On draught at the Newport Ale House, IOW. very dark brown, only a tad tranlucent with a slight ring of off-white head. Purple grape and dark malt compliment a metallic and almost nutty aroma. The nutty notes come out very nicely in the taste: it's sweet and flavourful. Far too much carbonation. All in all a decent Schwarzbier.

Swing top bottle. Roasted malt, coffee and just a touch of caramel in the flavor. Fairly dry with a good roast effect. Well made and well balanced.

500 ml bottle from Drinks of the World. Because of MJ, of course. My third MJ500 beer of this trip. Roasty nose, slightly burnt, fruity, berries, light chocolate malt and herbal hops. Thin brown to black with orange tints and a medium head. Light malt flavor, slightly fruity, some coffee and dark chocolate, thin overall. Somewhat hoppy, peppery finish is nice. Not horrible, but does not live up to its exalted legacy. It still is a reasonably nice Schwarzbier from what would have been West Germany when MJ first tried it, and thus it would have been more accessible than the Eastern ones. I have heard that nothing good has happened at Dinkel-Acker recently, so it might have been even better back then. It has been overtaken by better craft versions. I know of at least 3 Japanese-made schwarzbier that are far better than this.

Donkerbruin tot zwart bier met weinig schuim. Smaak is bitter en licht zoet met iets van rook en geroosterd brood.

Draught. Black with thin tan head. Light malt and sugar aroma. Malty taste with some cola notes. Finish was thin, perhaps this was too long in the keg.

Appearance- very dark cola-brown, a half-finger beige head. Aroma- caramel and toffee, stewed dark fruit, raisin, malt loaf. Taste- brown sugar, burnt fruitcake, dark malts, raisin and sultana, malt loaf, biscuity bready malt.