Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale 2012

Brewed By: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, California
Purchased: Single 12oz bottle from a six-pack, bought at Friar Tucks in Urbana, IL; 2012
Style/ABV: American Barleywine, 9.6%

 

Tonight I'm popping this blog's Barleywine cherry with Sierra Nevada's 2012 Bigfoot Ale. 

Sierra Nevada are one of the big players in craft brewing, and one of the first craft breweries to arrive on the craft beer scene. If you check out their history page, you will see that founder Ken Grossman began his quest to build a brewery in 1976. In 1980, Ken Grossman and co-founder Paul Camusi brewed their first batch of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. According to Wikipedia, Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale is the second best selling craft beer behind Boston Lager. Sierra Nevada is the sixth largest brewing company in the United States as well, cranking out over 750,000 barrels in 2010.

Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot was one of the first Barleywines to show up in the American craft beer scene. According to Wikipedia, the Barleywine style originated in England. Anchor Brewing Company first introduced the style to the United States in 1976 with their Old Foghorn Barleywine Style Ale. The BJCP distinguishes between two styles of Barleywine: English and American. They also have a third Strong Ale category, "Old Ales," which some people suggest are the same as Barleywines. Barleywines are giant beers, pushing an ABV envelope of 8% to 12%. These things are also super hoppy, with IBUs ranging from 50 to 120. These beers are supposed to be super malty with a malt sweetness, fruity characters, and lots of hops. The BJCP lists the Sierra Nevada Bigfoot as a defining example of the style.

And indeed, the Sierra Nevada Bigfoot has won a number of medals, as you can see from the Sierra Nevada Bigfoot page. This beer is described as having a fruity bouquet, an intense flavor palate, and a deep reddish-brown color. The beer is clocking in at 9.6% ABV and pushing 90 IBUs. The beer is brewed with pale and caramel malts and Cascade (flowery, spicy, grapefruit), Centennial (floral, citrus), and Chinook (spicy, piney, grapefruit) hops; and then dry hopped with Cascade, Centennial, and Chinook hops. With all that said, let's get this into a glass.
 

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale 2012

The beer pours a dark, dark red color in low light, with 1-finger of thick, bready, slightly red/tan head. When held to bright light, this is a darker reddish/orange beer, with a murky center. The head has this reddish/orange tint, and a decent amount of head is hanging around producing a nice cauldron effect. I'd say a centimeter of head is persisting, with a couple of bubbles settling towards the middle. At 9.6% ABV, you do see some alcohol legs sticking to the glass as you let the beer swirl around. I'm seeing a lot of small carbonation bubbles rising up from the middle towards the beer's surface.

This is a big beer with a big aroma. I'm getting a lot of huge malts on this, including toffee, banana bread, and caramel. The malt aromas are sweet, and huge. There are also some alcohol esters on the nose; fruitiness, elusive dark fruits, and I'm even getting a hint of twizzler. There's a huge hop undertone driving the nose, with these giant tangerine and orange esters. I smell some sticky/pungent pine as well. I get a hint of wood/grain when I swirl the beer as well.

The taste: big, bold, thick, chewy, delicious. This is definitely more of a bitter beer than a malty beer, but there is this HUGE malt presence. It's like someone poured a Wee Heavy into a Double IPA. Up front I'm getting giant toffee notes; I'm tasting huge bitterness in the back, with notes of pine, grapefruit rind, and bitter orange. The malts up front are sweet: caramel, toffee, maple/pancake syrup, banana bread..and then you get some earthy grain, and then BAM. Hop bitterness in your face. The finish is dry hoppiness, with lingering malts; grain, toffee. This is by no means a balanced beer, but the GIANT hop and malt profiles work well together.

The Infamous "Cauldron Effect"

This is a thick-freaky beer. Full-bodied, thick, chewy, bitter, malty, sugary...at 9.6% ABV, this is a beer that is meant to be mulled over. The first bottle I had of this I drank over the course of two hours. It was wonderful. This has moderate or maybe even high carbonation, but it is hard to tell with the huge thickness of the beer and the bitter/dry finish. Palate depth is huge, complexity is high. Up front are malts, followed by grains; the grains lead to a hoppy middle; the finish is lingering grains, and hop bitterness. The lingering feel is dry, with some warming from the 9.6%.

