Ayinger Altbairisch Dunkel

Brewed by Brauerei Aying
Style: Dunkel
Aying, Germany

Reddish-brownish, slightly hazy, with a dense light brown head. Really nice aroma kind of a pumpernickel bread along with some sweetish, fruity notes. Flavor is nocely toasty, with hints of raisin. Slightly peppery, smoky finish.

Easy to rate. Simply may very well be the best Dunkel out there. See the commercial description and the good ratings. Then imagine the beer is actually better. Taste. Affirm.

Bottle: Reddish copper, translucent, large foamy light beige head, nice lacing, but virtually no carbonation.   Dark bready aroma, slight fig or date.   Toasted malt on the tongue with a definite smokey aspect to it.   The smoke aspect, or charred wood, is stronger here than in any other Dunkel I have had to date.   Fairly big bodied with a moderate mouthfeel.   Malty finish, not as bready as on the nose, with lingering charred wood.   Good, but a little unexpected.

From a bottle at The Bavarian Inn in Shepherdstown, WV. Served cold in a quasi-wheat beer glass. Pours dark brown with a creamy light brown head. Medium lacing. Light aroma of dark malts—caramel, chocolate, and coffee. Flavor matches the aroma, but with added dark fruits. Very subtle. Not a beer that blows you away, but one that is clearly well-made and true to its style. Went well with wiener schnitzel and cabbage. I found the carbonation to be excessive.

See-through brown. Like the Ur-weisse, it has both light and heavy moments. A redrinkable beer for sure, reminds me of Michelob amber bock but better.

Deep brown and copper color, clear, decent head. Aroma is very much malt oriented, with a tinge of sourness. Thick in the mouth, flavors are those of liquid malt extract and slightly burnt caramel. Not bad, but the fruitiness seems to express itself more as a slightly off sour note in this bottle. RERATE: tasted as part of a BJCP training session. The malts in the nose expressed themselves basically as cat food. Odd, but correct. Faint raisin, lots of malt. Abrupt finish. Bumped up aroma by 1 point, other marks stay the same.

Vrey attractive glassy red amber color with a thich foam head. The aroma is strong of malt sweet characters, some fruit and alcohol. I would have expected this to be higher than 5%. There is a lot of caramel and roasted scent to this, as well as a bit of cherry. Flavor falls off a bit in my opinion. Some metallic tastes come through a heafty malt body. THe palate however is pretty enjoyable, smooth all around. A good malt and fruit blend makes for one tastey beer.

Dark amber with a rocky tan head. Pine hop aroma mixed with molasses. Toasted malty taste with coffee notes. Oily texture. Light bitter aftertaste, slight dry lager finish.