Ayinger Altbairisch Dunkel

Brewed by Brauerei Aying
Style: Dunkel
Aying, Germany

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.

10.09.04 .5l bottle. Dark copper pour; thick tan head of soapy bubbles. Aromas are mild, grassy, white bread, milk chocolate. You really have to search to find any aroma at all. Flavor is quite lagery; plenty of mulch and hints of light chocolate; some grass, mostly bland. It’s easy to be balanced when there’s no flavor. A bit tinny everytime. I’ve given this beer too many chances to be good because it has a high rating. I have never liked it, time after time, but I can’t keep trying to find one that tastes as good as many of these glowing ratings claim.

20080927 Okay, so it’s been a while and this is due a re-rate. The weird thing is that my description from 2004 andthe other experiences does not change. I get the same flavors, mild aromas, and slight mineral characteristic, however, it’s fair to say that now I quite enjoy the beer. Ah, tastes change and we grow to appreciate the finer things, as they say. Well, it took longer that for any other style but in the last year or two I’ve come around on dunkel. Still not my favorite, but I’m bumping the score from 3-4-3-2-5-1.7 up a bit.

Red-amber color, off-white head, and lively carbonation. Toasty malted candy aroma and a hint of sweet yams. Wheaty malt and plum fruit flavors. Some residual sweetness. Palate is somewhat fizzy but smooth. A solid beer but lacking in depth.

Rating No. 500. Bottle. Ruby amber pour with a lacy light brown head. Smells of malt, caramel, and toast. Flavor is much the same, big and malty, a little more brown sugar. Aftertaste is long and dry, and the lingering roast borders on ash. Tasted a bit more coffee-funk toward the end. Didn’t knock my socks off, but a very good example of its style. Thanks to joss!

bottle, dark caramel color, good malty nose, flavor is fruity with roasted smoke accents, finish is a bitter caramel but smooth

Bronze with no carbonation. Bronze appearance and pleasant enough to drink. No better than slightly above average but still one I would try again.

Courtesy of Santa. <P> The body of this beer is a ruby/amber mix that goes from daker to lighter top to bottom. The head is nearly two fingers thick, frothy and light tan in color. <P> Aroma is light and malty with some mild toasty and faint brown sugar-ish notes. <P> Toasty again in the fore then sweet powdered malt, brown sugar, toasty bread and a light caramel flavor. Very relaxed beer that has that awful subtlety curse. Balanced sweetness and a nice lightly cartbonated mouthfeel.

Copper colour, and a fluffy head. sweet, malty aroma. as well as a fairly sweet taste. low bitterness.