Allgäuer Urbairisch Dunkel
Allgäuer Brauhaus AG

 

 

Swing cap bottle beer (grolsch), 0,5 liter. Very dark brown beer. Creamy beige head.
Smell of roasted malts, quite a bit of caramel.
Taste is strongly of roasted malts. A bit of biscuits.
Overall it's a bitter. This is a decent and OK beer with a bite. It does well.

 

Appearance: Chestnut; medium head; dissipates with no lacing

Aroma: Malty; dried fruit; slight hop notes

Taste: Start off with dried fruit then moves on with slightly malty, sweet and slightly hoppy notes; very thin

Remarks: Did not score A, T, S, M at that time; disregard those scores

 

I've been wanting to try a dunkel for a while, but they are kind of hard to find in the states. I purchased this at Chevy Chase Liquors without consulting BA beforehand. Got home and the reviews were kind of mediocre, so I was expecting to be a little disappointed.

This being the first dunkel I've had in about 12 years (the last was a Lowenbrau dark - not sure if they were exporting the "good stuff" to the U.S. at that point or not), I'm not perfectly familiar with the style, but did read the BA style notes before tasting. Keeping that in mind, I was pleasantly surprised by this beer given some of the reviews. Tastes vary I guess.

Poured from a 1 pint, 9 ounce bottle into a beer mug. A fairly agressive pour produces a thick, off white two fingered head, which fades slowly to leave a thin film of foam atop the beer. Leaves a slight lacing.

Color is a clear mid-brown. Smell is a nice roasted malt with hints of molasses. Taste is on the sweet side, but not cloyingly so - flavor is of caramel and molasses malts with hints of dried fig or raisin. Hops are in the background but just enough to take the edge off the sweetness.

Mouthfeel is slightly crisp and light bodied for a beer this dark. Very drinkable and I could see making this a session beer if it were cheaper (a four pack of 25 oz bottles was $13.99 plus tax, and this was the cheapest Bavarian dunkel they had). All in all a tasty representation of the style.

Appearance – This is a nice, medium-brown in color with little head.

Smell – The darkish grain is light and a bit off-style. There’s a strange fruity aroma here like a pomegranate or something like that.

Taste – Ouch! That fruity tange smacks you square in the nose. The malts aren’t bad but this off-style sweetness just killed it for me.

Mouthfeel – This is light-bodied and borderline flat.

Sinkability – I enjoyed many a MDL right in Munich so try to keep in mind not to be too harsh with samples that I rate stateside, but this was horrid.

Poured from a .5L bottle to a tall glass mug. The liquid is a medium brown with ok carbonation. The head is 1 finger, fades quickly and leaves little lace.

The smell is nice, kinda like a nut bread.

The taste follows. A big sweet malt base with some nutty notes lightly hoped. A very nice brew.

The mouthfeel is good could have a bit more body for my taste but true to style.

The drinkability is good. I will look for it again. Prosit MK

Ahhh, now this is what I am talking about.

Thanks MuenchenerKindl!

It pours a very intriquing dark brown with a head that simply doesn't last long enough.

But it smells wonderfully malty! Nutty munich malts mixed with rich melanoidin malts. Mmmmm, sweet and bready. So very good.

The taste is rich and bready, but dominated by melanoidin malts. It lacks the snap-crackle-pop of german crystal malts but it makes up for that in its rich nutty munich flavours as well as the sweet tree bark twang of melanoidin malt.

Delicious! Full, round, sessionable. Couldn't have asked for a better beer.

Pours a two finger light tan head that fades quickly leaving no lace. Cloudy dark amber color. Light carbonation and medium bodied. Malty nose. Starts sweet with a malty molasses flavor but really its balanced, some bitterness in aftertaste. $2.49 for a 500ml bottle from John's Market Tigard, Or.

Nice dark brown, syrupy looking liquid. Small off white head.
German hops are minimal in the nose. Big sweet caramel aroma sets your tongue up for sweet chewy caramel goodness. Barely any hop bitterness. Smooth and easy. A little sticky in the finish. Light to medium bodied. So unlike other beers, this style is one that I could actually guzzle.

