The first seasonal beer of 2023 from Double Mountain Brewery is Never Too Loud, a German-style Schwarzbier that the brewery released last month. As Double Mountain has done in the past, the beer is paired with a playlist of music that you can find on Spotify, that was compiled by the brewers and the warehouse manager in the course of brewing the beer.

The brewery also teamed up with Portland graffiti artist, Bose One, to create the artwork for the label, which seems to match up to the playlist well.

Double Mountain sent me a bottle of the beer to review, though as a quick disclaimer I’ll note that I haven’t yet listened to the music.

Schwarzbier, particularly when done well, is one of those great but underrated beer styles, dark and smooth and easy drinking, with a particular focus on the malts. Never Too Loud is 4.6% ABV with 25 IBUs, right in the sweet spot, and I found it to drink quite nicely. My review:

Appearance: Deep dark ruby red, nearly black, with good clarity. Tan colored dense head of finely whipped foam.

Smell: Dark toasted bread with good crusty notes, a hint of roasted nuts, toasted wheat, lightly fruity notes of elderberry, prunes. Hint of ashy smoke but like charred grain. Nicely grainy aroma so that it’s appetizing.

Taste: Burnt whole grain toast. The malts have a nice toasty bready character with a grassy hop that’s got a light bitterness; it’s rich with lush grain notes that are lightly roasty without any sweetness. Just enough roast to come off dry, with bread crust flavors. Clean fermentation profile.

Mouthfeel: Medium, medium-light body, smooth, well attenuated.

Overall: It’s roastier than I’d expect but it’s got lovely malt character and is nicely drinkable.

Don’t miss out on this one, it’s a nice break from hops and Schwarzbier makes for an enjoyable winter beer style. Double Mountain does it right, as they usually do.