Liberal Cup Dunkel Johns Band

Brewed by Liberal Cup Public House and Brewery
Style: Dunkel
Hallowell, Maine USA

Finally had this one after staring it down for a long time. Kind of wish i hadn’t. Pours a brown extremely cloudy color. Flat, almost like it was cask, but no....it’s cold so it’s not. Aroma is very muted...some brown sugar and a hint of maybe some basement. Flavors a pretty meager also, wet dog, a little malt sweetness, but extremely watery and slightly like cardboard. This tastes like a bad homebrew, not something a brewer would sell.

(Draft @ brewpub) Excuse me there must be some mistake...Quite murky. Amberish. Virtually no head (filled to the brim). Smells a little fruity, little else. Tastes of a little caramel with some fruitiness. Waitress verified this is the dunkel. Really? Tiny bits of lacing. Mouthfeel a little watery, low carbonation. Drinkable but offers very little. Nowhere close to matching dunkel style in taste, aroma or appearance.

Draught pint at the brewpub. Pours a copper color with a small off white head. Light lacing throughout. Nose is lightly nutty with hints of lemon and bubble gum. Flavor is sugary with some sweet caramel malt notes and light nuttyness.

Draught half-pint at the brewpub on 4/14/06
Heavily hazy, unfiltered dull copper and straw golden colors swirl about with some sandy beige notes and minor tan highlights. Head is one-finger high initially, fairly dense and sandy-beige colored. Fair retention and minimal lacing.
Nose is full of esters and phenols, with juicy bubble gum and sweet lemons being the dominant players. Light clove cools things off, as simple pale malt sugars provide the balance. Not much (any?) munich malt apparancy, no roast, chocolate or really any dark notes. Still, the aroma is clean for a German beer, other than the acceptable esters/phenols. Strength on the aroma is medium to weak.
The flavor is full pale malt sugariness, with light lemons, hints of dry, crusty baguette and a zesty citrus note on end. Light lemons, bits of poppyseed cake-like nutty-sweetness and a long, dry finish that seems like it employs wheat. The texture is lightly gritty, almost creamy in consistencty, though lightly watery on end. Carbonation is medium, no alcohol apparency. Maybe it would work better as a dunkelweizen, but there were no descriptors on the beers and the bartender didn’t seem to know.