Nauti Dog Brewing Co. “All Chuck’d Up”

Style: Schwarzbier
ABV: 4.5%
IBU: 13

Today’s tip to all our readers is to follow your favorite breweries on Instagram and other social medias, as you can often be one of the first to know about new beer releases. That is the case for today’s post, as Joe quickly forwarded the post from Nauti Dog Brewing Co. (our neighbors in Winterville, NC) announcing their newest release: “All Chuck’d Up.” This is a European dark lager or schwarzbier; schwarzbiers have a dark color, a product of roasted malts used in brewing, but are considerably light beers. That means they’re great for drinking on warm days, though if you ask us, we’d probably drink any beer on a warm day!

Joe’s Take

“All Chuck’d Up” poured a dark brown that appeared amber-red near the edges of the glass. The foamy head was short lived and faded into a thin film atop the beer. It appeared almost hazy in the glass but cleared up where the light shined through. 

The aroma of the beer was deep and malty. Caramel and molasses notes were backed up by a roasty nutty character. The smells bordered on sweet and prepared you for a malt forward smooth beer. 

The mouthfeel of the shcwarzbier was thin and lightly carbonated. The beer left the palate feeling wet but not coated. The mouthfeel was smooth and this made the beer easy to get down. 

Flavor was all malt in this brew and there was a pleasant roasty caramel like note similar to burnt sugar. This helped to tone down the sweetness and helped to balance out the beer. There was a mild bitterness present on the finish. The bitterness added complexity to the flavor and complemented the caramel like retronasal aromas. 

Drinkability was at a high with this beer as it went down smooth and called you back for another sip. This would be a great lager to sip on a warm night while enjoying the outdoors.

Nick’s Take

“All Chuck’d Up” has a nice roasty brown appearance, but when held to light, you can see some nice hues of red shining through. The head that formed after it was poured lingered momentarily but ended up receding to a light ring around the outside of the glass, and left a bit of a hazy white cloud on top. As relatively light as this dark lager was (as far as the amount of light able to pass through), it seemed to indicate a beer that would not be as earthy, bitter, or roasted as some other dark lagers.

The roasted malt aroma was nice in this schwarzbier and it wasn’t overwhelming or too smoky or charred. I was thinking of a toasted marshmallow, as well. It had a pleasant sweetness mixed in with the roasty scents. Some later aromas of nuttiness came through as well. The overall aroma was fairly subdued in pungency, making it a great selection to drink on a rather warm evening.

For a dark lager, the mouthfeel had more crispness than I would have guessed, but after that initial bite on the tip of my tongue, it faded into a rather smooth, light body. There was a slight drying sensation after a few drinks, but not enough to leave me parched.

The flavors of this beer worked really well together. The light sweet and roasty flavor (going back to that toasted marshmallow analogy) was well-balanced by the hints of nutty and toffee flavors. For a lighter beer (ABV-wise, of course), there was a nice complexity in taste while not being as harsh as some other dark beers tend to be. 

As mentioned earlier, this schwarzbier makes a great option for summer drinking if you are a fan of dark lagers. It’s light enough in body and flavor that you can enjoy it year round, and I was very impressed with how this turned out. While I didn’t have any food during my tasting, I would gladly pair this with any bar food specials, like soft pretzels, beer cheese dip, nachos, and wings. Go check this one out at Nauti Dog and let us know what you think!