 

Rating: Divine Brew

I'm feeling a Light Divine Brew rating on this beer. This is just a spectacular beer. Everything this beer brings to the table is a wonderful assault on your palate. From the giant malt notes, the elusive dark fruits, the banana bread, the maple syrup, the giant hop flavors...this is an impressive beer, and something you can slowly enjoy over the course of an evening. Or, you know, you can pound this shit back like a champion. Whatever gets you off. The point is, this is a steal. Especially since a 6-pack of this shit is reasonably priced (somewhere around 9 to 12 bucks?). One last note: you can age a Barleywine for who knows how long. I've heard you can age this style for 15+ years. So definitely keep that in mind (and maybe buy two 6-packs), so you can throw some in the cellar for down the road. Until next time, don't drink and hunt Bigfoot. 

Boulevard Pale Ale

Brewed By: Boulevard Brewing Company in Kansas City, Missouri

Purchased: Single 12oz bottle (w/ best by: 10/25/12) from a 6-pack bought at Meijer in Urbana, IL; 2012

Style/ABV: American Pale Ale, 5.4%

Tonight I'm reviewing an interesting beer...Boulevard Brewing's Pale Ale. What makes this beer interesting is the fact that the bottle says: "Bottle Conditioned: In time-honored brewing tradition, we've added a small amount of yeast to this ale just before packaging to produce a secondary fermentation in the bottle. This yeast, which settles naturally to the bottom of the bottle, encourages further maturation and contributes to the ale's complex flavor." What an interesting twist on a style of beer that is typically meant to be consumed fresh, and immediately. For those wondering, that explains why this beer's "best by" date goes all the way until October, which is 5 months from now. I may have to age one of these for a year for shits and giggles.

Anyway...about Boulevard:

Boulevard Brewing Company hails out of Kansas City, Missouri. They have a very nice website that is cleanly formatted, informative, and is not loaded with Java and Flash scripts. The company was founded officially in 1989, but began in 1988 when founder John McDonald began construction of the brewery. In 2006 the brewery had a major expansion, which allowed for additional brewing capacity. You can find more info on the brewery's history HERE. According to Wikipedia, Boulevard is the largest craft brewer in Missouri, and the 10th largest craft brewery in the United States.

Tonight's beer, the Pale Ale, is a brewery standby, and I believe one of the oldest Pale Ales in the American craft beer scene. The beer is described as smooth, fruity, malty, and zesty. The beer is brewed with pale, caramel, and munich malts. It uses Cascade (flowery, spicy, citrusy), Magnum (bittering), Palisade (fruity, pleasant), Simcoe (aromatic, catty), and Styrian Goldings (spicy) hops. Clocking in at 5.4% ABV, and packing 30 IBUs, let's pop this open and see what's up.

Boulevard Pale Ale

The beer pours with 2-fingers of white, or slightly off-white head. The head is kind of thin and looks like dish soap bubbles. The head doesn't stick around for long, but there is a nice once centimeter coating of film sustaining. The beer pours with a nice hazy, pale, bronze-gold-yellow color. You can see a moderate to light stream of bubbles rising up, and the beer is just ever so hazy. As the head pulls on the glass, it leaves some lacing.

You get some really light fruit on the nose, with some nice bready, honey, caramel aromas; hints of slight toast. There is an earthy/herbal/pine freshness, with hints of citrus, and some fruity and floral notes. The nose is pleasant and mild.

The taste is pleasant, smooth, and finishes really smooth with a nice bready/biscuity finish. I taste some fruity hops right up front, and immediately get hit with those munich malts in the middle. The munich malts roll into the back, with some toffee/toast/caramel notes. As far as hope notes go, I'm pulling out a lot of earthy flavors, some lemon zest, hints of orange, and maybe a touch of mango.

