Brewery- Christian Moerlein
Beer- Barbarossa
ABV- 5.2%

 

You’ve made a discovery – a Dark Lager honoring Frederick I, Emperor of Germany, known as Barbarossa. Folklore says he never died…instead he sits enchanted in a cavern until the ravens cease to fly, signaling for his triumphant return.  Moerlein Barbarossa is slow-aged with a deep reddish-brown color and a malt aroma derived from Munich dark malt.  The balanced finish invites a toast to the return of a legend.

This beer pours a deep mahogany color with a big rich nutty and bready aroma that lifts from it’s khaki colored head.  The beer seems to harken back to a time when lagers were king in Cincinnati, it’s an easy drinker that satisfies the urge for something that tastes bigger than it really is.  Lager love, doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice on flavor, and Barbarossa is a fantastic example of that.

The beer has flavors that range from the nutty and tastiness that you get in the aroma, to a rich deep chocolate that sits down behind it all.  It has a nice rich creaminess to it, that you wouldn’t expect from looking at it’s lively carbonation.  This is an overlooked and under-appreciated beer in this city, and one that you should probably spend more time drinking than you do currently.