Ayinger Altbairisch Dunkel - Privatbrauerei Franz Inselkammer KG / Brauerei Aying

falloutsnow

Illinois

3.5/5  rDev -11.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

2012-09-09 Review:

I'm not sure how old this bottle is (thank you, Ayinger, for agreeing to not date anything), but suspect it has substantial age as I smell and taste it, as these factors seem rather depressed. The beer is a bit boring as a result, medium-tier in level (above, in my mind, Capital's Dark and Hirter Morchl, but below Weltenburger's Dunkel Lager). One I might re-try if I can find a fresh bottle or have it on tap.

Pours a 2cm head of light tan, fairly dense and small bubbles, which have a fairly froth-like appearance. Retention is about average, lasting a minute or two as it collapses to a modest cap of foam atop the beer. Lacing is excellent, with substantial blotches and clumps along the sides of the glass. Body is dark brown in color when out of the light, amber-brown with strong red hues when in. Carbonation through the transparent body, noticeable but modest.

Aroma is rather faint, as I noted six years ago. I'm detecting toffee on crackers with quite modest toasted nuts and cocoa powder. Surprisingly, I still get a bit of "wet hay" scent from this as well. It's not clear how old the bottle is, but this is still a fairly disappointing aroma, relative to others in the style I've recently tried.

Taste features major flavors of toffee, dark malt sweetness, a bit of graininess, very faint cocoa and toasted nuts. Opens with dark malt sweetness and toffee, the mid-palate discovering the subtle cocoa and nut aspects. Back of palate picks up mild bitterness with primary dark malt sweetness and notes of cocoa. Aftertaste of dark malt sweetness and a bit of cocoa.

Beer is medium to medium-light in body with medium levels of carbonation, which makes this easily drinkable as it lightly foams up and flows across the palate. Finish is dry to semi-dry.

2006-03-28 Review:

A robust pour products a thick 2.5cm head on top of a light caramel-color body that's nearly transparent with very aggressive-looking carbonation. The foam reduces to a few islands of bubbles over the course of several minutes leaving a bit of lacing along the sides of the glass.

The scent, though not powerful, yields complexities of some malt, yeast, fresh whole grain breads, wet hay, some caramel sweetness and even faint clove spiciness.

The dunkel lager features an opening taste of caramel sweetness and pleasant nuttiness that leads to some grain and faint apple/pear in midtaste. The aftertaste is of a lingering mild bitterness that's very pleasant in contrast to the sweet introduction.

Carbonation was able to be felt, but under control and not unpleasant. The body is medium to medium-light, perhaps a bit watery for the style and my tastes. Dry finish, undoubtedly from the hops that influence the pleasantly bitter aftertaste.

Good smell, taste, and mouthfeel make this an easily drinkable beer. The carbonation is not extreme and the flavor lends easily to having more than one in the same night or across other spans of time.

Serving type: bottle

03-28-2006 20:30:08 | More by falloutsnow

kemoarps

Washington

4/5  rDev +1%

05-23-2013 19:44:28 | More by kemoarps

kvnstfrd

Missouri

4/5  rDev +1%

05-23-2013 12:55:24 | More by kvnstfrd

johntfox

Florida

4/5  rDev +1%

05-21-2013 01:44:44 | More by johntfox

Slatetank

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev -5.3%

05-20-2013 22:54:08 | More by Slatetank

leftstagebrew

North Carolina

4/5  rDev +1%

05-16-2013 15:43:00 | More by leftstagebrew

BeerDocT

Georgia

3.91/5  rDev -1.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Working my way through the beer fridge and found this baby from my last trip to Black Mountain, NC, and the Berliner Kindl restaurant. When I go there, it's just to pop in and buy some German beers. Gotta make time to sample the food some day. Anyway, on with the review!

-Appearance 3.75: Poured out with a nice, thick, 3/4" head. This quickly faded into foamy swirls on top. Completely translucent beer, which makes me think that the "lager" designation is not simply from tradition. Don't make that statement make you think it is a golden beer, it is not: it is an attractive deep amber color.

-Smell 3.75: Very pleasant and restrained bouquet. I detect hints of toasted grains, raisins and malted barley. The bouquet is very balanced and nuanced.

-Taste 4.0: Front is dry with slight hints of barley. Middle is also dry, and this is where the bubbles hit your palate. Finish is where the barley and toasted grains and slight hops come in and then quickly fade into an abrupt and dry finish. Very pleasant and restrained on every level.

-Mouthfeel 3.75: Mouthfeel is creamy and satisfying. Right on the nose for this style.

-Overall 4.0: Great beer. While I drank it, I kept imagining drinking it while eating some sauerbraten and black bread or a smoked shank of pork with sauerkraut. I really enjoyed this beer on its own and believe it would be an excellent session beer, but cannot wait to try it with food. Maybe the next time I am in Black Mountain, I will. Regardless, if you see this beer, pick it up.

Serving type: bottle

05-15-2013 04:07:24 | More by BeerDocT

mychalg9

Illinois

4/5  rDev +1%

05-15-2013 01:31:07 | More by mychalg9

cbutova

Massachusetts

3.73/5  rDev -5.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Pretty much a fan of everything about this brewery. Always nice to be able to review a new product from them.

A- Poured into a tall glass that seems to be around twenty ounces in total. The beer comes out of the bottle with a nice dark brown hue with some red around the edges. A tall, foamy cap forms to several fingers in height and retains nicely. The foam falls to a thick, bubbly ring leaving some spotty but thick sized lace webs.

S- A pretty mild overall aroma but the things present are appropriate. I get some nice toasted bread and malt hints first with some good brown caramelized sugar and toffee sweetness behind that. Something reminds me of fruit, not sure if hops or yeast.

