A schwarzbier was actually the first dark beer I ever had, out of a Sam Adam’s Winter Sampler sometime in the late ’00s, and it spawned my love for all dark beers. Great color on this, flashlight shows a deep chestnut brown. Smell is actually really faint on this beer, which is a bit of a let down, maybe it needs to warm a bit; notes of roasted and chocolate malts, crisp lager yeast. Taste is a divine smoky, dark chocolatey toasted bread flavor, with an assertive, but restrained floral and spicy hop note beneath as the the heavy mouthfeel washes around your mouth. Finish is light roasted malts and a crisp, hoppy bite. I wish it offered more of an olfactory experience, but on flavor alone, this is a nice, well-rounded beer, that actually drinks like a mullet: malt business up front, hop party in the back.