Kraftbräu Dunkel
Kraftbräu Brewery

 

Unfiltered draft sampler at Kraftbrau. I’m a fraid this one struck an off note with me. The malt taste here was more burnt than anything else at first impression. That taste mitigates after a while, leaving a more pleasant nose of dark coffee. In other words, a lagered stout. The waitress said it may be off because the batch was just tapped the day I can in.

Tons and tons of light brown foam overflow into the glass. Took a good 20 minutes to pour the whole bottle. Medium brown hue with some light reddish tint. Nose is quite yeasty and warm. Carbonation gives a noticable brightness, but covers up much of the aromas. Slightly sour, toasty palate. Somewhat metallic. Mild raosted malt on the finish. Light mouthfeel with a nice finish. A decent beer, but nothing special, IMO. Too much carbonation takes away from the enjoyment for me. Thanks to Realale for this opportunity.

Pours out to a slighty hazy very dark brown, forming a frothy, huge light tan head that is rocky and peaks out of the glass due to the very strong carbonation. About 1/3 of the beer is lost as foam. I have to dunk my nose in it to control the explosion. Retention is great as is lacing, but this degree of carbonation is an issue, especially for this style. Aroma of toasty caramel malts and roasted barley (I think), fruity esters, green kiwi fruit and associated slight sourness. Suggestion of metals. Mouthfeel is spritzy and out of place with a medium body. Begins fruity with a touch of floral hops, followed by tobacco, toast, and leather in the middle, a touch of alcohol gently dissipates towards the finish, which is earthy and touched by more kiwi fruit. Lots of dark wood in the finish with mild bitterness and light tannins. Very lightly dry.

This may be a good brew on tap, but the carbonation and kiwi have no place in a dunkel lager. Not a bad beer, but horribly out of style. I would never guess this was a lager, as there are way too many ale esters. Clean up the bottling issues guys!

Served in the 12 oz. bottle, into a pint glass. The color is a dark brown, with a foamy beige head. The smell is a lighter dark sweetish malt. The taste is a semi-dry darker maltiness, with a bit of the good noble hoppiness in there to keep a bit of balance. Mouthfeel is average. As for drinkability, could have a few of these.

Thank you to trbeer for the bottle. Hell, I didn't even know Kalamazoo had a 2nd brewery until I got this bottle in a trade. As far as the beer goes, this is a solid little dunkel, with a nice refreshing character to it. One that I'd hopefully have again.

Finally a Kraftbrau product with some gas in it. It is scorched brown bread-colored and aromatically suggestive of toasted walnuts and peanut-shaped marshmallows. Pine resins and floor polish appear on the lean, dry-textured mid palate. The finish displays abrupt, roasted grain and nut tannins. .

NOTE: reports from trusted sources indicate this brewery makes a good barreled product. It must be stressed that faults in these bottled goods probably originate somewhere in the bottling process.

This beer poured a medium sized head with fine sized bubbles that quickly diminished. The lacing of this beer was considered to be good. It had a malty aroma to it. The hue of this beer was dark brown. I found this beer to have a fairly good, smooth, mild flavor.

At the brewery, I had this brew listed as the Dunkelweizen. I hope this is the right category for it. Good head of fine bubbles and a nice malty aroma. It's body is a dark brown almost non-transparent color. Its head fades fast but leaves a nice lacing. It had an initial caramel taste with a slight aftertaste and a smooth initial taste that starts out strongly then fades leaving an aftertaste on the roof of your mouth.