Brew Review: Pennichuck Feuerwehrmann

Brewer: Pennichuck Brewing Co. Milford, NH

Style: Schwarzbier

ABV: 5%

Served: Pint glass from 22 oz. bomber. Purchased at Table & Vine for $5.49.

Schwarzbiers (German for “black beer”) are near to my heart. Just a few years ago, Sam Adams’ Black Lager was my first exposure to anything outside my palate’s typical beer purview. My gateway beer. I’d go on to more complex and challenging brews later, but the experience stays with me.

Pours thin and fairly translucent for such a dark beer. Medium-dark brown with non-existant crown. Through a spring cold, I got crusty bread, licorice, and burnt roasted malt in the nose. Taste is dry, bready, with a touch of coffee, and very subtle. Mouthfeel is exceptionally thin as compared with porters and stouts, but style appropriate. Finish is slightly bitter, but understated.

I learned after I bought this beer that Pennichuck shut its doors this past November. Sad to see a small New Hampshire brewery fold. So, you may be reading one of the last reviews of a new relic in beerdom. Overall, a good example of the seldom seen Schwarzbier style. I prefer Sam over this I think, but it is a drinkable lager. If I had tried this in 2007, it would have been a bit more eye opening. As it is, a bonnie blue-collar effort. B