Archive for the 'Dunkelweizen' category
Great Divide Dunkel Weiss
My love for the Dunkelweizen genre goes all the way back to some time spent in Germany. However, more recently, my love was made concrete during many a Wednesday night at Tyler’s Taproom in Carrboro, NC circa 2005 when me and my roomies carried our pub quiz dynasty (by our own assessment) through several months, fueled by many pints of delicious Franziskaner Dunkelweizen (or ‘Frankenberry’, as some of our team would have you believe). This particular offering is neither a Franziskaner product nor from Germany at all, but I’m still excited about it. So there.
The Great Divide dunkel pours a medium brown color that is hazy with debris and is exceptionally effervescent for a dark ale. The head here sparks up a caramel white color, but quickly dissipates down to almost nothing. In the nose, this beer isn’t terribly pungent, only putting off a light aroma. This aroma is, however, quite sweet and almost candy-like with just a wee bit of dark malt. In the mouth, this beer is an immediate flavor explosion. Given the light aroma, I’m frankly very surprised by how big the taste is here. The flavor throughout the mouth is very sweet with a flavor that I’d compare to SweeTarts. It’s almost cloying, sugary, and lightly tart. In addition to this, though, there is a decent malt backbone. The malt is darker and offers some toffee flavors, but nowhere near enough to challenge the aforementioned sweetness. So, what we have is a beer that is both sweet and tart, though the malt does enough to keep it from being overpowering in either regard. However, the flavor is powerful indeed, carrying all the way through the mouth and sticking for some time in the aftertaste. The mouthfeel is also quite delightful, washing clean and making this brew exceptionally refreshing for such a dark ale. All in all, I really like this beer. It isn’t much different than the Franziskaner that I know and love, though it is perhaps a bit more tart. Definitely a beer I hope to drink again…
Weyerbacher Slam Dunkel
Apparently we here at SevenPack have “dunkel” on the brain. Ben is posting on the unique French Broad dunkel and here I am drinking a Weyerbacher “double” version. This beer has a lot to live up to ’cause I haven’t had a bad beer from this brewery. This bottle doesn’t have the same cartoonish label art as its counterparts. Instead it dons a hand with sledgehammer graphic and is quite tame. Let’s hope for my sake the beer’s taste doesn’t share the same characteristic.
This beer pours a deep hazy plummish color. The caramel head thins and forms a ring that clings to the glass. It should be noted that my beer is the same color as the one Ben is drinking. I have no idea how he described his beer so if his review is completely different than mine please disregard the last sentence. The aroma is of sweet licorice, with hints of orange and citrusy characteristics. It is quite a peculiar smell, one that doesn’t sound like it would fit well together, but in fact it is delightful. The flavor fills the mouth from the incisors to the premolars and then disappears. I’m not kidding, I feel a coating of flavor on the first part of the mouth and then a clean, crisp, light taste on the last 1/3. I can’t pin down a single sensation that attacks the tastebuds because it seems as if they change with each sip. Sometimes I experience banana, other times cherry, then orange, then lemon and spice. This is a very complex, full-bodied beer and yet it finishes very cleanly. I think this is a good representation of a dunkel with added “stuff” which in my book makes it a great “double dunkel.” It is truly a Slam Dunkel of a beer.
Tucher Dunkles Hefeweizen
This ain’t your typical hefeweizen. This is delightfully smoky, but has a smooth creaminess that is more typical of a stout. This also maintains a nuttiness and a slight sweetness that adds to the complexity. Excellent beer.
Ayinger Ur-Weiss Dunkelweizen
It’s difficult to disappoint me when it comes to a dunkel-weiss, as this is my favorite variety of beer. Ayinger is an old favorite – I enjoy the dark cloudy hue, the heavy sweetness, and the musky aroma of this brew. Always a favorite, and one I often come back to
New Glarus Copper Kettle Weiss
The brewers at New Glarus claim that this is a dunkle weiss. I’m not sure I agree with them but they made it so I guess they know better than me. In my amateur opinion this tastes more like a hefeweizen. This beer is very critrusy and crisp. The corriander is very apparent and its golden unfiltered hue is very beautiful. It is also strongly efferevescent, almost like a cheap champagne, but without undesirable burn. As far as hefe’s go it is quite good. What it lacks, which most dunkles have, is a sweet backbone that appears at the end of the taste and coats the tongue. The thing that is appealing about this beer is the absence of a bitter, metallic aftertaste. This review is short and concise because this beer, desipte its classification, is what it is. No bells and whistles, but as far as I’m concerned it doesn’t need any. Grab a few if your are ever hanging out in Wisconsin.
