Herkimer Dunkel Weiss

Brewed by Herkimer Pub & Brewery
Style: Dunkelweizen
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA

On draught at the Herkimer brewpub in uptown, Minneapolis, MN. Pours a semi-hazy brownish amber brew with a slow dissipating off-white head that has some nice retention and some spotty lacing. Aroma of toasted and lightly smoked dark malts, a touch of dry fruit, brown sugar and some mild yeast. Taste is light to medium bodied, very light carbonation with flavors of lightly smoked dark malt, a touch of chocolate, yeast and some banana. Finish is slightly watery with a lingering smoked and banana aftertaste.

Served in a weizen glass at the brewpub. Expensive at $6. The beer is black, and the lighting is dark so I can’t tell if it is filtered or there is any sediment. Aroma has wheat, yeas, and roasted malt. Flavor has lots of roasted malt as well, it is probably the most heavily roasted dunkelweizen I have ever had, which is OK, but if they were going to roast it so much, it would have been cool to use some smoke as well. Flavor has some wheat sweetness and a little banana. Fairly thick on the palate, but the flavor could be more intense. I liked it.

Weizen pour at brewpub. Comes to the table looking beautiful with a large foamy head and a dark brown color. Absolutely no clarity in the beer and it leaves a very sticky lacing. Aroma is salty and lightly sour (comes off as a faint Oud Bruin, I like it). Other earthy aromas present as well. Taste is light dark bread, with an earthy sweetness. A light, easy drinking beer with a nice earthy character and a cool light sour nose. I don’t think infection, just meant to be that way, adds to the refreshing level of the brew.

Surprisingly light for such a dark beer. Almost no finish. Very sweet and fruity. The only problem is that there isn’t much "there" there. Which, for me, is quite a large problem.

A little thin on body, but not unfortunate as it works ok with the strong banana and clove esters. Fairly sweet, but the wet finish disipates quickly.

Cloudy Rich Brown Coloring with Sandy Head. Medium Mouthfeel. Light Malty Sweet Aroma. Simple Session Taste...Light Malt, Sweet Banana Notes, Light Light Dough Feel To it and Some Light Wheat. Malt Makes Up Most of the Taste. Clean and Honestly One of the Better Brews I’ve Tried Here.

A note about the name: the bartender knew this as their Weizenbock. After tasting it and confiming it on the website, it is in fact a Dunkel Weiss. Murky copper color with no head. Very strong aroma of banana. Taste was pretty much as expected: lots of banana and lots of wheat. Just a pinch on the watery side, but overall, nicely done.