König Ludwig Dunkel
König Ludwig Schlossbrauerei Kaltenberg

 

Poured at fridge temp. Pours a dark brown/reddish with light head. Nose is bread, biscuits, toffee, toffee, malts, and an earthy/dirt note. The taste is great. Super smooth and malty. Toffee, raisins, toast, chocolate, honey, slight hops, and a roasty note - almost a used pipe smell. Very drinkable, with a malty aftertaste. Would definitely recommend trying.

 

500 ml bottle, from Rewe Getränkemarkt, Erding. ABV is 5.1%. Deep copper brown colour, big to moderate off-white head. Aroma of bakery (brown bread and pastry) and caramel malts, also some moderate fruity notes. The flavour is malty with caramel, but not too sweet, some lightly burnt notes and moderate hops in the finish. Well balanced and pleasant to drink. According to Roger Protz, this is one of the 300 beers you need to sample before you die. I would not limit myself to 300 beers, but König Ludwig Dunkel is definitely worth sampling (and having again the day after), as a fine example of Bavarian dunkels - a style that does not get the love it deserves on beer rating websites.

Smooth and rich with a nice biting palate. Pours dark brown with thick beige head, lots of lacing as the head receds. Chocolately aroma with a hint of wood. Taste is burnt toast, choclate and coffee. This is an excellent dunkel. I could make this my regular....

 

 

 

Bottle, served at home in a weiss glass. Amber color, huge off white head with great retention, compact lacing.
Aroma of roasted malts, cocoa, yeast, grains.
Medium body, rough texture, very good carbonation. Sweet finish.
Taste of cocoa, roasted malts, dried fruits, clove, pepper.
Good.

L- A deep rich chestnut brown colour, clear, pours with 3mm pale tan head holds up pretty well.
S- Amazingly malty, the maltiest beer I'd smelled for a long while. Difficult to divine anything else.
T- Very malty tasty on the fore, into some toasty notes and a hoppy dry lick into the finish.
F- I like it in that it has somewhat of a pungent flavour (well, as much as an ABV of 5.1% can allow for) and yet it's got plenty sufficient of hoppy zing on the palate to be refreshing.
O- I'm not much into dark beers that are lower ABV%, as they can be pungently flavoured but with insufficient body/ABV% to provide balance. This is one of the lower ABV% ones I've had that works really pretty well.
Bought from BeersofEurope/UK for home delivery. 500ml bottle, £2.33 BB: 26/12/20

 

 

On tap in Berlin. Off white head. Dark brown with a caramel hue.

Flavors seems off for a Munich Dunkel. Has a slightly sour twang to it. Think cherry. Maybe they don’t clean their lines. Caramel, cocoa. Not a fan of this. Will edit review when I revisit.

 

 

 

 

50cl bottle, 6m old.

Reddish brown, decent foam. Regular looking for a dunkel.

Nose is quite timid. A bit of sweet dark bread is all there is.

Taste is quite light, like a regular helles with some roasted aftertaste and a bit of sweetness in the middle. Very standard dunkel for these days. Carbonation is a tad too pronounced, but that is obviously to provide a bit of acidity to enhance similar notes from the roasted malts to enliven things by all means possible.

Overall, I am a bit puzzled.. I remembered this beer to be better from decades ago. I double checked Michael Jackson's old article from 1998 and he describes there a mostly Munich malt beer with a bit of Belgian aromatic malt and carafa, going on to describe that it is dry hopped as well. Now, that sounds tasty and traditional. I cannot believe this current version has any dry hopping, and the base malt cannot be munich by any means.. I would guess at least half is pilsner malt, there is probably caramunich for the sweetness and then carafa for colour. A disappointment wrt expectations, but of course a good example of modern dunkel, which will disappear eventually if it's just coloured helles with a bit of caramel. I think they have also tried to boost the thinnish body with an overuse of chloride, there is that aftertaste that gets stronger once I started wondering about the water profile. This beer masquerades quite skillfully, but it is not what a dunkel could be.

 

 

 

Huge pillowy head fades slowly, messy lacing, dark clear auburn chestnut color

Nose sweet toffee and toasted brown malts, history and a little nutty, faint coffee brown and mild syrupy candy

Taste sweet candy malts, tons of toffee, a bit nutty and caramel, sweet reddish malt and candy syrup, mild biscuity creamy wheat, hint bitter hops, sweet sticky finish, lingering sweet toffee and wheat

Mouth is med bod, nice fluffy carb, a bit syrupy

Overall way too much sweet syrupy candy like, but otherwise nice

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Hipercor. In Bavaria hefe glass. Watching Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Typical profile of a dunkel very well executed. Ultradrinkable, with pleasant roastyness and well adjusted bitterness that leaves great end

 

 

 

 

Pours a dark brown color with a huge, very stable beige head.

Smells of toffee, light roast, raisins and bakers chocolate, all in all quite timid on the nose.

Has a medium carbonation with a light body, revealing a soft mouthfeel.

Tastes of bakers chocolate, a hint of licorice, a note of roast and a light creaminess. Turns a little more chocolaty and even creamier during mid palate, while finishing clean, with a well pronounced toffee appearance.

Light and creamy, with a soft toasty note among prominent malts.

 

 

Brown color and clear. Modest head which leaves some streaks on the glass.

Sweetish nose with a deeper toasting of the malt.

Starts sweet but there is a modest hop kick at the end. Full bodied with moderate carbonation. This has elements of a dunkelbock beer.

 

 

Had 0.3L on draft at a hotel bar in Berlin. Arrived with a thick head atop a dark coffee colored body in a branded stein. Taste of roasted malt and faint cocoa. Easy to drink.