Overall: sweet and chewy and easy, a little one-dimensional.

Appearance: Deep brown color, fairly clear, with offwhite head.

Aroma: Sweet wheat bread-like malt aroma.

Flavor: Slight caramel, sweet malt, with a touch of nuttiness. Munich toastiness comes through with a small bit of bitterness at the end, finishing cleanly.

Body: Creamy, chewy mouthfeel.

A good clean dunkel, very drinkable, sometimes criticized for blandness, but a quite decent session beer.

Presentation: The penultimate bottle from the seemingly never ending range of Allgäuer Brauhaus beers that I picked up last week. The Allgäuer Urbairisch Dunkel has a gold edged dark purple colored main and similar colored V-shaped neck label. Painted white crown cap completes the presentation. Just as the BA Database picture my sample arrived in a 1 Pint 0.9 fluid ounce standard tall looking brown glass bottle. The reverse label added for the USA stipulates that this is 5% ABV, no observable freshness date though. Lots of German on the label and listed as “Mit Original Dunklem Malz Gebraut”.

Appearance: Dark brown chestnut body with some dark ruby red flashes when backlit. Nice thick ½” light tan head blankets the brew, the upper surface of the head has a frog-spawn texture which lends a rocky appearance, and some nice collapsed bubble lacing on the dies of the Glass.

Nose: A tad light in strength, but the nose has dark malts which have a toasted dark fruit character, some yeast and a nutty background with a very light but very nice melted mild chocolate odor. You have to work hard for it though.

Taste: A rather nutty brew to start with, toasted malts and a little chocolate malt in the finish. Exceptionally short, clean, crisp and very thin finish that benefits from an earth hop ending and a delicate bitternes that balances the earlier malts. Nothing lingers except a creamy feel in the mouth though.

Mouthfeel: Nice smooth almost creamy feel that is still nevertheless a smidgeon watery. Overall the thin diluted feel is a little disappointing for a Dunkel Lager.

Drinkability: The combination of the thin body yet decent enough taste profile of nuts, toasted chocolate malt and an incredibly light bitterness make this a pleasant drinking brew, but the watery feel spoils it, a little more balls in the body and mouthfeel and this would be so much better.

Overall: Another $1.99 bottle. Reminded me of a very weak English Mild to be honest, if it was 3.2% it wouldn’t be so bad, but for a 5% Dunkel Lager this is a rather thin example and a little bereft of life for my liking.

Pours a clear red brown brew.

Smell is lots of malt and substantial fruitiness and a slight chocolate and raisin smell.

Taste is not as sweet as it smells. A little sweet and fruity the flavor is kind of muted. And that is just all that there is to this beer, a lager just a little more ale like.

Mouthfeel is ordinary.

OK drinkable but can't think of any reason to ever buy this stuff again.

Long lasting head on a medium brown crystal clear beer. Aroma of Munich malt dominates. Slight nutty aroma from the Munich malt. The flavor is malt but then a slightly metallic bitterness lingers into the aftertaste. The finish is dry. The body is a slight bit thin.

I expected more based upon the aroma, but the drinkability is above average and the beer laced the glass nicely.

Medium brown color. Medium head. Aroma is malty. A medium bodied dunkel. Malts are slightly roasted and slightly sweet. Hops are slightly spicy. Hints of chocolate, dark fruits and rum. Nice balanced. Smooth taste. A touch understated in the flavor department. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.

Presentation: 17oz. brown bottle with no "bottled on" or "best by" date; light, maroon label with standard Allgäuer insignia (two goats braying at the side of a crested shield); $1.79 from the Winehouse in West LA.

Appearance: Pours a clear mahogany; very little head; no lacing.

Smell: A sturdy dose of chocolate, caramel malts.

Taste: Gently identical to the aroma, save for a faint, earthy hop-bitterness in the finish. Crisp, clean and suitably carbonated.

Notes: Nothing dramatic here -- a subdued, tasty version of the style.