Schatten
Schilling Beer Company in Littleton, New Hampshire, United States 🇺🇸
Collab with: The Seed: A Living Beer ProjectLager - Schwarzbier / Black Lager Special
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Score
7.43
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We’re proud to debut Schatten, a Schwarzbier brewed in collaboration with our friends at @theseedbeer.
We greatly admire the team at The Seed. They make fabulous beers across the board, and beyond a commitment to excellence in the craft, they are deeply committed to local agriculture and innovative beers and methods. Schatten is our shared expression of our friendship and values—a dark lager brewed with 100% New Jersey–grown malt—and is the latest in a series of collaboration beers that we’ve had the pleasure to develop with this dynamic brewery.
Named for the German word for “shadow,” Schatten pours a deep mahogany hue with a lingering, light khaki foam. Herbal hops, walnuts, and cocoa powder define the aroma, followed by a malt-forward palate built on grain sourced primarily from @rabbit_hill_malthouse in Shiloh, NJ. Notes of baker’s chocolate, coffee grounds, biscuit, and subtle toffee carry through to a smooth, gently bitter finish—an ideal beer for the colder months.
Schatten is now available in cans and on draught at the brewery. Thank you to Amanda, Chris, Brandon, Alvin and Sean for joining us and helping bring this beer to life!
We greatly admire the team at The Seed. They make fabulous beers across the board, and beyond a commitment to excellence in the craft, they are deeply committed to local agriculture and innovative beers and methods. Schatten is our shared expression of our friendship and values—a dark lager brewed with 100% New Jersey–grown malt—and is the latest in a series of collaboration beers that we’ve had the pleasure to develop with this dynamic brewery.
Named for the German word for “shadow,” Schatten pours a deep mahogany hue with a lingering, light khaki foam. Herbal hops, walnuts, and cocoa powder define the aroma, followed by a malt-forward palate built on grain sourced primarily from @rabbit_hill_malthouse in Shiloh, NJ. Notes of baker’s chocolate, coffee grounds, biscuit, and subtle toffee carry through to a smooth, gently bitter finish—an ideal beer for the colder months.
Schatten is now available in cans and on draught at the brewery. Thank you to Amanda, Chris, Brandon, Alvin and Sean for joining us and helping bring this beer to life!
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7.9/10
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Appearance 9
Aroma 8
Flavor 7.5
Texture 7
Overall 8
Undated can drunk 5/4/26.
Rich coffee-like notes with big beany and earthy character. Brighter hop helps soften things up and the malt shows not too much chocolate. Still, there's quite a bit of earth/ash/roast here. It somewhat bogs down the aroma, in my opinion.
Odd mix of bitter dark malt, sweet chocolate, and a somewhat watery finish. Very earthy and almost chalky. Hops not as big in the flavor as in the nose, unfortunately. Does have a nice, deep maltiness, that's for sure. And it's very satisfying. On the sweeter side for Schilling, but still plenty dry enough. More licorice, bitter roast and such lingering. I think I see what they were doing here. Kind of trying to make a really intensely flavored beer that still retains its drinkability (to be fair that's kind of what I think of every beer The Seed and Schilling make). Perhaps a bit carried away with flavor intensity and complexity here. Hard to get much cohesive character, despite everything being extremely flavorful. The licorice and bitterness makes it feel a bit disjointed, too.
Rich coffee-like notes with big beany and earthy character. Brighter hop helps soften things up and the malt shows not too much chocolate. Still, there's quite a bit of earth/ash/roast here. It somewhat bogs down the aroma, in my opinion.
Odd mix of bitter dark malt, sweet chocolate, and a somewhat watery finish. Very earthy and almost chalky. Hops not as big in the flavor as in the nose, unfortunately. Does have a nice, deep maltiness, that's for sure. And it's very satisfying. On the sweeter side for Schilling, but still plenty dry enough. More licorice, bitter roast and such lingering. I think I see what they were doing here. Kind of trying to make a really intensely flavored beer that still retains its drinkability (to be fair that's kind of what I think of every beer The Seed and Schilling make). Perhaps a bit carried away with flavor intensity and complexity here. Hard to get much cohesive character, despite everything being extremely flavorful. The licorice and bitterness makes it feel a bit disjointed, too.
Tried
from Can
from
Half Time
on 04 May 2026
at 23:52
7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7.5
Flavor 7.5
Texture 7
Overall 8
Can to finish horrible Super Bowl. Dark brown pour and small head. Nose is licorice and bready. Tastes of dark bread, plum, raisin, licorice, earth, chocolate. Sweet. Smooth.
Tried
on 09 Feb 2026
at 04:04
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Pours deep mahogany into a willi. Mocha head with good retention recedes leaving trailing spiders. Dark pit fruit and pumpernickel aromas. Soft with sweet chocolate covered pit fruit, licorice and toasted raisin bread upfront turning to earthy toasted pumpernickel in the lasting finish.
Tried
on 21 Jan 2026
at 22:49
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Draft at Paragon, 1/15/26. Medium brown, small beige head. Roasty, grainy, bread, caramel, and light smoke hints. Flavorful. Smooth. Nice mouthfeel. Tasty beer.
Tried
from Draft
at
Paragon Tap & Table
on 15 Jan 2026
at 18:47
7.9/10
—
Appearance 7
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 9
Overall 7.5
16 oz can. Aroma is soft sweet malt, toffee, mild earth. Taste is an almost fruity malt, toffee, earthy grain. Smooth, frothy texture, average carbonation and earthy finish with light bitterness.
Tried
from Can
from
Greg & Jane's Beer and Wine
on 04 Jan 2026
at 19:42