Faint fruitiness fades in and out. Easily one of the most enjoyable lagers available, despite underserved negativity.

Sumptuous soda-flowing tan-headed lager with cascading bubbles rising from bottom to top of mahogany body. Chocolate raisin fortitude given red ale-like spiced hop bittering to nutty cocoa finish, retaining up-front malt thrust along the way.

Silky amber-paled, medium-bodied “dunkel” (dark) lager retains moderate caramel creaminess and gentle barley-roasted candi-sugared malt sweetness, but hindered fruit blandness, stifled earthiness, and faint smokiness lost in midst.

Hefty strong Euro lager (9%ABV) placates sweet barley-roasted caramel malting with sullen citric-herbal wisp, initially disguising its ethanol alkalinity. Despite undeniable strength, bronze-hazed Pol needs more pronounced black tea musk, lemon-peppered spicing and sweet bread serenity plus better all-around distinction. Miserly green apple tartness, scant white grape mustiness and slick malt liquor pastiness don’t help matters.