This has moderate carbonation that interacts with the palate in a pleasant way. This is smooth, crisp, zesty, and refreshing, with just the right amount of bitterness to stimulate your palate. The mouthfeel is medium-light, with just a slight thickness especially towards mid-palate. Palate depth is full, complexity is moderate to high for the style. Up front you get carbonation, and big hop flavors; the hops roll into the munich malts, and a malty/hoppy middle; the back end is lingering hops, slight bitterness, and those bready/biscuity malts. At 5.4% ABV, this is drinkable, but also also fulfilling.

Rating: Above-Average

 

I'm feeling a decent Above-Average on this. This is a good beer, if not approaching a really great beer. There's not a lot to say here that wasn't said in the review. This beer is available, it's affordable, it's drinkable, it's not overly bitter, and it has some decent flavors in the mix. This leans a bit towards the caramel and munich malts, with more of a lighter/herbal/earthy hop profile. And I'm okay with that. Really good stuff from Boulevard, as usual. So check this beer out, and check Boulevard out. Until next time, don't drink and jive.

Grand Teton Lost Continent Double IPA

Brewed By: Grand Teton Brewing Co. in Victor, Idaho 

Purchased: 4-pack bought at Jewel-Osco in Chicago, IL; 2012

Style/ABV: Imperial IPA, 8.0%

Grand Teton Brewing Company is a brewery located at the base of the Teton Mountains in Victor, Idaho. The brewery advertises fresh ingredients, including water from glacial run-off, home-grown malting barley, and hops straight from Southern Idaho hop farms.

The brewery was founded in 1988 by Charlie and Ernie Otto, originally called Otto Brother's Brewing Company located in Wyoming. The brothers secured the first malt beverage manufacturers' permit in Wyoming in 35 years, and were the first modern micro brewery to be opened in the state. The brewery also credits itself with reintroducing the modern Growler, in 1989. After battling Wyoming's state laws, the brothers opened Wyoming's first brewpub in 1992.

Due to the brewpub's popularity, in 1998 the brothers decided to open a brewery at the base of Teton in Victor, Idaho. In the Fall of 2000, the company changed their name from Otto Brother's Brewing Company to Grand Teton Brewing Company to give props to the people of Teton, where the new brewery was located. In April 2009, Charlie Otto sold the brewery to Steve and Ellen Furbacher. Since the Furbachers have taken over, the brewery has continued to expand. Right now the brewery is an 11,000 square foot building, with a 30 barrel brewhouse, and 660 barrels of fermenting tanks.

With that said...let's talk about today's beer. The Lost Continent Double IPA is part of the Brewers' Series, but originated from the brewery's Cellar Reserve beer. The beer is brewed with three pounds of hops per barrel in the kettle, and two additions of a half-pound of hops per barrel are added during conditioning as part of the dry hopping regiment. This beer uses Galena, Columbus, Centennial, and Amarillo [or Bravo?] hops for flavor and bitterness; and Columbus, Centennial, and Simcoe for aroma. The beer is then dry-hopped with Summit, Columbus, Amarillo, and Cascade hops, and then dry-hopped again with whole-flower Cascade hops. The beer is also brewed with Idaho 2-Row Brewers’ Malt, German CaraHell, and Vienna malts. Clocking in at a respectable 8.0% ABV, and packing 90+ IBUs of bitterness, this is a big, hoppy, American Double IPA.

With Flash: Lost Continent Double IP

Before I dive into the appearance, I just want to say that the bottle presentation is very nice. Even the 4-pack this beer comes in is nice, with lots of information on the 4-pack. The bottle features easily removable gold foil, the bottlecap still features nice decoration, and the bottle is very decorative with catchy golden text that says "Lost Continent." This beer is inviting and interesting.

In low light, the beer pours with 3-fingers worth of slightly off-white head. The head is thick and foamy, and looks very nice. The body of the beer has a slightly orange/copper color in low light, and you can see a solid stream of carbonation rising upwards from the center of the glass, where the Duvel-"D"-nucleation point resides. As the head comes down (and it doesn't stick around for very long, which you'd expect for an 8.0% beer), there is some nice lacing on the glass. In bright light the head is still slightly amber-tinted, and the body of the beer is a nice orange-amber color. This is a transparent beer with moderate carbonation. Maybe just a faint touch of haze.

