Ratings: 16 | Reviews: 11 | Display Reviews Only: Reviews by beerbrains:3/5 rDev -7.1%beerbrains, Feb 06, 2013More User Reviews:2.38/5 rDev -26.3%look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2Appearance  This lager poured a dark ruby black with a smallish head.
Drinkability  This definitely is not one of Max Lagers better offerings. In all fairness, it has proven to be an extremely difficult style for American brewers to pull off.RoyalT, Apr 19, 20043.7/5 rDev +14.6%look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4This one arrives in a pint glass, a decent shade of murky brown. A thin coffe head lasts for just a moment. Aroma-malt and chocolate, not much roasty-toasty but the sweetness is inviting.Mouthfeel-medium bitterness and adecent lager flavor with the dark malts givng off a sweet flavor. The chocolate notes are very subtle-good.Average, but tasty. More quaffable than the pale ale I had.ByTor2112, Aug 26, 20083.05/5 rDev -5.6%look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5A mild stout, both in taste and alcohol. Not bad as a beer or a shwartzbeer, there's chocolate here. Roasty and coffee-ish, even a hint of wood and smoke, but medium-thin mouthfeel. Also bleach from glass in nose. Malty sufficiently to be Quaffable.Sammy, Mar 10, 20063.3/5 rDev +2.2%look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 4Following my Hefe I inquired about the 'Black' beer at Max. and the bar tender told me it was like a stout but a lager instead. I clarified, so its a Schwarzbier like Samuel Adams Black Lager or Köstritzer and he said yeah like SA. Well my first impression was that it lacked a lot of the roastyness of shwartz, but had a pleasant fruity sweet grain and german malt attribute. It didn't take long to realize the was in fact a Munich Dunkel Lager. The brewer confirmed and indicated the ABV is close to 6.5%
Cheers!Phatz, Aug 07, 20073.43/5 rDev +6.2%look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5I only had time for a quick pint while in Atlanta. It was a hot day, and a thirst quencher seemed in order. Good looking, dark brown color with a thick cap of foam. Decent retention and thin strings of lace. Slight fruit aroma with the malt graininess. Nice toasted grain flavor, clean and crisp, again a bit fruity. Dry finish. Light body and mouthfeel, keeps it drinkable and crsip. Can't wait to try some other offerings.BigBry, Mar 20, 20083.75/5 rDev +16.1%look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5Black with ruby highlights but with a quick-fading head. The aroma is burned brownies and smoke (but not overwhelming smoke. This flavor isn't really huge but for a schwarzbier it's really good. A little thin on the mouthfeel, but not so much for a lager.aracauna, Jan 20, 20033.75/5 rDev +16.1%baklo, Aug 09, 20143.53/5 rDev +9.3%look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5The black was served in standard pint glass. Per the name, it is black in color with a small tan head and wispy lacing. The nose is of roasted malt, some molasses and a slight whiff of floral hops.
The taste is solid but not breath taking. Mainly roasted malt that almost has a smoky taste. Beer is a little too sweet for my liking and could have used a bit more hops to notch it down. The beer almost reminded me of a light porter. The beer is slightly over carbonated, but it is an easy enough beer to drink. I would not recommend matching this beer with the spicier offerings on their menu.Redrover, Dec 02, 20041.53/5 rDev -52.6%look: 2 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1.5Boring, semi-roasty in style, I wondered if it was a weak example of a Schwarzbier style when I was there. 14.5 plato, 40 IBU. Appearance: moderately dark, but lighter than the style might indicate. Initial taste: boring, thin. Odd, tangy-sweet taste: lines or a yeast gone astray? The middle taste and mouthfeel are just boring, and it's a little overcarbonated, again with that weird, inappropriate fruitiness. My tasting notes indicate: "boring, semi-roasty" and I gave it very, very average scores. Summary: I wouldn't bother again: very average, dark lager style, perhaps a sad attempt at a Schwarzbier (sp?), which I often like. Max Lager's has several other beers far more worthwhile than this, and I wouldn't bother with it again.warmstorage, Feb 25, 20053.23/5 rDev 0%look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5Poured very dark with minimal head. Very malty with a roasted aroma. Maybe a hint of chocolate? Minimal hops.Low carbonation didn't allow the flavors to spread within the mouth. Kind of bland in that respect, but you could definitely taste the richness of the malt.Not being a big fan of the style, I probably wouldn't have this on my next visit. However, adding a little more effervescence could greatly improve the drinkability.kdog630, Mar 18, 20084/5 rDev +23.8%Troy_P, Jul 01, 20142.75/5 rDev -14.9%harpus, Oct 10, 20133.5/5 rDev +8.4%coreyfmcdonald, Jan 22, 20122.98/5 rDev -7.7%look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3Appearance: Set before me a clear, near black body with a smallish, white head.Smell: Presents a simple nose smelling of grains and various roasted malts, as well as some curious hints of powderized licorice and powdered chocolate.Taste: Roasted grains rounded out with the taste of semi-sweet chocolate and spicy touches of licorice root. Hint of spicy, lightly earthy hops at best with no more than a hint of bitterness. I'll politely assume the listed 40 IBU's to be the error of a typo. Drying, spicy finish with a final taste of now unsweetened chocolate.Mouthfeel: Relatively light-bodied. Lightly carbonated -- why's everything here near lacking carbonation?Drinkability: The Gold, the Red, and now the Black have all been undercarbonated. Like a can of cola left in the refrigerator for several hours. It's all just so limp and lifeless on the tongue. Ah well!ChainGangGuy, Nov 14, 20093.73/5 rDev +15.5%look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4Color is a deep sable brown, head is tan and fairly persistent. Aroma is smoky with a hint of coffee, and has an odd waxy or dusty overtone to it. Flavor is decent, mainly burnt coffee but again with a waxy hint to it - not unpleasant, but strange. It has a good hoppy bite and a smooth, pleasant texture.Cyberkedi, Feb 10, 2008