Kaufbeuren Steingadener Dunkle Weisse

Brewed by Aktienbrauerei Kaufbeuren
Style: Dunkelweizen
Kaufbeuren, Schwaben/Bayern, Germany

(500 ml bottle: $2.29 at Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido, CA) My second attempt at sampling this beer (the first tasted "old"), and judging from the typically-malty German nose, this seems like it could be quite solid. Only lightly sweet, aromas of toasty malts, a light tartness, and a moderate amount of earthiness are quite pleasant but in reality, they don’t predict the flavor too well. Dark, bready malts dominate this dunkelweizen, and the breadiness picks up as the beer gets warmer. Modest earthiness is unable to break the spell of the breadiness, and I’m just not as fond of how this beer tastes compared to how it smells. And unfortunately, this is sort of how my first bottle tasted. Medium-bodied and snappy in its carbonation. Amber-brown in color with a modest cloudiness that doesn’t prevent seeing through the beer. On the initial pour, a off-white head quickly forms, but almost as quickly fizzes away noisily and completely like soda. Not a bad dunkelweizen, but the aroma is the high point and the flavor is better when the beer is cold, and that can never be a good sign. I guess the first bottle was fine afterall.

Bottle from Beer World of Largo, FL. <P> Aroma is fruity sweet with lots of malt and some mild bannnan and nut notes. Copper orange in color with an amazingly fast receding head. Starts with two fingers of tan head and goes to none in seconds. Nutty roasted notes int he fore with a bit of sweet fruitcake and smooth sweet malt. Low carbonation levels and virtually no hop bitterness.

This was a decent beer. Pour was a cloudy, orangy color with a head that went very quick. A very toffee like aroma with some sweet fruit in the nose also. Delicate malt characters with hints of overipe bananna, pear and plums. In the finish I thought I could detect some smoke but alas, it was awful faint to be sure. A really, really nice beer that is also very hard to find.

Cloudy with an amber-orange hue; thin, quickly dissipating head. Soft body with a lively carbonation; watery at times. Finished sticky. Delicate malt flavors of toast and bread dough. Subtle fruit flavors, such as apple, pear, banana and raisin. Very light, herbal bitterness. Uneventful, but OK. A little too sweet for me, though.

Amber/copper/brown with a frothy off-white head, this has a toffee aroma with some yeastiness, juicy fruits, and just a dab of floral hops. Medium-bodied, it’s full of toffee and chocolate and plums and... I just wish the flavpors were stronger. The touch of smoke in the dry finish is a nice touch. Tasty.

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