Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dunkel
Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan

 

tastes like a darker version of a hefe weissen

 

Awesome!

 

500ml bottle. Dark Amber, with a light brown head that dissapears fairly quickly. Nice rich mouthfeel. Banana and caramel. Medium to light carbonation. Very nice.

Banana, freshly baked bread crust, caramel, very slight floral noble hop, honey-like maltiness, low bitterness, so damn smooth and crushable. Awesome brew!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its basically the prototype dunkelweiss beer. I’ve had small locally brewed versions of dunkel weiss in bavaria but never found any other import that matched the right balance of roasted malt and yeast characteristics of a perfect dunkelweiss. My only wish is i could get it on tap (on fasse as they say in germany right?)

 

A medium brown color. One inch off-white head, with some lace.
Aroma of banana, sweet malt.
Taste of banana, brown bread, caramel.
Medium mouthfeel.
Very nice beer.

One of my favorite beers. Very few things compare!

 

Absolutely fantastic. I enjoyed on tap when stationed in Germany, but even from a pint bottle poured into a wheat beer glass it was excellent. I agree w/ many of the other descriptions: like Weihenstephaner's Hefeweizen, but w/ the banana and bubble gum flavors muted and a caramel flavor added.

Appearance: Pours a mildly clouded (60% clarity), medium and deep dusky orange to brown color with a strong, off-white head. SRM of 16. (4.00)

Aroma: Strong and rich bread aromas of bubblegum, banana bread, cloves. Only traces of smooth caramel. (3.75

Flavor: Strong and rich flavors of bread malt, ripe bananas and banana bread, bubblegum, Yeast on the finish. (4.00)

Feel: Medium-bodied. Strong carbonation. A smooth, creamy, and bready mouthfeel. (4.25)

Compared to Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier 12/2022: Pours darker, very similar aromas. More caramel and smooth malt. Similar banana, but slightly less of the bubblegum spice and yeast.

Compared to Weihenstephaner Kristallweissbier 12/2022: Pours darker, very similar aromas. More caramel and smooth malt. Similar banana, but slightly less of the bubblegum spice and yeast.

Compared to Ayinger Urweiss 1/15/2023: Pours a darker color, stronger head. Milder aromas. More yeast, aspirin, citrus. Less ripe banana, bubblegum, sweet bread and caramel. Yeastier, more spiced, and cleaner.

Compared to Andech Weissbier Dunkel 3/2023: Pours lighter, milder head. Stronger aromas. More banana bread, orange citrus, floral spice and yeast. Less dark fruit, plum, fig, raisin, caramel and overripe banana. Less creamy. More grainy, yeastier and lighter.
4/2023: Pours lighter, stronger head. Stronger aromas. More citrus, yeast and dark fruit flavors. Less smooth and bready flavors. More yeasty and fruity.

Overall: A very nice and my first dunkelweizen. Has all the flavors of a hefeweizen of bubblegum, banana, bread with smooth bread and yeasty mouthfeel. Not as dark as you'd expect and still drinks clean. Focuses more on ripe bananas here and only traces of caramel flavors. Identical mouthfeel to the hefeweissbier, but slightly darker and more bready flavors. More similar than I expected. Very nice and enjoyable here. (Rating: 4.02)

 

 

 

500ml bottle poured into a Teku glass.
LOOK is merky amber-brown with half an inch of off-white head. I poured too lightly fearing an overflow. Retention is average leaving a thin island and thin collar of foam.
SMELL is medium-low in strength. The smell begins with ripe banana, bread and yeast. There's a slight mineral smell.
TASTE is just below medium-high in strength. there's a great amount of complexity in the taste that isn't apparent in the smell. The taste has ripe banana that persists, light caramel, wheat bread, light yeast and a light mineral flavor. Bitterness is low.
FEEL is almost thick. It's soft, extremely creamy, carbonation is somewhat above low and prickles the tongue. Astringency is low.
OVERALL, it's a spectacular beer! I regret not using a tall wheat glass to allow it to produce a tall head. Next time I'll use a wheat glass and update the look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My first Weihenstephaner, the Dunkel pours a cloudy tea color and has a thick creamy head that looks like a root beer float. The smell is awesome like their hefeweizen and is a bit muted on the fruit aromas. The taste is pure joy. Is close competition to my favorite Franziskaner which isn't readily available lately. The mouthfeel is pure heaven and is just so smooth and sweet, words can explain it's greatness. Overall I will be picking a couple of these up at the store to keep around. Greatness in the bottle. Love at first taste.

 

 

I HOPE to revise this review. Banana, toffee and butter are all present in a delicious way, but way too much muted metallic flavor. I'll give it another shot from a different store but its hard to say that this bottle was spoiled in any specific sense.

Had on tap at rhein haus in Denver

On arrival a fine 1 finger head was present with very nice retention and thick foamy rings of lacing. The body is an extremely hazy caramel amber with lively fine carbonation.


Aroma is strong Weiss esters with a strong banana note. Quite a sweet aroma from the malts as well but any obvious malt smells are covered by the big traditional yeast. Sweet and yeasty.

Taste is much drier than the aroma would suggest with a big hit of yeast up front without a lot of sweetness, but some bright fruity and banana notes, then some nutty almost caramel roasted malts come in. The yeast here has a lot going on, and the malt lends an extra layer to the traditional hefe taste.

Feel is again very dry, but surprisingly drinkable bright and refreshing for how much much flavor is going on here. On the palate it is actually drying, but the finish is relatively long. The epitome of an anytime beer.

Overall this is a pretty fun weisse and Dunkel. Not as big as some craft interpretations, but the yeast is super traditional and the brewery is steeped in history.