You do get some boozy apricots on the nose, along with some sweet bread/caramel malt notes. There is a slightly resiny aroma as well, with some hints of pine and citrus. There is a little bit of tangerine on the nose as well. Overall though, the nose doesn't wallop you.

Without Flash: Lost Continent Double IP

Mmm...the taste is very nice. This is sweet, sugary, and slightly resiny. I'm tasting sweet apricots, sweet tangerines, slight grassy/pine notes, and a slightly bitter and woody finish with a hint of alcohol warming on the up-and-up. This is kind of ambiguous and muddy, with a slightly floral and fruity palate. I'm getting some hints of tropical fruits or something like peaches or strawberry, but nothing definitive. It's really all about the tangerines, hints of apricots, hints of grass/pine, and that bitter and woody finish.

The mouthfeel is perfect, if not even light for the style. This is still a medium-full to full-bodied beer, with a slightly dense/sticky/resiny mouthfeel, and perfect, supportive, medium carbonation. The back end is bitter, woody, and dry, but not at all overbearing. In fact, this finishes with a sweet malt twang...maybe I'm having an off day, but this does not finish like a 90+ IBU beer. Which is a good thing, I guess? Palate depth is good, complexity is low. Up front you get sweet tangerines; you get some apricots and tangerine in the middle, hints of sweet grass and malt; the back end finishes with some pine, some bitterness, and some wood; there is a hint of alcohol warming and some lingering malt sweetness to accompany the dry/hop finish.

Rating: Average 

 

I'm feeling a strong Average  on this. The nose on this beer is kind of underwhelming, and the palate is kind of muddy. There's some slight astringency/alcohol in the palate as well, with just a twang of grain, but it comes and goes and is hard to notice if you are a seasoned alcoholic. The best thing going for this beer is the woody/bitter/dry aftertaste, and the nice balance of sweet malts that comes and goes. There's also a nice apricot and tangerine note, and some nice sweet malts in the mix. This is a respectable IIPA, and I'd pick it up again at around 10 or 11 bucks for a 4-pack. Would I marry it? Maybe, if I drank 3 or 4 of these before you asked me to. So until next time, don't drink and get married.

Stone Smoked Porter

Brewed By: Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido, California

Purchased: Big 22oz bomba from Binny's in Chicago, Illinois; 2012

Style/ABV: American Porter, 5.9% 

 

Tonight I'm kicking back with a beer from Stone Brewing. There's not a ton to talk about here in the way of style guidelines or the beer itself, which is nice. Sometimes you just want to drink a beer, amirite? In case you don't know who Stone is:

Stone Brewing are one of the more prominent breweries in the American craft brewing scene. They were founded in 1996 in San Marcos, California, and moved to Escondido, California where they recently expanded their operations. Stone was founded by Steve Wagner and Greg Koch. Koch has a reputation among the craft beer community for voicing his opinion, not putting up with shit, and standing behind his beer.

With that said, today's beer is a Porter. It's actually an American Porter, and it's actually an American Smoked Porter. Smoked beers have a pretty mixed reputation in the beer community...either you love them, or you hate them. I'd say I'm a fan, and every now and then I enjoy those huge campfire, liquid bacon, and bacon soda notes you get from the smoked malts. 

If you check out the Smoked Porter profile page, you can get Stone's low-down on this beer. This beer is described as featuring a subtle smokiness, along with some nice rich chocolate and coffee flavors. The beer was first released in 1996, and clocks in at 5.9% ABV and 53 IBUs. For a Stone beer, that's fairly reasonable. The beer is brewed with I'm assuming a whole lot of chocolate malts, roasted malts, and some smoked malts. I'm not sure how Stone does the smoked malts; are they in-house? Are they the same malts smoked over beechwood that you would find in a traditional Rauchbier? The beer also features some Columbus (pleasant, pungent) and Mt. Hood (mild, pleasant, clean) hops, which you would expect since it is pushing 53 IBUs. 

