PA Dutch Dunkel
Stoudts Brewing Co.

A - Pours a clear chestnut brown, a hard pour leaves only a 1/4 inch of foam that quickly faded to a layer of bubbles on the surface
S - just a bit of malty sweetness, hints of brown sugar are about all I get out of it
T - flavor is very weak, some brown sugar, citrus type orange or something, but other than that, not alot else. Very poor flavor, not bad, just lacking alot.
M - smooth bodied, light-medium carbonation
D - its very easy to drink, just not alot to it. a disappointment for sure.

A- Clear light brown with ruby highlights with an off white head. Head falls quickly to a cap and then to a ring but leaves no lace on the glass.

S- Candied fruit, cherries, spice, clove, banana, and wheat.

T- Mostly wheat malt that is sweet. Hints of the fruit and spice peak out from behind the malt but are mostly obscured by the sweet malt. Finish is dry, crisp and clean with a little sweet and sour bite of the fruit esters.

M- Light in body and decent carbonation, but it feels a little thin in the mouth.

D- A little sweet for my taste but good drinkability at 5.0% ABV if you like sweet you could session this.

Crank up some of the spice and fruit notes and this would be a lot more interesting, as it is it's just OK.

Cork and Caged 750 ml bottle with a big red with gold border label. This label has a mysterious blacked out drawing of a man and woman dancing. They use this label on all of their Reserve beers. The only thing different from style to style is a plain white sticker below the dancing couple with the name of the beer on it. Off to the sides of the label is where you can find Stoudt's address and all the mandatory US information. The one piece of info missing is some kind of bottling date or vintage year.

Appearance: I had a special glass waiting for this beer and it was my tall Franziskaner Weizen glass. This Dunkelweizen was hazy as hell and was a mix of a dark caramel brown and an apple cider brown. It had the same color and haziness of apple cider, but I saw some caramel brown highlights along the sides. On top of this Dunkelweizen was a decent sized (for a Weizen) fluffy head of white foam. Maybe I should say that the head of foam was manageable. It wasn't one of those the glass was filled with nothing but foam. The head of foam wasn't a pure white, but a shade off of that. This head of foam had good retention that left behind a tiny white film and a few blots of lace around the glass. It was pretty much an above average appearance for a Dunkelweizen.

Smell: This Dunkelweizen had a great hearty aroma of fresh baked spice bread. The most potent aroma was the allspice and nutmeg. After the spice bread aroma passes, in comes a mild scent of cloves, and a subtle whiff of ripe banana. If this beer is swirled around, a minor whiff of yeast and olives will emerge. This swirled aroma lasted for a good 4 seconds and then it receded back in the rich spice bread aroma. If you love the scent of spice bread, then you should find this beer and breathe in the sweet scent of spice bread.

Taste: I thought that some of the spice bread would transfer over to the taste, but that unfortunately didn't happen. The spice bread had turned into bready malts. That wouldn't have been so bad if the bready malts weren't so doughy. It wasn't like sinking your teeth into raw dough, but it did get dough from time to time. Along with the doughy malts was a pinch of allspice, a dash of nutmeg, a hint of cloves, and a subtle taste of ripe banana at the doughy finish line. The taste would have been a totally different story if the spice bread in the aroma moved over to the taste and they increased the spices and banana more.

Mouthfeel: This was light to medium bodied Dunkelweizen with gentle carbonation and a light to mild aftertaste of doughy bready malts, a hint of nutmeg, a few cloves, and a subtle touch of ripe banana. The only part of the aftertaste that will linger one is unfortunately the doughy bready malts.

Drinkability: I hate to say this, but the only thing special about this beer is the bottle itself. The beer inside is pretty much a good take on a German Dunkelweizen and that's it. One bottle of this beer should be good enough. Please don't waste your time tracking down this uncommon Stoudt's beer.

I finally hit the last bottle from the Under 100 BIF monster package sent to me by mikereaser. And talk about under 100 reviews: this one had zero reviews when I received it, and only has one review at the time I drank it. Pretty cool. It was a killer box of beers too, big fat thanks again to mike!

This one pours fairly dark. Opaque dark iced tea color. Very respectable off-white head of medium sized bubbles, but not much retention.

Smells of spices, mainly cloves, not too overpowering.

Taste is rather ordinary if anything. Don't even really taste the spices that I smell.

Smooth and drinkable but to put it bluntly: bland.

Overall: not much to write about

A corked and caged 750 mL bottle that Ffejherb picked up at the brewery. Thanks Jeff!

A: The dunkelweizen is a dark caramel brown color that shows off bright orange amber colors at the narrower points of my weizen glass. The tall glass conjures up four fingers of head that quickly slinks away.

S: The nose is wonderful, a wheaty delight. Wheat aromas are strong and bready with a fuller caramel aroma from the darker malts. Esters abound, adding a delicious sweetness that features clove and banana.

T: The wheat is full, lacking the tartness that American wheat ales often showcase. Bready flavors are filling with the caramel profile nicely rounding out the malts. The yeast is just amazing. The litttle buggers add flavorful esters, sweet with clove, bubblegum and banana. A grainy finish is a nice send-off to the ale.

M: The mouthfeel is rich, loaded with a strong flavor profile that leaves a pleasant finish. An excellent offering.

D: I may have to get to the brewery and try to stock up on a few more bottles. Stoudt's is known for their German beers and this one is a dead ringer.

From notes. On tap at Capones...
Appears a hazy, dark amber with a small, light tan head that slowly fades into a mild collar. Scattered lacing is left around the glass.
Smell is of bananas, cloves, cocoa, and tart wheat.
Taste is of the mentioned aromas with the typical Bavarian esters, along with a crisp apple flavor that keeps this one interesting.
Mouthfeel is medium bodied, tart, sweet, balanced and crisp.
This is one of my favorite styles. I'm glad to see Stoudt's taking the time to utilize that outstanding Hefe strain they use for a dark version that is a welcomed addition to the lineup.

On tap at Stoudt's on 10/31/08

Poured a deep copper with 1 finger of creamy tan head. Good lacing and nice lacing lines. Smells of banana, clove, wheat, and caramel. Tastes of oranges, wheat, molasses, brown sugar, clove, and banana with a slight medicinal kick. Medium bodied, smooth and fruity. A good solid dunkelweizen with lots of flavor, easy to drink and sessionable.

Poured a deep dark brownish red color with frothy foam and moderate lace. Aroma is of citrus with hints of vanilla and clove. Also detected a bit of sage in there.

Smooth rich malty sweetness was balanced by citrus notes with a moderately dry finish that had strong hints of clove, anise, and allspice.

Very smooth and easy drinking.

a: This was a cloudy, murky dark brown. It was served to me with a flufffy, sticky, one inch white head.

s: Pretty mild, aromas of sweet wheat, bananas, and bubblegum.

t: Very nice, moderately sweet wheat that was not at all cloying dominated. Flavors of bubblegum, bananas, and cloves. The finish was dry and a little floral.

m: The body was thick and chewy while the carbonbation was foamy and fairly active.

d: This was exactly what I was in the mood for. A very nice effort from Stoudt's.