Dunkel Weisse
Sly Fox Brewing Company

 

Murky orange-brown with a thin off-white head. Big banana aroma with a hint of brown bread. Similar taste with a touch of bubblegum added to the mix. Mildly medicinal quality to the aftertaste. Medium bodied with a touch of grit in the feel. Pretty solid.

Unfiltered fresh draft from Phoenixville, PA Sly Fox, looks like a standard dunkelweizen. Aroma is all roasted grains with essentially no ripe fruitiness. In appearance it looks lie a good Bavarian dunkelweizen, but the aroma is definitely lacking. The taste is very good, smooth, complex, well balanced with a pleasant roasted malt finish. An extremely sessionable beer, and mildly sweet as expected. There is a caramel note with a slightly tart finish, characteristic of this style, but the banana is missing.

As a huge fan of Bavarian dunkelweizen who has kept a keg of Franziskaner Dunkelweizen in my beer cooler for 7 years, I would rate the Sly Fox version as best U.S. version I have tried so far. If it was available year round in the keg I would definitely keep one in the cooler.

Being a fan of the Sly Fox brews, I was very dissapionted with this one. It is NOT retired as stated, but brewed in the Fall. The taste was more of a wheat Dunkel than that of a good Dunkel wheat. The taste was more Dunkel flavor with really no flavor of banana. No hints of bread or clove taste. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy a 1/2 keg, but it was nowhere close to the fine German Dunkelweizen biers like Fraziskaner, Ayinger, Tucher and so on......

 

 

 

 

 

Sly Fox's Dunkel Weisse is a medium bodied, rich malty mouthfeel. Dark wheat flavours of cloves and bananas add to this version of the Dunkel Weisse. Low ABV makes it easier to enjoy in large amounts, although a pint was just right for me. I'd recommend this brew for all to try, even thought they retired from brewing this style.

A: Pors a murky dark tea color with a thick head and fine lacing.

S: There is a banana bread/yeasty aroma with hints of spice notably clove but noticable allspice and other winter spices.

T: Spicy, yeasty, bready up front. Then banana and christmas spices.

M: Creamy subtle carbonation with a nice tang from the yeast.

D: Perfect drink for cool summer nights or early fall days. I think I could drink this all day and night.

It pours a dark, hot chocolate brown, almost murky and muddy. A finger of light tan head slips soon to a frothy pillow. A toile of lacing imprints the inside of the glass.

The aroma is a sweet and crisp melange of toasted malt, tangy wheat, caramel, cocoa, blueberry, banana, and cloves. The final float in the yeasty ester parade is a green apple glow.

Upon tasting, the moderately sweet push of caramel malt and crisp wheat come through, with a combo of chocolate, berry, and toffee in play. The esters bring an eddy of ripe banana, clove and nutmeg, and Granny Smith apples. The malt revisits with a biscuit note that's considerably less sweet, and the drying continues as the finish lingers in a crisp, refreshing manner.
The end result is a rich and very tasty offering.

Medium bodied, the malt is a soft presence on the palate, and the yeast leaves a crisp tangy remnant in its wake.

It's no departure, and far from extreme, but rather, simply, a basic blending of good, great tasting elements. I mean, how can you not like what this beer offers, if, of course, it's a style you enjoy? And enjoy it I do, with this little charmer a fine example. It is rich, but that gives it a presence and versatility that makes it drinkable just about any time. A growler of this could either go a long way, or be gone in a sitting. And I'm good either way.

Murky brown, served with little head, though the bit of light brown foam that was there stuck around for a while. Aromas of banana, cloves, bready yeast, light nuttiness, and dry cocoa. Same in the flavour, but with a fruity, sweet middle and a bit more clove in the finish. Quite malty. Medium bodied with a slightly slick texture, but the lowish carbonation left it feeling a little deflated. Enjoyable. I'd definitely have it again.

Sly Fox- Dunkel Weisse

Appearance- Dark hazy brown with very little head.
Smell- Strong clove, banana, and malt.
Taste- Big clove flavor. Hints of nutmeg, ginger, and sweet malt.
Mouthfeel- sweet and spicey. Big clove in the aftertaste.

Overall- My first beer of the day and a solid 1. Very good Dunkel Weisse. Very glad I ordered this.

On draft in the home kegerator...
Appears a murky dark brown/copper toned with a nice 3 finger beige head hanging around in my tall Brooklyn Weisse glass. It never really goes away and tons and tons of sticky lacing are clinging all over the place.
Smell is of Bazooka Joe, bananas, sugary wheat, cloves, along with chocolate and light caramel malt.
Taste is of the same aromas...there is no other way to argue it.
Upon original review, I felt that the mouthfeel was a little on the thin side but after careful review, it's just a subtle taste zipping along the palate with a delicate spice that is to be appreciated. Sugary and spicy with a clove and chocolate malt lingering. I actually like this dark version of the Fox's German wheat beers a bit more.

The body is a cloudy mahogany with chestnut glints at the base of the glass, and brass and glowing orange highlights show where the light passes directly through. Its creamy ivory head drops relatively shortly for the style, but it maintains a thin lid and leaves some nice spotty lace throughout the glass. The nose offers bubblegum, fruit (soft banana, apples), light brown sugar, and clove. It's medium-light bodied with a fine, elevated carbonation that's zesty on the tongue. The flavor mimics the aroma with the addition of a subtle caramel note that's masked a bit in the mouth by its yeastiness, but becomes much clearer in the finish. It's very well-balanced by an underlying bitterness, and it finishes with a lingering note of nutty/caramel malt and some drying clove-like yeastiness. Refreshing, and full of flavor! Exceptional! Well worth trying!

I was not impressed by this effort at a Dunkelweissen. There are many beers that are far superior to this one. First, it isn't a really dark wheat beer as I expected. It is a brown but very light brown with almost no head. It had some wheaty smell but not like a true German Weiss beer. The same with the taste. It tasted wheaty but just weak. The mouthfeel followed along with a kind of thin, oily feel. I didn't want a second one. This brewery had great ambitions, and for a while was producing really good stuff. I think it has slipped quite a bit.

Poured a deep cherry-amber color, topped with a thinned out but cream-like head. Strawberry bubblegum and sour malts in the aroma along with some sweet spicy notes including cinnamon. The nice aromas don’t really follow through into the flavor. Seems like the beer takes a turn towards the dry side and finishes there. Not anything unpleasant though. There’s a touch of residual sweetness in the finish, but not much roasted notes. This is a light and easy drinking dark wheat beer.

This was a good one to sit and drink. The beer poured a cloudy, mahogany color. There was some head to it, with a bit of retention. Some wheat and yeastiness to the nose. Also some banana? The taste is a good, medium bodied wheat. There was a hint of sourness. These 23oz glasses went down far too easy.

Pours a deep murky brown with a huge fluffy head that leaves some along the side as it comes down,aroma is very clovey with some smokey notes.Bubble gum notes hit right away as u try it with some banana notes that follow finishing with some real nice clovey/spiciness.A very fresh tasting beer nice and hearty a real nice offering again from Sly Fox.