Sam Adams “James Madison” Dark Wheat Ale
This comes as part of a Sam Adam’s 4-pack of old-timey recipes from our forefathers. Judging from what I’ve seen from these thus far, our forefathers can have ‘em. This beer isn’t bad by any means. It pours the deep cloudy brown that I like from my dark wheat beers. The aroma is fairly musty but contains a bit of dark fruit. The taste is initially sweet with a lot of fruit flavor (Matt think’s it’s grape, and I can’t tell enough to say different). Going through the mouth, I find the sweetness dissipates into a light malty taste that goes down the throat and pretty much disappears. It isn’t a terribly complex beer, but my vocabulary can’t adequately capture the couple of flavors that I sense. The bottom line is that this is a fairly simple dark wheat that misses on many of the attributes that I seek in this genre, and adds a couple that I could easily do without. If this is a history lesson on how our forefathers once brewed, then I’m glad to have had it. But, like middle school, I’ll probably never go back.
Arcobrau Dark Lager
This is a Germany dunkle-style lager and while it certainly isn’t the best I’ve had by any stretch of the imagination, it wasn’t the worst. It has a nice deep purple hue with little head and smells of berries. It has a slight metallic aftertaste and is light and refreshing with very little carbonation. For those who care, abv = 4.7%. All in all not bad but nothing to write home about.
Ettaler Kloster Dunkel
This beer pours a dark purple hue with very little head. It pales in comparison to some of the other dunkels I had tried. It doesn’t boast the delicious grape flavor traditionally associated with the dunkel-style. The aftertaste is highly metallic and a bit nutty. I am becoming increasingly disappointed with the brews from Germany, I think this is the 4th or 5th that hasn’t been up to snuff. The Franziskaner and Spoetzl breweries must be getting tried from pulling all of the weight.
Erdinger Dark Hefe-Weissbier
This bottle makes such claims that this is Germany’s favorite Dunkelweiss (in German, of course). My opinion is that, if this is the case, then the Germans are really missing out. And, I know that Germans know good beer – so, my only logical conclusion is that Erdinger is full of it. Don’t get me wrong, this beer is decent. It pours a milky black color and smells of hazelnut and spice. The taste is quite spicy, as well, and is quite powerful through the mouth with a unique bite that you won’t usually find in a dunkelweiss. But, this isn’t necessarily a good thing. I love a good Dunkelweiss – I love ‘em to death. But, this just doesn’t hold up next to a real beer like Franziskaner. This beer lacks the delicate sweetness and malty overtones that make a dunkelweiss truly tasty. Rather, this beer feels like it is forcing itself on you with a flavor that is only mildly appealing. Perhaps this would be great for someone with different tastes than my own. But, for me, I’ll stick to other (better) varieties of the dunkelweiss.
Kapuziner Schwarz-Weizen
The Germans have created a Bavarian Black Wheat Ale. As a huge fan of the weizen style I was “uber” excited about this beer. I expected an unfiltered ale with crisp citrusy overtones, with hints of carmel and malt to darken and deepen the taste. NOPE! I spilled 2/3 of the glass before the ale ever crossed my lips so I should have taken that as a sign of things to come. It was watered down and my tongue was overrun with smokiness. I expect the smokehouse flavor from the more traditional dark beers but I had not anticipated it in this beer; in fact it took away any satisfaction I may have gotten from drinking it. I’m just glad I didn’t have to drink the whole thing.
Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dunkel
This beer is darker than a typical wiezen but tastes just as good. Do not be frightened by the beef jerky aroma. This brew has all of the characteristics of a terrific wheat ale, but without the fruitiness of a dunkel. This is certainly a session beer to be enjoyed in the spring and summer months to come. Two thumbs up. For those that were wondering, abv=5.3%.
Shiner Dunkelweizen
Established in 1909, the Spoetzl Brewery brings you this “bavarian-style dark wheat ale” that is as resfreshing as a spring morning, cool and fantastically crisp. If I had to describe this beer I would say it tastes similar to Concord’s grape jelly with a hint of alcohol. Historically it was only used as an adjunct to Bojangle’s famous buttermillk biscuits but recently persons such as the likes of Kevin Kriener have begun pouring it over sausage patties. I’m freaking hungry…