Ratebeer has a quote of Greg Koch saying that the Stone Smoked Porter is unlike a Rauchbier, in that the smoke is an element of the beer's character rather than the main character. I hope that's the case, because this is a Smoked Porter and not a Rauchbier. The bottle features the typical, awesome Stone bottle art. Stone knows how to make awesome bombers of beer. Stone suggests pairing this beer with barbequed meats, fine chocolate cheesecake, and other desserts. They even suggest pairing it with a PB&J. I'm going to hold my tongue and predict that if the smoked character is kept in balance, this might be a beer to have with breakfast. So with all that said, let's pop this open and get on with the review!

Stone Smoked Porter

The beer pours with 4 to 5 fingers of khaki tan head. The head is super thick and foamy, and looks absolutely gorgeous atop this beer. The beer appears to be black or dark brown in lower light, with some hints of red and brown escaping the edges of the beer. When held to bright light, this beer seems more dark brown, with hints of ruby red and even some orange escaping the sides. The head is still a brighter tan/khaki color in bright light, and as the head recedes there is some killer lacing on the glass. Head retention seems good, and it should hold up through the duration.

The aroma on this is not a barbeque pit, or cured meats, or bacon. There is definitely some smoke on the nose, but it's subtle. There is just a hint of meat/bacon, but it's more like a barbeque/smoke pit type note. I'm actually getting some hops and hop bitterness on the nose. It's hard to pull out a distinct hope flavor with the smokey flavor in there, but I'm getting just a hint of earthy hops and even a hint of citrus. I am getting a bit of coffee, and some hints of vanilla/chocolate. Actually, there's a decent coffee note on the nose, which is nice. All-in-all, this is a lot less smokey than I was expecting.

The taste is rich and smooth, and even a touch creamy. I'm getting some nice vanilla/coffee and roast in the back end, with a really nice finish on this. There is a wave of smokey malts in here, but it is very subtle and leans more towards that smokey/firey flavor than a meaty flavor. Up front I'm getting some hop bitterness, some earthy/floral, and even some just-ever-so-slightly pungent hints of citrus bitterness. There is some smoke and woody notes in the middle, with hints of smoke. There is some coffee in here as well, but it is very subtle and plays off the smoke. This beer starts drying up mid-palate, and finishes very dry with a pleasant subtle smokey note, some roasted malts, and hints of malt flavors like vanilla and coffee. There's a chocolate dryness/bitterness in the finish, and I see how you could pair this beer with a chocolate cheesecake. 

The mouthfeel is medium-light, and the palate depth is okay. Complexity is high. There's something about the mouthfeel that feels just a touch over-carbonated and thin. It could be the fact that the smoke is so dominant, and drying. This beer seems to have moderate to high carbonation, and it's fairly assertive on the palate. At 5.9% ABV, this still falls into the realm of very drinkable beers, and this is in fact a very drinkable beer. Up front is some chocolate, smoke, and hops; the middle is smoke, coffee, wood and drying; the back end is more drying with this lovely chocolate/roasted/vanilla/coffee/smokey thing going on. Actually, this leaves quite an impressionable drying sensation on your palate that is really fantastic. I would love to pair this beer with some smoked barbequed ribs, or some pulled pork. I think it would be a smashing pairing. 

Rating: Above-Average

 

I'm feeling a light Above-Average on this. The drying effect this beer has on your palate is awesome. This beer leaves a big, bold, smokey impression on your palate: it also leaves some big malt notes like chocolate, vanilla, and roast. I'm also happy to report that this beer is incredibly balanced, and there are basically no meat notes to report. This beer is all about the smoke, which I commend. The only thing I wonder about is the mouthfeel and the carbonation. I know at 5.9% ABV I shouldn't expect something to crush my palate, but nevertheless. All things considered, for 4 or 5 bucks a bomber, this beer is basically a steal and worth trying out. Actually, buy two bottles. One to taste straight up, and one to pair with your barbeque....or PB&J. So until next time, don't drink and operate heavy grilling machinery. 

Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier Dunkel

Brewed By: Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu (InBev) in Munich, Germany

Purchased: 1 Pint, .9oz (16.9oz) bottle from Binny's in Chicago, Illinois; 2012

Style/ABV: Dunkelweizen, 5.0%

 

Tonight I'm drinking a beer from Munich, Germany, brewed at the Franziskaner brewery. Franziskaner in German means "Franciscan monk," and Franziskaner dates back as the oldest, privately-owned brewery in Munich. The record books trace Franziskaner back to 1363, when brewer Seidel Vaterstetter was first mentioned as the owner of the 'brewery next to the Franciscans' in the Munich Residenzstrasse. In 1841 the brewery moved to Lilienberg, Munich, and Augustin Deiglmayr, son-in-law of Spaten's owner, Gabriel Sedlmayr the Elder, buys the Residenzstrasse brewery. In 1861, owner of the Leist Brewery, Joseph Sedlmayr (also a son of Spaten's Gabriel Sedlmayr the Elder) buys out August Deiglmayr. In 1865, the Leist Brewery stops all operations, and leaves them entirely to the Franziskaner Brewery. Did I mention that the end-game in all this is that Franziskaner gets bought out buy AB InBev?

Moving on...in 1872, Franziskaner-Leist rolls out their Ur-Märzen, and serves it at the Schottenhamel Tent at Oktoberfest. Wieners are schnitzeled. Finally, in 1909, Gabriel Sedlmayr III turns the Franziskaner-Leist Brewery into a stock company, the "Joseph Sedlmayr Zum Franziskanerkeller (Leistbräu) AG." Blitzkrieg that name three times fast. In 1922 Franziskaner-Leist and Spaten unite, to form a single joint stock company: the "Gabriel und Joseph Sedlmayr Spaten-Franziskaner-Leistbräu AG." At this point, we jump to Wikipedia for a better snapshot of the brewery's history. Following the merger with Spaten, the advertising slogan "Lass Dir raten, trinke Spaten," or, "Let yourself be advised, drink Spaten," is rolled out: it is still in use today. The brewery continues to expand and grow, until 1997 when the brewery combines with Löwenbräu AG to form the Spaten-Löwenbräu-Gruppe. And in 2003, the Spaten-Löwenbräu-Gruppe was sold to Interbrew. In 2004 Interbrew and AmBev unite to form InBev. And that's how shit went down in Munich.

It's also worth mentioning that in 1935, artist Ludwig Hohlwein created the company's bitchin' trademark. The Franciscan Friar; drinkin' beer, slappin' bitches, and doin' the Lord's thang. Can I get a Hallelujah and a cheers? Pass the blunt while you're at it.

 

Original Gangster: 1935

If you're anything like me, you're wondering what a Dunkelweizen is. Maybe you should speak German, fool. Actually, I don't speak any German...I'm white. A Dunkelweizen, or "Dunkelhefeweizen," or if you're really German, a "Dunkelkristallweizen," is simply a dark wheat beer. I know because I like to read the German Beer Institute's website in my free time, and you should too. Dunkel literally means "dark" in German, and there actually is a dark lager style called a Dunkel. We'll save that for another rainy day. If you know what a Hefeweizen is, then a Dunkelweizen is going to make a lot of sense. It's a dark Hefeweizen/Weissbier/Weizenbier. What makes beer dark? Malts and Old Rasputin's soul. Dunkel means "dark," weiss means "light," so now you can order your Weizenbier accordingly. Like a Hefe, the Dunkelweizen is made from a mash of wheat and barley malts. Unlike a Hefe, the Dunkelweizen also contains lightly to thoroughly caramelized or roasted malts that give the beer a dark color and malty complexity. Thus, a Dunkelweizen has all the typical flavors of a wheat beer - banana, clove, vanilla, apple, bubblegum, nutmeg, lemon, etc. - plus some nice chocolatey and roasted flavors. This is an incredibly complex style of beer, with a lot of potential for flavor.

