Saranac Black Forest

Brewed By: Matt Brewing Company
Brewed In: Utica, NY
ABV: 5.3%
Type: Bavarian Black Beer

What they say: Saranac Black Forest is a delicious Bavarian Style beer with a caramel malt sweetness, medium body, and our trademark rich creamy head. Look for the delicate brownish-red color. Until recently, Black Forest was served exclusively on draft. Enjoy.

Why I picked it: Beer four in the six-part Adirondack Trail Mix sampler. As I last week, it was either Black Forest or Black & Tan that was my first favorite microbrew.

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Presentation (5): I find it funny that the “Black Forest” beer offers neither a black label nor a particularly dark forest on their watercolor. I mean, if your thing is Adirondack landscapes on the labels, don’t you think you could find one that better represents a “black forest”. 2

Originality (5): This is another tough rate. This beer has been around as long as I can remember. And really, I don’t know what it is. It’s a Bavarian black beer called “Black Forest.” They don’t claim it’s anything, so it’s tough to rate against similar things. On the other hand, shenanigans on their “until recently it was only available on draught” nonsense. Granted, I haven’t spent much drinking time in Saranac’s Central New York wheelhouse, but I’ve never seen it on draught anywhere. Besides the point, I’ve been drinking it out of the bottle for damn near a decade. It might be time to upgrade the bottleneck blurb. 4

Body (10): It takes a little suspension of disbelief to accept the “red” or “rich, creamy head” mentioned on the bottleneck. It is barely red and the head, while creamy, isn’t very persistent. However, the body is surprisingly smooth for the darkness of the beer. It’s a bit out of the ordinary for a beer that blocks light. Not tremendously thick or filling and quite pleasant for the flavor. 8

Taste (10): This brew tastes like it’s nearly all malt with only a pale hint of hops. The caramel flavor mentioned in the blurb is evident and, as per usual, a pretty excellent flavor when combined with heavy malts. The one drawback is it’s right on border of being too sweet. Not a problem in a sampler pack, but maybe a problem in a full sixpack. 7

Efficiency (10): The beer’s malty sweetness is great but, as mentioned, a sweet flavor and a low ABV doesn’t lend itself to efficiency. This beer would be an excellent draught but despite their insistence, I’ve never seen it. The 5.3% doesn’t knock my socks off in efficiency terms, but it doesn’t suck. 6

Versatility (10): Much like the Black & Tan, I don’t know what I’d use it for. The pairing information suggests Mexican food and chicken dishes, but I don’t get that. If there was more than one in the sampler, I might have tried to turn it in to a steak sauce. I don’t want to be down on this beer because I do really like it but I just couldn’t see myself ever getting a sixpack of it. I love one or two, but I couldn’t see myself spending a night with it. 5

Final Score: 32 (of 50) — Good beer.

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