In one of the stranger (if understandable) transitions from the 2008 to the 2015 BJCP Style Guidelines, an American style (the Dark American Lager) became a foreign style (the International Dark Lager). The switch isn’t completely out of the blue – after all, the commercial examples noted by the BJCP included a significant number of foreign brews and breweries. The style itself also didn’t change much, falling squarely into the “not a whole lot going on” box. Like many such styles in the guidelines, though, it has its place in your brewery repertoire when brewed well. For me, this beer style works just fine on its own for a fall or winter party tap addition, and it also makes a great base for winter-themed spice and fruit beers. My version of this beer is called “Simply Dark,” but simple can be challenging. Ever try to just hit a straight golf shot? That’s what I thought.
STYLE
The International Dark Lager (though it will always be the Dark American to me) almost sounds like it’s trying to be inconspicuous. Little to no malt flavor. Light to no hops aroma. A little sweetness. Low to no caramel or roasted malt flavors. When people read descriptions like that, they picture a bland, flavorless beer that might as well just be water being drunk out of a darkly-tinted shaker pint. That’s true – but only if we assume that we take the “no” option on all of these flavors rather than the “low” option! What if we, though, go with the “little, light, low” option on them? In that case we end up with a light and drinkable dark lager that has touches of lots of different flavors. This beer can function as a cleaner and brighter (in flavor, not color) version of the English Mild, which sounds like a winner to me.
And, as previously noted, it can be a great base for specialty beers that require a little more of a solid backbone but still benefit from a beer that can get out of its own way.