[kgs]

Anyone have a recipe that is close to this local favorite?

[bucketbiochemist]

I love this beer!

from the Moonlight website:

"Death & Taxes Black Beer

A San Fransico-Style Black Lager. Deceptively light-bodied and highly drinkable. Drinks like iced coffee with a different effect.

Style:  San Francisco-style Black Lager
Alc/Vol:  5.0 %
Yeast:  Lager

All that can be said to be certain in life."

Never tried to clone it, but my thinking is that a Schwarzbier recipe should be close.  Dry finish, a bit less malty than something like Kostritzer?  Malt and bitterness very well balanced. 

[kgs]

I love this beer!

from the Moonlight website:

"Death & Taxes Black Beer

A San Fransico-Style Black Lager. Deceptively light-bodied and highly drinkable. Drinks like iced coffee with a different effect.

Style:  San Francisco-style Black Lager
Alc/Vol:  5.0 %
Yeast:  Lager

All that can be said to be certain in life."

Never tried to clone it, but my thinking is that a Schwarzbier recipe should be close.  Dry finish, a bit less malty than something like Kostritzer?  Malt and bitterness very well balanced.

A Schwarzbier (while tasty) would probably have too much roast flavor. Death & Taxes is a dark lager with a very clean finish but a degree of interestingness, I'm guessing more so than the American dark lager recipe in Brewing Classic Styles. You note that Moonlight describes it as a San Francisco-style lager -- I wonder if that's a clue to the yeast used in D&T. Their tap room is nearby so a "research" visit is in order soon.