Lahnsteiner Weizenbier Hefe Dunkel
Lahnsteiner Brauerei

 

Brown 0.5 litre bottle, best before 5th July 2010, drank 26th Feb 2010. Poured into a Franziskaner Weissbier glass.

Deep, deep ruby red, dark brown colour, loads of large pieces of sediment came out with the beer, no way of seeing or stopping it. The floating masses did spoil the initial look. They soon however fell to the bottom of the glass. A well formed foaming off-white head sat on top of the beer, this head soon began to shrink and ended up a thin wisp of a covering.

Malted wheat smell, a roasted, toasted malted wheat that is. Below that were esters of bananas and caramel, with a hint of grapefruit and sour lemons.

The taste was semi-sour with a malty twist from start to finish. Tart, sharp and slightly vinegarous, not your average dunkelwiess feel at all. As the beer warmed the bananas and caramel from the smell came into play, as did a vanilla sweetness. The sweetness didn't last long though, because as the mouth dried, a sourness and bitterness took over again with only the maltiness saving it from being a very low score on the taste element.

Nothing wrong with the body, just the overall taste let it down to be honest.

I might have bought myself a duff bottle, but I can only review what I've had.

Got this at Bert's Bier Huis in Utrecht.

From a bottle into a weizen glass.

APPEARANCE: Pours a two finger medium thin off-white head. Medium carbonation evident with really tiny bubbles. Beautiful deep colour of dark red, like rust and burnt umber together. Head levels out quickly to a thick film cap, which eventually leaves by the last third of the glass. Leaves some decent lacing down the glass. A bigger and more persistant head would've been nice.

SMELL: Nice scent of wheat malt, some banana and citrus as well. Sweet caramel malt is also present in the nose. The scent is quite sweet comparatively speaking, but it's inviting.

TASTE: Wheat malt and some sweet caramel malt. Some sour citrus fruit in the there as well, like lemons and grape fruit. An attractive sweet-sour combination, though the sweet definitely dominates. A mild but nice sweet-sour aftertaste lingers into the finish.

PALATE: Medium-thick body with medium carbonation. Goes down creamy smooth, no bite, and finishes with just the right amount of stickiness. Pretty solid.

OVERALL: A very good, enjoyable and drinkable dunkelweizen for sure. The taste was maybe slightly too sweet for some, but it was certainly a very enjoyable effort. I must say this one was a bit of a surprise. Their Hefe Hell was a bit of a disappointment, so I was somewhat reluctant to pick this up. This goes to show, however, that you shouldn't judge the brewery based on one beer. This was one I wouldn't hesitate picking up again.