Zeitgeist Black Lager

My first sips of Zeitgeist didn’t blow me away. I had sort of been expecting a revolution. I think a little bit of hype, excellent design and lots that I’d read had built up my expectations, and that I was expecting a Road to Damascus style realisation that pale lager could not quench my thirst and that black lager would suddenly take me a higher level.

Well, the first sips didn’t go down well. I found it flat and uninteresting, completely underwhelming and disappointing.

Zeitgeist Black Lager by BrewDog

But within a couple more sips I realised that I’d drunk half a bottle within about 53 seconds.

Wow, this stuff is drinkable.

And then I noticed its subtle complexities. And they are subtle, but highly enjoyable.

The darkness of the taste is refreshing. I love dark milds and in the right mood I can devour stouts, but they are styles I turn to only when in the right frame of mind. Zeitgeist offers much of the dark coffee that I love in beer (but hate in coffee!), and hints of biscuity, chocolately, nutty joy that dark beers often revel in, whilst being one of the most drinkable beers I’ve ever tasted.

I use drinkable quite a lot when I’m reviewing. It’s very indicative, simple yet effective at conveying the fact that a beer slips down the throat whether light or not.

Zeitgeist is the former, in abundance. They could advertise this stuff next to Malteser’s and even with the weight of the bottle the dark liquid would easy outfloat it’s hollow chocolate counterparts.

At 4.9% Zeitgeist is deceptively, deceptively strong, and from an uninspiring first sip, it is really a very interesting beer.

My first bottle of Zeitgeist developed from an unassuming start to the point where I couldn’t believe it was finished and I ended up craving more. This is a beer that might not tickle your tastebuds like a hop monster, but will go some way to satisfy my darker, thirstier urges that is very, very, easy to drink!