Shiner Dunkelweizen (Winter Ale)

Formerly brewed at Spoetzl Brewery (Gambrinus Company)
Style: Dunkelweizen
Shiner, Texas USA

Doesn’t look like a weizen at all, a bright and clear orangey-brown color, with a medium fizzy head, fades fast. Caramelized aroma, a touch of bread and spice. Slightly rounded up front, and a surprisingly hoppy finish. Lacking the spritzy quality of a wheat, it is instead slick and smooth, drinks like an amber lager. Also lacks any phenols
Earlier Rating: 11/25/2003 Total Score: 3.6
Update 2003: Crystal clear brown with reddish tinge, medium foaming head faded quickly. Not the appearance of a dunkelweizen but not unattractive either. Light aroma is wheaty and minty. Flavor is similar, and well balanced with nice moderate sweetness up front, slightly dry finish. Esters are muted, some citrus and wheaty flavors, weak hints of phenols.

Bottle Pour - Reddish-Brown body with little head. Aroma - Somewhat sweet, roasted cereal/grain. Flavor / Palate - Starts off sweet with a quick switch to bitter. A bit thin for a DUNKLEWEIZEN (I guess the Shiner folks can’t even spell the name right). I miss the spice and small citrus notes of the original Dunkles from Germany. Try again, folks. UPDATE: Round 2 - Uhm.. still no change. These folks wouldn’t know a Dunkelweizen from a hole in the ground. Guys, buy a plane ticket to Germany and learn from the masters. Come home and try it again. Until then, stop calling your beer by an "Almost German name."

Bottle poured a dark red brown with very little head. Sweet malty, metalic aroma with a malty roasty flavor. Easy drinking and not too sweet. Not bad.

(12 oz bottle: Obtained in trade with robanion, thanks Ray!) It’s a negative opinion of Shiner products, so when I started pouring the beer and out came a gorgeous ruddy brown liquid, I did a double take. Wow, I didn’t expect that! The light tan head poursa bit small and fades to a ring fairly quickly. With a better head, or at least better retention, this would have been a beautiful beer. The aromatic nose is packed with caramel, brown sugar, molasses, raisins, and smells "worty" like some good German dark beers. I’m a bit less enthusiastic about the flavor, but it’s very caramely, malty, sweet, a bit roasty and fairly smoky. While sweet, the roastiness produces a moderate dryness that counterbalances the sweetness nicely. So this medium bodied beer tastes pretty nice, but here’s the problem. The label says this is a German Dunkelweizen. No, I’m sorry, but tastes like a German Dunkel to me, not a German Dunkelweizen. There is absolutely no "weizen" in this beer, no yeast, no banana, no clove, not in the flavor and not in the nose. That said, I really enjoyed this. It’s just really tasty. Given Shiner’s mediocre reputation, I guess it’s kind of a guilty pleasure, if you will.

"modeled after Bavarian-style dunkelweizen" - Glad I read that after sampling or I might have accidentally swallowed the bottle cap and blown it out my nose. What a JOKE! This is anything but that. Overcarbonated to the max and a terrible metallic bite in the finish. ACK!

Deep reddish-brown color with a medium head. Strong and rich malt aromas packed with chocolate notes. There is a subtle toasted character and a sweet finish that is balanced slightly by a hint of hop bitterness. Nice use of spices and deep in content, but nothing too overwhelming.

2005 AIBA Sanple. Dark brown with a tan head. Good malty aroma with a strong taste of caramel. Pretty much sweet all the way through. May not have enough bitterness for most but I liked it

Tiny ass light brown head. Weak fruit like aroma. Taste the malt, brown sugar, and cherries. Starts out a bit sweet, and ends bitter. Has a very carbonated mouthfeel. Not bad, but I think its missing something.