I have a deep appreciation for traditional German beer styles, and it’s always exciting to me when I get the chance to brew (or drink) some high-quality German lager. To me, it’s a way for me to connect with my German heritage.
I mentioned when I interviewed at Incendiary that schwarzbier was one of my favorite styles. So, when I had the opportunity to write a recipe for a new beer, I jumped at the opportunity to write a schwarzbier recipe. The batch we brewed to submit to the World Beer Cup was the second iteration. I took some inspiration from a recent trip to Germany to tweak that recipe and emulate some of the delicious schwarzbiers I enjoyed on that trip.
To me, a great schwarzbier is all about subtlety. All of my favorite schwarzbiers have been just as crushable as a classic pils or a helles lager, but with a delicate addition of roasted malt character that adds just a little bit of extra complexity. To translate that into this particular recipe, we kept the use of roasted malts fairly restrained while still allowing for enough to contribute more than just color to the beer.
