Weltenburger Hefe-Weissbier Dunkel - Klosterbrauerei Weltenburg

KI9A

Illinois

4.05/5  rDev +13.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours hazy amber. Nice creamy head. Smells of clove/bannana/malt. Taste of clove, bannanas and dark fruit. Finishes with a smooth, shot of alcohol. Ratings on another site are really under rated. This dunkel is a a very good one. Tough to find a crappy beer from these guys!

Serving type: bottle

10-13-2007 01:43:35 | More by KI9A

kimcgolf

Georgia

3.65/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured to a dark brown with medium-thick tan head that lingered well and left decent lacing. Aroma was mild, but wheat, nuts and malt scents were the prominent notes. Mouthfeel was slightly tingly, but the body was slightly on the thin side. However, the flavor followed thru again on the malty sweet wheat side, all leading to a medium duration, pleasant finish.

Serving type: bottle

08-05-2007 20:30:49 | More by kimcgolf

Braudog

Virginia

2.03/5  rDev -43.1%
look: 5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

From a well-chilled half-liter bottle. This poured like a textbook dunkelweizen ... hazy and orange-brown with a solid, stoic head of white foam. I need a flavor identifier to help me pin down this aroma ... where’s the wife when you need her? I don’t always want her around when I’m breaking out new bottles in my beer room, but this is an exception. It’s like a mushy overripe banana or a caramel banana split without the ice cream ... hard to describe. The first swish is incredibly disappointing, I can’t tell you. Much more watery than you can imagine. And that same odd essence in the aroma comes thru in the flavor ... cooked banana chips, dark brown sugar, exceptionally sweet. (#2676, 2/2/07)

Serving type: bottle

02-03-2007 01:07:15 | More by Braudog

BuckeyeNation

Iowa

3.63/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Rusty pumpkin with no hint of a yeasty haze. The head was somewhat explosive on the pour and filled the entire glass for a moment or two. Interestingly enough, the beer itself doesn't look all that well-bubbled. In any case, the cap is a good one. It's pale orangish ecru in color, is airily creamy and maintains its position atop the beer for a good, long while. Other than the lack of yeasties, this is a fine looking version.

I'm having a hell of a time appreciating much in the nose at all. Eventually, after much foam slurping, I'm able to pick up the scent of lightly toasted grain, sour dark fruit and gentle clove spice. I don't usually like to have to work that hard to ferret out a beer's olfactory charms. To be fair, it's much more forthcoming with head depletion and warming. With more power it might be much better than average for the style (sheer speculation on my part).

Better on the palate. At least now I can identify the dunkel weizenness of this dunkel weizen. In general terms, the beer isn't all that vivid on the palate. In particular, the flavor profile consists of lightly toasted, lightly sweet banana bread with a smattering of ground clove. It's all pleasant enough despite my desire to turn the flavor knob up a notch or two.

A more dynamic yeast strain would go a long way toward making Hefe Weissbier Dunkel a more delicious beer. I didn't seem to have any problem with it in this brewery's hefe weizen however, and I have to believe that it's the same strain. Apparently, I reviewed that beer before I got my hefe weizen banan-o-meter up and running. This one scores a respectable 3.0/5.0.

The body follows the same path blazed by the flavor; that is, the lighter-than-style-average one. I have no problem with an easy drinking, mild mannered, gently carbonated, session dunkel weizen. It'll be sorta hard to session one bottle though. I've just noticed that the beer develops a more pronounced caramel-like sweetness as it sits.

Klosterbrauerei Weltenburg's biggest positive as a brewery is that they don't brew anything that I consider to be average for the style or below. Only the doppelbock and the hefe weizen have been well above average. This dunkel weizen is a passable version that failed to capture my fancy as well as I thought it might. I'm still glad that I had the opportunity to give it a go and might recommend it to those who don't like a strong hefe presence in their hefes.

