DeGroen's Dunkles
Baltimore Brewing Company

 

From a 12 ounce bottle, the beer pours a dark and hazy reddish-orange. Thin and short-lived foam top the liquid. The nose is surprisingly malty and roasted. Nice aromas of caramel and toasted bread. Unfortunately, there is also a sour-like, acidic component of the smell that seems completely misplaced. Taste is slightly sweet and candy-ish, but it dries out by the finish. The beer is light in body, and a little too thin for my tastes. The acidic flaw (?) is present in the taste as well, and certainly effects the beer’s drinkability. Middle of the road, and somewhat disappointing brew.

First one I have tried from DeGroens brewery. Pours a dark amber which is cloudy. It poured a thin light brown head that did not stick around at the top, but left speckled lace in places.

The aroma is of fresh roasted coffee and hints of wine. The taste is malty and caramel like with a coffee background. It is very smooth with very little aftertaste or bitterness. Finishes strong and leaves you wanting another. A good dark lager.

Brown with a low light creamy tan head and decent carbonation. Malty aromas are primarily caramel with toffee notes. Caramel sweetness dominates a la the caramel square candies; a bit too sweet. Medium bodied and smooth with a sweet malty finish.

I remember this one much more fondly from the brewpub .. prob one of my least favorite De Groen's in bottles...

Per BBC website:
Original Gravity: 13.4? Plato
Alcohol by volume: 5.4%
Malt used: Two-row pale, German Caramunich, Munich and Carafa malts
Hops used: Hallertau Hersbrucker

($6.99 / 6-pack)

Pours with a two-finger white head that some lace. Clear amber color. Medium bodied but slightly watery finish and light carbonation. Slightly malty nose. Starts sweet finishes mellow and not dry. $1.65 for a 12oz. bottle from Colonial Spirits Acton, Ma.

Tasted at DeGroen's on 6/6/06.

Appearance: Reddish-brown, with glints of orange around the edges. Thick, rocky off white head.

Smell: Toffeeish malt, with an underlying roasted aroma. Spice and plum.

Taste: Caramel malt, clove, hops, cardamom, fruity esters, and again hops on the sweet/dry finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium to Full bodied, with slightly aggressive carbonation.

Drinkability: Ohhh Yeah!

Pours a dark orange-amber-brown with a three finger rocky ivory head.
Carmelized sugar, toast, roasted malt, chlorine, and overripe banana in the aroma.
Sweet taste, toast, biscuit, very fruity - apricot and strawberry?
Medium bodied, a bit tart.
Just seemed off style, and whats with the chlorine?

A decent find at one of my local haunts, The Six Pack Shop, this 12 ounce bottle produced something of a disappointment in the way of appearance. The color was not nearly as rich as dunkels I have had in the past. Moreover, the head was quickly fleeting, to say the least. The aroma was ok, with notes of caramel and roasted malt. This brew offered little more than a medium-bodied Marzen-wannabe. A damn shame, but still not a bad brew from this underrated Mid-Atlantic brewery.

Zum wohl!

I was debating if I should review this beer at all since after reading everyones reviews it seems to be well liked. However I continue with my opinion to state perhaps that in my area of distribution (RI) this would be what to expect.
It tastes, smells, and almost lookes like the Marzen. The yeast bite is overpoewering and no true flavors come through. There is a bit more caramel and no roasted and the beer isnt even dark. Its orange in color and tangu in taste. I was hoping I had a mislabeled Marzen, but thats not he case. The yeasty soapy/buttery flavor is dominate. Hopefully this is a bad batch, not a bad beer, and I will try to revisit it later.

The beer is a reddish umber brown, topped with a thick, frothy almond head. Good retention, settling into a short foam, keeping throughout. Rings of lace cling to the glass.
The aroma is mainly a sweet, rich caramel malt, with that slightly earthy quality that german dunkel lagers tend to have. A bit of roasted malt adds some complexity, with mild earthy, herbal hopping. Nice and clean, with just a hint of fruitiness.
The flavor starts with mellow caramel malt and a slight roastiness. A bit more robust on tap, with more assertive carbonation. Very smooth and clean, moving quickly into tangy, earthy hops. My guess is hallertau? Maybe a touch of saaz, with a slight soapiness. The balance is much better on tap, or I had drank a bad batch previously. Roasty caramel malt keeps presence, mingling with the hopping nicely. A quickly diminishing aftertaste after a rather quick finish. Spritzy, slightly fizzy carbonation supports the flavor well. Lightish body, with a smooth, well lagered feel.
I like this beer much better on tap. The bottled version was a little too hoppy. Very smooth and easy drinking. This was a great pint.

