Einbecker Dunkel

Brewed by Einbecker Brauhaus
Style: Dunkel
Einbeck, Niedersachsen, Germany

Strong Hallertau or other German hops aroma with some "soft" dark malt toastiness. Dark reddish-brown appearance that is opaque in a wide glass, but nothing like a Guinness or Kostritzer; lasting tan fuzz. Smooth malt flavour with subtle, spicy melanoidins rounded off by a light, toasted chocolate. Floral German, noble hops and very gentle bitterness. Light to medium body with considerable carbonation and a smooth finish.

Pours dark brown with a thick head. Aroma from bread, roasted barley and cherry. Flavour is malty, caramelly and sweet. Not much bitterness at all.

Pours with a very dark, almost brown, but really mostly a concentrated amber color. It is not really black, but it is dark enough, and close enough to black that it is opaque unless it is held up to the light. When held up to the light the beer shows a brilliantly clear dark ruby color. The head is a lightly brown, tan color and is initially two fingers thick. The aroma is sweet up front with almost a berry note to it. As I delve deeper into the aromatics, I get notes of rich, layered, concentrated malt; notes of toffee and a rich meaty malt character. The meaty maltiness might actually be a product of a touch of oxidation, but if it is, it is a good thing so far.

The taste is only lightly sweet, with a smooth roast character to it. The beer rests lightly on the palate for the most part, there is a touch of lingering heft to it and the body itself has a medium fullness to it. Malt is definitely the focus in this beer, there is almost a nutty character to this brew (similar to what is found in some brown ales), and the finish has a light coffee like roast character to it. This beer has the malt character I would associate with a Dunkel beer. Despite this, the beer is quite tasty.

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Bottle. Tested 11/1-06. Dark red colour, with a nice white creamy foam. Lots of sweet roasted maltyness in the aroma, and a nice bitternes in the backround. Medium creamy malty body, with a nice dry bitter finish.

In the bottle from the Huber Haus. A dark, dark brown color with a thick ivory head. This is just a beautiful beer. Strong aroma of bread dough and caramel maltiness. Good roasted flavor, but also tastes like malted milk. Has a medium body. Nice rings of lacing. Has a very low hop content. This was good in spite of the green bottle! Has a mid-palate sweetness and a tingly dry finish. I really like this one.

Bottle. Copper in color with no head. Chocolate and caramel notes. Roasty aroma. Medium bodied. Malty finish. Nice.

The bottle poured a clear dark garnet colored beverage with a medium sized frothy off-white head that was mostly diminishing and left good lacing on the glass. The aroma had a predominantly malt presence with notes of dark bread and toasted grains. The body was medium with lively carbonation and a somewhat watery texture. The finish was average in length and was lightly astringent. The initial flavor was lightly sweet and as it matured it became lightly bitter in the finish.

Full bottle, 6/9/06. Poured straight into a dimpled mug, raising a big stiff ecru foam. Kind of a sugary smell. No skunk here, even though it had been sitting on the loose bottle shelf. Definitely not a schwarzbier in taste, but a nice, easy dunkel. A bit thin on mouthfeel, and the sugar and graininess make a cousin to an American dark beer, but not in a bad way Easy drinking (if that head would ever go down), just a bit of bitter after-taste and milk sugar. Relatively light in alcohol and priced as an everyday beer.

Sampler from bottled labeled "Schwartzbier," Mar 6/06 Ah, no wonder this wasn’t quite so black as other Schwartz’ I’ve had. Distinctively brown in color and light in body. The green bottle allowed this import to get a bit skunked. Offers some toffee and caramel notes.