Serving type: bottle

06-08-2006 21:40:01 | More by BuckeyeNation

jwc215

New Jersey

2.9/5  rDev -18.8%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Poured a cloudy light brown with a thin, but well-retained head.
The smell was weak. Some small hints of banana and citrus.
The taste was also weak. Very average. There was some tastes of lemon with a background of yeasty bread. The caramel flavor was faint. Theere was nothing complex or outstanding for this style that would make it noteworthy.
The mouthfeel was okay at first, but lacking. It was very lemony - more characteristic of a hefe-weiss than a dunkel (although I do realize that they are related styles.)
It wasn't bad to drink, but nothing to go out of the way for.

Serving type: bottle

05-01-2006 21:19:13 | More by jwc215

davidchollar

Washington

3.48/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

i have yet to try this brewery's highly rated doppelbock, but i plan on getting one soon. like the helles, this hefe has some good things going for it, but ultimately falls short of greatness.

appears just a couple shades darker than the helles. cloudy and light brown, with an awesome foamy head. big obvious smell, very nice. just what you'd expect, delicious, fruity, banana, subtle clove. deeper sniffing and searching the senses reveals some toasty malt, distinguishing this from its paler cousin.

tastes pretty good. it has all the smells and flavors of a good hefe, but seems unable to pull it together for a clean finish. no crisp bitterness, or any sort of bite. leaves sort of a flat sweetness, even a bit of a bad aftertaste. overall decent. one of the few german beers available at the local store, i'll definitely get this again.

Serving type: bottle

04-25-2006 13:06:36 | More by davidchollar

GCBrewingCo

North Carolina

3.28/5  rDev -8.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

The beer poured into the Tucher glass hazy golden amber brown with a huge tannish head which rose tall and lasted forever.

The aroma was strong caramel and bananas as the beer was being poured. Some dark caramel presence was notable as the head fell and a nice wheat character.

The flavor was lightly fruity with a notable banana flavor, a strong bready/biscuity character and a caramel wheat attribute. The flavors were muted and a bit aged, nothing fresh about the beer.

The finish was dry with a lasting fruity and biscuity flavor into the aftertaste. The body was medium and the carbonation despite the huge head, seemed a bit low. A decent brew, but nothing to seek out.

16.9 ounce bottle. Code dated 10.01.02 H.

Serving type: bottle

04-04-2006 21:56:55 | More by GCBrewingCo

drewmprs

California

2.83/5  rDev -20.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2

Nothing too great about this beer. THe bottle I have looks slightly different than the one on this profile. A traditional dunkel meaning that one could see through the beer glass to the other side. It tasted a bit saucy to me and I'm not sure if i would order another one in the future. weltenburger is not my favorite brewery.

Serving type: bottle

02-15-2006 19:36:47 | More by drewmprs

GeoffRizzo

Texas

3.65/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Medium brown shoe polish hue; tan, solid bubble bath head. The nose is yeasty, as the head settles, some caramel and powdery malts are detectable. Simplistic—some sharp light hops, dark roasted malts and yeast like offerings are blended well together. Sweet, watered down caramel malts give way to chocolate and even some banana peel. The finish is bitter, yet a bit sweet. This is pretty enjoyable; always thought this was a tough style to produce. While the flavors are a bit subdued, this one was smooth and enjoyable enough.

Serving type: bottle

01-01-2006 21:57:49 | More by GeoffRizzo

mmmbeer

Massachusetts

3.48/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Big 500 mL German bottle with 10.01.02 on the back, which I hope isn't the date - it was new in the store so pretty sure it's not. No weizen glasses available so we used pilsners, which is the closest thing we could find. It pours a cloudy chestnut color with a 2 finger off-white head of dense tiny bubbles that pits when it recedes and leaves good lacing. The aromas are banana, bubblegum, caramel?, medicine?, sweetness, and clove. The body is light and tingly like a lager and is kinda thin with a short finish. It tastes of bananas (banana pudding), clove, metal/spiciness, caramel/toasted malts, and a mild bitterness. The flavors are there but too subdued. Pretty average in my opinion.

Serving type: bottle

12-30-2005 02:02:29 | More by mmmbeer

OatherS

Kansas

3.9/5  rDev +9.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Half liter bottle with brown label with a picture of a town on the front.

