A recent addition to the fall 12 pack. Always happy to see a new, Sam Adams beer in a traditional style. If there are beers that they do well, it's usually something like this. Besides, these days I'm just happy to find almost any traditional styles! Pour is an attractive one both in terms of the color and clarity. Dark red, copper hues on the pour. Add the fine looking head, and you've got yourself a smashing looking beer. Simple brown ale type notes (I always think of Munich Dunkel's in...
Notes on beers in the style
Munich Dunkel Lager
Samuel Adams
Hofbräu Dunkel
330 mL single. Blue Ridge Brew Hub, Waynesville, NC. Beautiful, red bronze pour with clarity and cleanliness that is striking. White head. some lace. Nose offers a ton of predictable caramel notes. Caramel up front immediately in the tastes too. A very, very light roast note, but this is muted appropriately. Malts of course, are all over the beer, and they meld perfectly. Sweet, medium bodied example, with even a touch of chocolate in there too. Refreshing, but it is a sweet example of the...
Eastside Dark
12 oz single, no freshness date to be seen (notches missing from the label). Thanks go out to Kevin for the chance to drink this one. Pour is a surprisingly dark one, going beyond even the dark brown that was expecting and taking it to a new level with a close to black, stout like hue. Head is good, rocky and pitted, produces some nice lace with its retention. Smell has some malty goodness, and he beer in terms of the way it looks and smells is certainly promising. However... ...when we taste...
Schell’s Dark
12 oz bottle, many thanks Kevin. Interesting. I actually really like the presentation. The clear glass with the dark contents look appealing and interesting to me, and frankly whilst completely understanding and not disputing the chemistry, I feel that the number of problems with skunking are generally overblown a little. Anyway.... ...a solid, chocolate brown colored pour with some great looking clarity. Carbonation is OK, but I wish that it provided a better head and some increased...
Organic Pinkus Jubilate
I've passed on this a few times but pulled the trigger last week at Green's on Ponce, Atlanta, GA, USA. Pour is a hearty looking, mid-brown body with some nice frothy head. Lace is great. Lovely looking. Nose and tastes give a touch of acidity followed by lots of light malts and yeasty goodness. Flavorful and happily moderate with the ABV, there is plenty of German malt and yeast character here. Culminates with some nice, rounded aftertastes and a light, biscuity malt touch in the finish which...
Bathbeer
$4.49 from Harris Teeter, Charleston, SC, USA. Dark, chocolate brown pour with some nice head and lace. Looks substantial. Creamy mouthfeel with a very earthy feel to the beer - I *think* it was advertised in the store as being organic, and this would fit with the general impression of the brew. Good, mild nutty nose and tastes with plenty of semi-sweet caramel notes. I would not call the flavors or nose particularly "roasty", but it obviously sits on the side of darker malts rather than any...
Spaten Dunkel
On tap at The Rathskeller, Indianapolis, IN, USA. So, I sit down at the bar and see the tap handle of this beer that I do not recognize. I order one and start chatting to the two guys sat next to me at the bar. One turns out to be the Spaten rep, and he tells me this is the first keg in the USA! Nice color on the pour with a deep russet, red/brown. Color is good but the head is non-existent. No head, no retention and no lace. Very poorly carbonated. Nice richness, but it maintains the lager...
Augsburger Dark
12 oz single from Highland Beverage, Hiram, GA, USA. $1.39. Dark brown pour with a mocha colored head that fades to a thin film but looks nice. Extremely malty nose, but it seems to come with a fluffy, aged and musty character which is not very attractive. I don't think that this is a very old bottle, but it tastes a bit old. Refreshing with a dry, hoppy bitterish finish. Tastes reflect that old flavor too. Decent, and apart from the odd, "old" taste.
Jacobsen Dark Lager
With the Carlsberg label I was very sceptical, but like always I'll try anything at least once, and in this case I was glad it did. Odd shaped, 750 mL capped bottle as the marketing war goes on! J106199 dot matrixed on the back of the bottle. A little thin looking and the initial head is not long lasting, but there is a decent brown color. VERY malty all around. Less of a Dunkel and more Brown Ale characteristics in my book. Enjoyable an drinkable. Better than I expected.
Dark Beer / Kláster Tmavé 10%
Thanks go out to Penney for this - apparently this IS available in Georgia but I've never seen it - maybe at a place like Beverage Warehouse in Kennesaw where the odd, East European stuff usually turns up. Lovely rich, red/brown pour with some decent lacing and some nice head. Aromas are all sweet, bready notes - very nice. Very tasty with toffee and molasses sweetness. Some banana richness almost like a dark Hefe! Very rich, and the mouthfeel is the most surprising aspect of this beer....