T- Toasted malts and caramelized dark sugars make up a lot of the flavor for me. Crusty yeast bread, fig, molasses and a tiny bit of cocoa come to mind. Some hops present with mostly herbal and spicy hints coming from them. A good sweetness without being alarming.

MF- Medium bodied with a somewhat sweet overall feel on the palate. Carbonation bubbles feel fine and at a moderate level. Very slight bitterness in the finish.

I am not an expert in Munich Dunkels but this satisfies a lot of the styles characteristics. Just thinking about it as a beer it is balanced and drinks refreshingly, not a surprise when it comes to this brewery.

Serving type: bottle

05-11-2013 02:55:33 | More by cbutova

ejimhof

Pennsylvania

3/5  rDev -24.2%

05-05-2013 22:18:22 | More by ejimhof

foxyaardvark27

Washington

4.25/5  rDev +7.3%

05-03-2013 22:28:24 | More by foxyaardvark27

jroberts8811

Missouri

3.75/5  rDev -5.3%

05-02-2013 00:19:55 | More by jroberts8811

JoshuaGoins

West Virginia

4.25/5  rDev +7.3%

04-29-2013 01:38:01 | More by JoshuaGoins

jlindros

Massachusetts

4.26/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Just a little note, I love the artwork on the bottle caps.

The pour from the tulip bottle forces a nice frothy and semi thick creamy 1.5 finger head that fades somewhat slowly, with lots of nice lacing, over dark but very clear mahogany brown colored beer with some chestnut light streaming through.

Nose is nice, some dark toasty malts, toasted wheat, pilsner toasted straw malts, light caramel and toffee like aromas, a slight caramelized brown sugar like aroma too and faint biscuit, light wafts of dark fig and raisin like fruit, with that nice decoction like complex soft malts, and faint grassy noble hops. It started a little muted but after a few big sniffs more and more complex aromas came through nicely.

Taste brings more of the same, malts the key profile, darker brown malts, caramelized sugars and fruits with a light candied raisin and fig like, nice toasted wheat and biscuit flavors, with a little toasty dark brown malts. Sweet flavors bring a faint toffee and nutty quality with the caramel and brown sugar, but all are on the lighter side and the beer itself is not very sweet. The wheat characters come through a bit more as it goes, a toasted brown wheat like, as well as more of that soft decoction mash flavors. Very faint grassy noble hop in the background that brings a faint spicy quality on the finish. The finish is drier, more caramelized brown sugars and toffee nutty flavors, dark toasted wheat, and touch of the toasty malts, as well as a crisp slightly fruity lager character.

Mouth is med bodied, soft and rich though, and plenty of fluffy carbonation.

Overall quite nice, true to a nice dark dunkel, great malt characters, soft complex decoction mash profile, nice sweetener flavors without the sweetness, faint dark fruits come through, and even the slightest hop profile. very drinkable and I could pound this back in minutes if I'm not careful. This is what I imagine drinking on a slightly chilly spring morning in Germany.

Serving type: bottle

04-26-2013 22:29:56 | More by jlindros

TeamMathis

West Virginia

3.71/5  rDev -6.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Appearance: Dark amber. Deep reds when held up to the light.
Smell: Malty, some caramel, and very light fruit.
Taste: Malty, some caramel, some honey, light fruit, and a floral touch.
Mouthfeel: Just like a good lager: balanced smoothness and carbonation.

This brew is beautiful. Deep dark, and then deep cherry red under the light. The taste is well-rounded; nothing stands out in dominance, but each part compliments the other; I was surprised by the fruity and floral aspects. Overall, this is beautiful lager that would make me want to drink a lager. I would get this again. I also love the new design on the bottle. It's a cleaned up and simplified revision of the previous one.

Serving type: bottle

04-19-2013 02:16:30 | More by TeamMathis

browniewithnuts

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +1%

04-18-2013 20:29:33 | More by browniewithnuts

JakerLou

New Hampshire

4/5  rDev +1%

04-13-2013 21:43:33 | More by JakerLou

jmbranum

Oklahoma

4.75/5  rDev +19.9%

04-08-2013 19:57:38 | More by jmbranum

lucasj82

Indiana

3.75/5  rDev -5.3%

04-07-2013 14:10:28 | More by lucasj82

Ryan011235

Ohio

4/5  rDev +1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Poured into an Ayinger Kirta-Halbe glass on 3/16/13

Medium-dark brown with dark rust and copper hues. Clear enough to see the fury of rising bubbles feeding a slow-to-dwindle two finger head.

Wonderfully malty aroma of dark bread, biscuit dust, nuts, dark fruits and molasses. Overtones of earthiness. Very nice, indeed. Dark, semi-dry bread notes carry the palate with a hint of dark roast. Suggestions of earthy, almost herbal hops but the malts (oh, the malts) are on full display. Vague fruity notions in the middle. The finish is dry and slightly toasty. At first the body seemed a tad thin, but it quickly grew on me. Low, meandering carbonation - just how I like it.

My overall impression is that I need to drink more Ayinger.

Serving type: bottle

03-24-2013 02:18:20 | More by Ryan011235

hermit990

Illinois

3.5/5  rDev -11.6%

03-23-2013 02:27:33 | More by hermit990

MooseBoose

Wisconsin

4.75/5  rDev +19.9%

03-20-2013 16:58:59 | More by MooseBoose

allbrigs

North Carolina

4.5/5  rDev +13.6%

03-12-2013 15:06:40 | More by allbrigs

Chugs13

New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev +7.3%

03-10-2013 19:57:27 | More by Chugs13

Vitacca

Montana

4/5  rDev +1%

03-05-2013 02:47:31 | More by Vitacca