The Top 10 Beers I Drank In 2019

Shane Montiero

Constant Disregard

Threes Brewing & Oxbow Brewing Company

ABV: 5.7%

The last few years have been particularly unkind to black lagers. Though they were never truly popular in the U.S., the Schwarzbier is a classic German style of beer that used to get rebrewed every now and again in the domestic beer scene. These days it would be hard to find an example of the style on a shelf that isn’t Köstritzer. So I was thrilled when Threes Brewing and Oxbow, two of my favorite lager-style breweries, announced this collaboration. The beer they came up with had a particularly smooth creamy black lager base, followed by some very carefully balanced smoke and tobacco. It managed to pull a full-bodied flavor profile that you’d normally only find in much heavier brews into a below 6% beer. Though the Rauchbier aspects of this beer may be a little polarizing, I thought they blended in very well with the black lager underneath, leading to a layer of complexity you wouldn’t normally find in this style.

Read full article here…