Christian Moerlein Select Dunkel
Purchased at Reilly's in Hilton Head, South Carolina, USA in a six pack. I wonder of this stuff makes it to HHI specifically to appeal to the large number of Ohio residents that seem to congregate here in the summer? I would describe this is as an above average version of the style. Nice looking brown pour with quite a lot of carbonation. Despite the carbonation the head fades diappointingly quickly though, especially considering the amount of froth that is generated from the opening the...
Beck’s Dark
Dark amber pour with a small amount of carbonation that rises slowly. Some sticky lacing, but not much head - some lingers. Solid malt backbone but this is limited by a thin body. Quite a metallic and bitter aftertaste that does round out a little in the finish but leaves a lasting, not great impression. OK in a squeeze, but lacks depth.
Harpoon Munich Type Dark Beer
Delicious and simple. Deep and rich flavors with a great body and a tasty finish make this super-drinkable. Sweet, but a little bit of hop balance helps it a great deal. Lovely deep brown, rich pour with a nice head and some decent retention and lacing. romas are rich and coffee based. Coffee, toffee, caramel and deep malts abound to make this a very satisfying and tasty beer.
Wolnzacher Nikolausbier
Dark brown pour with plenty of deep red hues. Initial, highly carbonated fizz creates a sizeable head but it disappears very quickly. No lacing to speak of. Very quickly takes on a drab, flat appearance. Sweet malts are all I get in the nose. The beer is OK, but it has an odd watery finish that I don't really understand. It has the potential to be a really meaty, malt monster, but it falls well short of that. Very slight port like aftertaste, but it is weak. I have my doubts about the...
Ayinger Altbairisch Dunkel
Additional notes: 09/20/2022 Astonishing effect of the light on the beer (pictured) that causes the red color through the dark brown body. My notes below don't do this beer justice, and I like it much better these days. In particular I feel a real richness about the beer which belies my final paragraph. Here I find rich malts, a depth of flavor that I obviously didn't see 16 years ago, and a nice, woody bitterness that I did note but seems prominent in way it wasn't previously. Some toffee,...
Christoffel Robertus
Nice pop on the release of the swing top. Pour leads to a bit of drab looking red brown body, but a nice head and some lacing. Aroma is fairly non-descript except some sweet alcohol. A tiny bit of sherry, but it's sort of watered down. Not bad, but not really very distinct. Tastes are certainly malt based, but they are fairly reserved. Lots of sweetness but this is tempered by the lack of body. Mouthfeel a little thin. Some lingering alcohol and fruitiness in the finish. Slightly disappointing...
St. Pauli Girl Special Dark
Good looking beer, with its dark body and nice head making it look sort of grand and noble. Doesn't drink anywhere near as massive as it looks, in fact it's a pretty light drinking brew. Malts don't come through as I expected, but there is a balance to the beer, if somewhat unspectacular. Not much nose, but a decent mouthfeel. Nice level of carbonation gives this a lively look and a pretty refreshig effect on the palate. Nothing to write home about, but a decent beer to fall back on. i quite...
Dinkel Acker Dark
Clear dark brown pour with a frothy, "gone all too quickly", head. Very little aroma but that may be related to this serving temperature. This has a low malt profile and a distinct lack of any hop character. If you put this together with the all too familiar frozen cold serving you have a pretty bland beer. However, on warming a little some creaminess, sweetness and more malts come through. Mouthfeel and body above average, but not great. Pretty drinkable if somewhat unspectacular, another...
Warsteiner Premium Dunkel
The Warsteiners I have sampled always seem to me to be complex tasting beers that appear to have a much higher alcohol content than they actually have. I find them enjoyable, but in small doses, otherwise they can lie pretty rough in the stomach and in the head! This brew poured a dark brown color (as expected) with a decent head that didn't last long. Plenty of bitterness and really rather drier than I was expecting. Not a beer to drink a lot of in my opnion, it seems to be too "alcoholy" to...
Negra Modelo
I like the packaging, the short interesting bottle with the foil covered top promises much, but the contents are somewhat disappointing. A nice amber color with a head (that really reveals what appears to be an awful lot of carbonation) that disappears very quickly. The first few mouthfuls were very ordinary but by the time I got to the third (cooler) bottle it seemed to get better. A mild taste with a distinct lack of bitterness or hops is not really to my liking, but nevertheless a very...