A German dark lager beer ('black beer'), mainly brewed in Saxony and Thuringia. It has an opaque, black colour but only hints of chocolatey or coffee flavours unlike stout or porter. There are no yeast-derived flavours dominating while sometimes the body can be full or sweet. The spectrum reaches from black pilsners to darker and somewhat roastier Munich dunkels.

Schwarzbiers are bottom-fermented beers, a;though originally top-fermenting yeast was used in brewing them. The alcohol content usually ranges from 4.1% to 5%. They get their dark colour from the use of particularly dark malts or roast malt extract in brewing. The malt, in turn, gets its colour during the roasting procedure.