Garage Project X Bitburger ‘Verbotene Früchte’ Dark Lager

Rating:

“For over 500 years the Reinheitsgebot has dictated that German brewers can only make beer using barley, hops, water and yeast. But what happens when German brewers go on holiday? Brewed in collaboration with legendary German brewers from Bitburg, Verbotene Früchte is a rich, black dessert lager inspired by the classic cakey goodness of the Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte or Black Forest gâteau and brewed with a lavish amount of sugar, lactose, cacao powder, vanilla, cacao nibs and sour cherries. We counted at least seven contraventions of Reinheitsgebot, but hey, what goes on tour, stays on tour.”

Glassware: Stein.

Appearance: Cola pour with an ultra fizzy head which swells to two fingers before retracting to a halo. Theres a bit of a wet lace dragged along as we imbibe.

Aroma: It sits somewhere between a dark lager and a doppelbock but with a bunch of out there scents like glazed cherries and cherry ripe, cooking chocolate, creamy vanilla/lactose, cane sugar and lightly roasted malts. It’s remarkable because underneath all of that is the lager base of soft crackery grains and subtle Noble hop qualities. Really edgy stuff.

Flavour: Wow it kind of pulls back a bit. Coming off as much more of a dark lager now with that classic toasted nutty malt and subtle fruity esters. Still tasting the tart glazed cherries, cocoa, lactose and sweet sugars though.. they’re just much more tempered as opposed to the nose. Finishes sweet and fruity with a long malty back palate.

Mouthfeel: Slightly watery but a cheeky little injection of Co2 gives it a bit of a lift. The 7.6% ABV is incredibly well concealed.

Overall: GP really are leading the Southern Hemisphere when it comes to high profile collabs. Trillium, Other Half, Firestone Walker…now Bitburger. They’re killing it! This is another corker. Kudos.