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Bohemian Black vs. Blackened Voodoo

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A Comparative Analysis of Black Lagers

Lagers are clearly one of, if not THE most popular beer style in the world. Lagers have become popular enough that many sub varieties have developed. Around the world, you will find beer fans that prefer their favorite style, be that the American-style lager, the Bock, the Dunkel, the Helles, Märzen, Pilsner, Schwarzbier, or Vienna lager. Of the lagers commercially available, I have always preferred the darker varieties including the Bock, Dunkel, and especially Schwarzbier, or black lager in United States parlance. Here I’ll take you through a tasty comparison of my two favorite commercially produced black lagers, or Schwartzbiers, Dixie Brewing Company’s Blackened Voodoo Lager and Shiner’s Bohemian Black Lager.

Black Lagers

Dixie Brewing Company’s Blackened Voodoo Lager was a rare treat I enjoyed with falafel dinners when I was living in Berkeley, CA. This lager was a long way from it’s home brewery in New Orleans, LA, and didn’t suffer from it. It was even more rare after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans hard, but now Dixie brewing company is back at it, although the company has subcontracted out some of its brews while recovering and rebuilding from Katrina.

The Blackened Voodoo lager is light and crisp, with a distinct flavor of the chocolaty elements of its dark-roasted barley malts. The hops add what I would call a medium bittering element to the beer, with subtly musky flavorful aftertastes that arise from the mix of the dark roasted malts and the hops mingling. The hops used in this beer’s production are Mt. Hood and Cascade hops. The yeast flavor is very sublte in this beer, just adding the slightest of fruity accents on the aftertaste, which I consider to be a mark of patience in brewing and proper lagering. The body qualifies as on the heavier side of the medium range, which to me seems a bit light for a black lager. 

For some reason, I always find myself remembering how well this beer went with the Mediterranean food that accompanied my first experience with it. The Blackened Voodoo lager was especially effective at clearing the palate with its somewhat dry yet solid flavors and crisp carbonation. The alcohol level is 4.7%, a level at which the taste of the alcohol is easily overcome by the flavorful nature of the brew. A fine brew to cool off with after a long days work in the hot sun (or even the hot shade, in Louisiana!).

Shiner’s Bohemian Black is a fairly recent addition onto the Texas beer scene, and a welcome one. Shiner’s Bohemian Black was originally a limited edition produced in honor of the Spoetzl Brewery’s 97th anniversary, but it’s popularity earned it a continued production run as a permanent part of the Shiner line of beers in 2007. This Black lager is very refreshing on a hot day, much like the Blackened Voodoo Lager. Shiner’s Schwarzbier has a sweeter taste, even with it’s slightly elevated alcohol level (4.9%). The darkly roasted grains seem to impart more body into the Bohemian Black without so much of the chocolaty taste that I found in the Blackened Voodoo Lager. The hop character, once again, seems meant to embolden the bitter aspects of the malts rather than hit you over the head with hoppy dankness. I would call the Bohemian Black a smoother lager, with more body than the Blackened Voodoo. Less carbonation is evident in this beer as well.

One aspect of the Bohemian Black which is clearly enhanced over the Blackened Voodoo Lager is consistency. I have never heard of a complaint about the Bohemian Black, but it seems that the Blackened Voodoo Lager can have some variety regarding carbonation and flavor. My guess would be that the lager may be subject to alteration depending on temperature changes. Also, with the advent of hurricane Katrina, the Dixie Brewing Company has contracted out some of their brewing, including Blackened Voodoo Lager, to Minhaus Craft Brewery of Wisconsin. This might cause some problems, as the new brewery must adjust its apparatus to attain the same results as the New Orleans brewery.

If you are a lager fan, I recommend trying both for yourself. Shiner’s Bohemian Black will most likely be much easier to find. If you should stumble upon the Blackened Voodoo Lager, you should definitely pick up a six pack, because you never know where or when you might see it next!