At this point, I can point you (the three readers) in the direction of the BJCP, and the Brewing Encyclopedia for any additional concerns regarding style guidelines. German law states that a Dunkelweizen must be brewed with at least 50% malted wheat; the rest of the malt is usually Munich or Vienna malt. The beer uses specialty Weizen ale yeast, and just a dash of noble hops are used. The beer is described as being fruity, having clove and banana, and possibly a slightly toasted or chocolate flavor. No veggies (DMS) or butter (diacetyl) are supposed to be present. There's hardly any info on the company's beer profile page, so with that all said, let's pour this thing and see how it holds up.

Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier Dunkel

 

I hate foil over the bottlecap. And that's all I'll say about that. This beer pours like a dark Hefeweizen, with a giant, pillowy, bready, thick head. The head is slightly tan/sandy in color, and I initially poured about 5-fingers worth. My only gripe with the glass I used is that it is hard to do a vertical pour...not that it matters. As always, make sure you swirl the last 1/4 of the remaining beer in the bottle to stir up all that wonderful yeast, and make sure all the yeast gets into the beer. In low light this is a super murky, swampy looking beer, with hints of pale/straw/swampy gold around the edges, and a darker, purple/maroon center. Basically, I'm going with swamp beer. It's been a few minutes, and the head has dissolved into a half-finger's worth of coating. In bright light, the head is still slightly tinted tan, and the beer has a super hazy/yeasty/swampy appearance. This is a murky brown beer, with tons of proteins and yeast and shit floating around. There are some hints of gold/bronze/straw escaping around the edges. I can actually see some carbonation bubbles in here, so I'm expecting nice carbonation as per the style.

The aroma is like a Hefeweizen, only with this looming malt heaviness. I'm getting banana, cloves, vanilla, the usual suspects. But I'm also getting some bread, caramel, almost a raisin-like note. There's some caramel, and those Vienna malts are really prominent. It smells really good, but it is definitely a bit subdued, and the banana and clove are really overshadowed by this looming malt presence. Maybe a hint of toffee. Let's see how this tastes.

You'd think this would be a lot bolder and aggressive, given the nose, but this is actually very clean and light. I'm immediately picking up on some toasted malt notes, and some nice wheat notes in the back end. There is a crisp and sweet fruity kick up front, with some hints of very mild lemongrass, and apple. Maybe a slight twang of tart on the back of the front-end. The fruit is maybe enhanced with some malt sweetness, and all that good stuff carries into the middle, where you get some more malts and hints of wheat. The back end is just big bold malts (relative to the style, mind you), with nice waves of wheat and Vienna malts. I'm getting a little banana and clove in the mix as well. I could see where this style could have chocolate notes, but this beer only dials the malts up to toasted/bready/caramel.

This is medium-light in terms of mouthfeel, incredibly refreshing, super drinkable, and just a touch dry in the finish. Palate depth is good for the style, and complexity is moderate. At 5.0% ABV, this drinks like a much lighter beer. If you're used to American craft beers, this beer is basically a light beer. There is moderate carbonation, which goes wonderfully with the body. The front is light, crisp, carbonated, slightly fruity, and you get some wheat; the middle is more wheat, fading fruit, burgeoning malts; the back end is a nice play of wheat, Vienna malts, hints of bread/toast/caramel, and a finish that is just a touch dry. 

 

Rating: Above-Average

 

I'm feeling a decent Above-Average on this. This is good stuff, and I know exactly who is going to like this beer. If you find the giant clove/banana/vanilla notes in a Hefeweizen to be a bit too much, then you might enjoy a Dunkelweizen. The malts really help dial back some of the more prominent Hefe notes, and it adds another layer of complexity to the beer. I absolutely adore Hefeweizens, and Hefeweizens are one of the styles of beer that got me into craft beer. Franziskaner has done a good job with this Dunkelweizen, and this is a beer I'll probably pick up again someday. A 16.9oz bottle will cost you somewhere around 2.50 to 3 bucks. That's not a bad deal...at all. So until next, don't drink and blitzkrieg.