Appearance: One finger head that fades. Brown color, somewhat transparent. Somewhat amber.

Smell: Slight banana odor. Caramel and a cooked odor.

Taste/Mouthfeel: Smooth flavor. Somewhat watery. Wheat flavor is subdued. Caramel flavor also slight.

Drinkability: Nice beer. Not too strong of a flavor, but still very drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

04-29-2005 00:06:09 | More by OatherS

Naerhu

Japan

3.8/5  rDev +6.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Dark brown opaque body with a one inch creamy head. Nice white lacing. Powdery sweet guava aroma.
Slightly sweet malt, short lived wheat flavor. Very simple, and refreshing with lots of yeast flavor. Many points are subtracted for lack of intesity, but all said and done, this is a yummy one.
Smooth micro bubbles and the yeasty silkiness make this very pleasing.

Serving type: bottle

04-13-2005 14:58:59 | More by Naerhu

oggg

California

3.35/5  rDev -6.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Wasn't sure, so I swirled the yeast in the last inch of beer and poured it right in.

This beer is brown with orange tints at the edges. It sports a pretty white head. Most prominent in the nose is chocolate, then caramel, and then some breadiness and barely any clove. On the tongue, the sweet caramel is most prominent, with high breadiness and yeastiness. And a tiny bit of clove but not that much. Seemed to get acidic in the middle. Phenols? The malt drops out quickly leaving a thin and empty feeling beer. Not very fun to drink.

Overall: Shouldn't this style have more banana or clove?

Serving type: bottle

02-16-2005 05:37:15 | More by oggg

RoyalT

Ohio

3.9/5  rDev +9.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance – This one is dark brown in color with a full, tan head. The gooey yeast that I whipped up further darkened the foam. The carbonation inside the glass is gushing.

Smell – There is a rich, dark, heavily-toasted malt nose to this Weizen. The yeast is there but you have to search for it.

Taste – The dark roasty character dominates at the taste. Again, the yeast is present but very light. There’s also a good dark chocolate flavor that reminds me of half-baked homemade cupcakes.

Mouthfeel - This one is in between light and medium-bodied with some light, fluffy carbonation and a darkish bittersweet chocolate finish at the end.

Drinkability –This one was unusual for the style but very drinkable. The purists will brand it “off-style” as should I, but a decent, drinkable weizen of any kind, more or less a dunkel, is so rare here in the US I’ll give this one a thumbs up.

Serving type: bottle

09-08-2004 19:41:02 | More by RoyalT

Boilermaker88

California

3/5  rDev -16%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Presented in a 16.9oz brown bottle, this dunkelweissbier had a cloudy dark brown color and a foamy, lumpy light tan head that couldn't keep alive despite the lively effervescence streaming to the surface.
The smell was predominantly malty with some strong caramel and yeast notes. It lacked both the clove and banana aromas expected in a beer of this style. The taste was a duplicate of the smell, possessing a solid malt backbone and lots of caramel and yeast. It had all the characteristics of pumpernickel rye bread. A light hops bite glided over the palate in the finish. The feel was medium-bodied, mildly stoked with carbonation, and a bit dry.
Overall, I was a bit disappointed with this brew. I was hoping that a brewery around since 1050 A.D. (it said so on the label) would have cracked the code for a top-notch dunkelweiss. Too bad this beer fell short.

Serving type: bottle

01-26-2004 00:52:34 | More by Boilermaker88

Murph

Arizona

3.25/5  rDev -9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pours a hazy brown color with a nice big dark tan head that slowly subsides. Sweet chocolatey notes with some very light fruit scents in the aroma. Nice opening chocolate flavors that soon begin to feel a little watered down. Definitely a little dissappointing since I've tried others that were very full flavored from this brewery. Just very thing and watery with no real yeast flavors and no wheaty graininess either. Thin and not nearly as full in the mouth as it should be, again, dissappointing. I could drink this beer but I'm not sure why I would want, there are some many better tasting dunkel weizens out there.

Serving type: bottle

11-05-2002 09:56:36 | More by Murph