Kegerators.com's Top 5 Names in Domestic Beer

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The U.S. beer industry is in a constant state of flux. New ideas and innovations are changing the face of beer every year, especially in the micro brew market. As the primary field of growth in the brewing industry, kegerators.com will name the top ten names in domestic craft beer production. These are names to look out for. These are brewers associated with quality, ingenuity, tradition, social responsibility, and most of all, good tasting beer. For these qualities, we name New Belgium Brewing Company (Fort Collins, Colorado), Dogfish Head Brewing Company (Rehoboth Beach, Delaware), Spoetzl Brewery (Shiner, Texas), Rogue Ales (Newport, Oregon) and St. Arnolds Brewery (Houston, Texas).

New Belgium Brewery New Belgium Brewery of Fort Collin, Colorado, is here honored for the company’s integrity, ingenuity, and the amazing quality of its high production level brewery. A forward thinking, 100% green company which shares its profits with its workers, New Belgium has consistently contributed innovative brewery techniques, while at the same time maintaining ancient and venerated beer traditions, such as its 1554 Enlightened Black Ale. Kudos to the first beer company to recycle its waste grain and harvest methane from it! This full circle renewable energy source now contributes 30% of the energy required to produce over 450,000 barrels of beer annually.

Dogfish Head Brewing Company Dogfish Head Brewing Company, a smaller brewer located in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, is here honored for ingenuity and fearless experimentation in the realm of brewing. These brewers have gone where few dare to go, preparing beers of up to 18% A.P.V.! Using admixtures such as raspberries, raisins, blueberries, chicory, and coffee, Dogfish Head has prepared some mighty interesting and mighty tasty concoctions. Brewers of the Midas Touch, Dogfish Head has even created a facsimile of a brew scientists discovered only traces of on urns in King Midas’ tomb. A true blend of tradition and experimentation. But you’ll have to go to Delaware to sample some of their latest innovations: small scale craft spirits!

Spoetzl Brewery, of Shiner Spoetzl Brewery, of Shiner, Texas, is a middle-sized brewery (much bigger than a microbrewery at 300,000+ barrels per year) that has, just in recent years, ventured into the craft beer market. Spoetzl is here honored for returning to the craft beer traditions from the precipice of the homogenized U.S. beer fad. For many years, the Spoetzl Brewery kept mainly their Shiner beer going, but now has distribution for many craft beers, in addition to their rather main-stream tasting Shiner and Shiner light. All of this is, in part, to Shiner’s centennial beer program, which started in 2005. The centennial program began producing one special edition beer in small batches at the end of each quarter. With this foray into the realm of experimentation, the brewers at the Spoetzl Brewery found flavors that were received quite favorably. Spoetzl’s Shiner 96 Märzen Ale, Shiner 97 Bohemian Black Lager, Shiner 98 Bavarian Style Amber, and Shiner 99 Munich Style Helles Lager, are all high quality craft beers worthy of recognition along-side the best microbrews of the day.

Rogue Ales Rogue Ales, of Newport, Oregon is a brewery which has maintained an exacting level of perfection with its recipes while keeping an open mind toward new innovations in brewing. With brews as diverse as Soba, Hazelnut Brown Nectar, and the Juniper Pale Ale, Rogue has demonstrated it’s willingness to live up to its namesake. Yet still, for all this invention, Rogue beers are remarkably reliable – one bottle will always taste like the next, even with such extreme different flavors. Here’s another great thing about Rogue Ales: they are all without preservatives or pasteurization.

Saint Arnold Brewing Company Saint Arnold Brewing Company, of Houston, Texas, is here honored for their dedication to serving their community with traditional, well made craft beers. You may not have heard of St. Arnolds unless you have visited central or east Texas. This is because St. Arnolds is more devoted to serving their immediate community than they are in expanding their distribution. St. Arnolds certainly stands a part from the other breweries in this list, being a straight-forward craft brewery with an honorable dedication to traditional beer styles. St. Arnolds has had quite a time dealing with the destruction of Hurricane Ike, but they are moving into a new location and will surely be up and running again soon.

These have been Kegerators.com‘s five most distinguished domestic brewers of 2008.