Vulkan Dunkles
Vulkan Brauhaus GmbH

After having been subjected to Bitburger I was desperately looking for something with a little bit of character and taste, and this had both character and taste... though admittedly not enough of both to get me excited enough to bring some home... though interested enough to suggest a trip to their garden.
Being an English man brought up on real ales with complex pallets and having spent the last 8 years in Belgium I have pretty exacting standards when it comes to dark beers and, with the exception of Uerige in Dusseldorf I have yet to find a brown or dark beer in Germany which really excites me. Sadly this is not that discovery.
A very pleasant and drinkable biscuit flavour with not a huge amount of depth or aftertaste.
It's certainly not a bad beer, I drank 3 during my meal and bought 2 more to try at home, but Vulkan have better beers than this IMHO.

 

Thanks to flexabul l for this one, in a swing-top 33CL bottles, swing arm taped, evoking the streets of Braubach. I only managed to teach my wife one German phrase during our two trips to the Motherland: “Ein dunkles bier, bitte.” There’s a joke about motivation in there, somewhere.

Top opens with barely a whisper, & even a hard pour brings almost no carbonation. A strong aroma of root beer barrels – the old hard candy – clears the sinuses nicely. Rich sweet root beer & caramel.

Vulkan Dunkles is a beer that brings me straight back to 1999 in Berlin: for that alone it gets mad props. It’s a confused beer that appears to be the love child of a naughty dubbel and randy german lager. Tons of sweet malts that point towards a Belgian yeast influence (without the actual yeast, I presume). Slightly spicy, crackling lager yeast that lightens the whole picture, brown sugar, with a strong downslide of caramel. Sweet dominates the finish. Nice feel, this one drinks much bigger than it’s ABV, no hint of the watery grave that dooms so many brews in this range. This should come in much bigger bottles.

Nostalgia, sweetness, a different taste profile than I’m used to in American brews, this is good. If – when – I make it back to Germany, I’ll be on the lookout for this. Good beer.

 

 

Tall flip-top 500ml bottle: best before 7th Sep 2012: the second beer in my mini-German evening on 13th June 2012.

Poured into my lovely 'Hopfenperle' glass tankard from Wolnzacher Brauhaus: Great looking beer, rich brown body with a cream head.

This isn't a Dunkelweizen: this is a dark pilsner (a Dunkel). The smell tells you straight away: this has a rich malty smell.

The taste is toffee and caramel without too much sweetness and tangy almost bittering feel in the mouthfeel make this an interesting and most enjoyable beer.

Fairly spritzy, well carbonated and lively, I really liked this beer.

Appearance - ruby with some brown shading, thin light-tan head trying to maintain a solid covering but not quite making it.

Aroma - grain with a bit of toasted cracker, not much though.

Taste - pretty basic. Malty, slightly sweet base. A hint of roasty influence, low-key and short-lived hops. Finishes with a fizzle, nothing more. Flavor is okay, but probably the least exciting of the three Vulkan Brau beers the missus brought home from her trip to Frankfurt.

Mouthfeel - decent weight, active bubbles but nothing out of the ordinary.

Drinkability - tasty enough for a session but an average beer all-around.