The beer poured a crystal clear deep amber brown. The head was off white and fell back quickly.

The aroma was diacetyl and caramel.

The flavor was crisp with caramel but still with diacetyl.

The finish was buttery and dry. The body was medium.

12 ounce bottle. Diacetyl is definitely a flaw in this style of beer.

From a chilled bottle this brew poured out a clear and dark deep copper color. The off white head remained thin throughout. The aroma is… well, like a punch of butterscotch in the nose. Very heavy with it. Also it gives off a buttery sweetness with some licorice and sticky sweet candy in there, too. The taste is dry and bittersweet with caramel notes and has a dry woodiness. The finish is somewhat dry and bitter. Medium body of malt. Overall, a lager that’s more richer in flavor than the usual suspects. I enjoyed it, although I didn’t think I would after smelling it.

Pours a dark amber with a minimal white head. The smell is very malty for a dunkle lager, I might have thought it were a bock or dunkle hefe if i were blindfolded. Flavour is on style though. Bready, malty, with a hint of spice nice malt flavour and then the hops come in to help balance and turn this back into a nice refreshing lager. Finishes nice and dry but with a rememberence of malt. A bit low in the carbonation it seems, but very drinkable. A good job by DeGroens who seem to be another American Brewer that does German style beers in the proper manner.

Small bubbly off white head that quickly disappears. Very little lacing remains on the surface. Nice deep copper in color with no carbonation present. This one is kind of a boring looking brew. Big aroma out of the bottle, however. Lots of malt notes - dark bread, grain, caramel. Hops is moderate on the nose, and fairly light in nature. Big, smooth malt start with notes of bread and sweet caramel. Good amount of hops come in at the end, yet the malt backbone is always present. I’m typically not much of a lager fan, but this brew gives lagers a good name. Incredibly drinkable and well-balanced brew. Not overly complex, but that didn’t stop me for a minute from enjoying this one.

The beer pours a translucent brown color with a white lace head. The aroma is good. It has a zingy sweet malt scent along with the smell of lager yeast. The taste is great. It is smooth and full of sweet malty taste. It has a refreshing finish. The mouthfeel is near perfect. It is a low/medium bodied beer with just the right amount of carbonation. This is an awesome drinking dark lager.

Appearance was nice, dark with quickly dissipating head. Smell, rather than being malty was very wheat like, as was the taste...did I get a mislabeled brew? Mouthfeel was medium and unspectacular. A bit oily on the back palate. Some maltiness, but not what I expected. Average brew.

Served in the 12 oz. bottle. The color is a dark amber, with very little head. The smell is light malt. The taste is a very dry dark maltish, with some slight hop bietterness in the background. Mouthfeel is smooth. As for drinkability, don't think I'd want another.

Another average at best beer from Baltimore. Not something that I'd be interested in having again.

Another offering had at the Briskellar. Auburn in color with a creamy white/tan head, pretty standard fair these days. Smells like a bag of caramels! Carmel malt sweetness dominates with some roasted aromas hanging around for the ride. Tastes similar to the smell. I've never had a more caramel tasting beer than this. Tastes like a Kraft caramel with some nice roastiness to balance the sweet flavor. I'd definitely drink this again.

A slightly hazy chestnut body is capped by a short head of creamy off-white foam that holds fairly well but leaves little lace. The aroma displays an almost smoky character that may be coming from either the malt or the yeast (although I'm guessing it's a phenolic associated with the yeast - I noticed the same thing in their pilsner). But far from being off-putting, it's actually quite intriguing! The body is medium with a fine, standard carbonation that's gently crisp in the mouth. The flavor delivers a "smoky" and toasty malt upfront , followed by some light grassy and floral hop flavors at the mid-palate, and a delicate toffee-ish note at the finish. It's well balanced and finishes dry with some lingering malt and hop with a light spiciness. An enjoyable beer with almost any spicy or "meaty" dish!

Crisp, clear looking amber/light-red color...no head...nose is equally impressive...malty like a doppelbock..or at least a bock....for a dunkel the taste is pretty substantial...malty like a bock...dark fruits...I love the maltiness on this beer....body is very uncarbonated...it seems a little flat...just a slight bump up in carbon would make this truly special...i rate drinkability high because I've had very few (if any) dunkels with more character...Compare this to say Schells dark and it's like comparing Miller Lite to Elliot Ness....I'm impressed with what they have done with this one...All my ratings are in relation to this style,..i really don't think you could go wrong with this for a dunkel..(Now just bump up the carbonation a little)..