Brewer's Reserve Series: Dunkelweiss
Craggie Brewing Company

On tap at Craggie, enjoyed on a recent weekend trip to Asheville. They were giving this one away as part of the tasting selection only, but I did manage to finagle a half pint somehow.

Appearance: Pours a hazed, dirty burned sepia, pretty much what I would imagine a good dunkelweizen should look like. Then again, this one also showcases a thin, quickly fading head that leaves no collar and no surface dusting, and successive sips aren't that much more successful at imparting lace on the sides of the glass.

Aroma: A step up. Huge banana, very ripe, greets the nose eagerly, backed up by a nice medley of bready, roasted notes, a great amount of wholesome spice, and nutty, rustic yeasty notes, suggestive of slightly toasted walnuts.

Taste: More of the same, and even better. Tons of ripe banana dances over the tongue, intermingling beautifully with nuttiness and caramel notes, together all suggesting freshly baked banana nut bread. In the background, a few green fruits sing harmony, and spicy notes (cloves) and neutral phenols round out the landscape.

Mouthfeel: Neutral, not great but not bad, smooth at first and a little heavy, but thin enough that agitation does release a big rush of carbonation.

Drinkability: A few process issues (appearance, mouthfeel), but the recipe itself is spot on. A great tasting, low abv% dunkelweiss, exploding with flavor. Just another of the many, many highlights on tap at CBC the night I was there. What a fantastic addition to the Asheville scene.