Summit Dunkel Weizen - Summit Brewing Company

maximum12

Minnesota

3.28/5  rDev -13.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Well, this is only my second dunkelweizen ever, so I my expectations are stripped down to their g-strings. Excepting, of course, that the Unchained series has been very good for the most part. But enough of that. 12 oz. bottle.

Pour gives vigorous head, so much that I have to pause in the middle to give it a rest. Occluded amber with brown thrown in. Smell is strong cloves, bananas, old Topps bubblegum (before they stopped putting it in baseball card packs because, y'know, it might ruin the value of a card). Wheat is faint. Nice.

Unchained #9 Dunkelweizen isn't quite what I saw advertised on the board. Wheat is much more prominent in the mouth, & interacts oddly with the sugar-drenched bananas. Lots of clove-spice in the middle, devolving into yeasty esters on the finish. Snapping bubblegum permeates the entire org structure of the brew.

Very strange beer; given my youthful inexperience with the style, not sure if this is indicative or an outlier, but the tastes & whatnot just don't meld all that well for me. Still a pretty good beer, but leaves me puzzled.

Serving type: bottle

04-08-2012 02:00:13 | More by maximum12

BeardedBoffin

Minnesota

3.8/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

The latest in Summit's Unchained Series is a Dunkel Weizen. It pours a cloudy copper-amber color with a cap of really thick sticky foam. Banana and pear mix with in the aroma with a dash of spice. The wheat adds character and texture to the body. The flavors are a bit sweet with some hints of caramel. This is solid drinkable brew.

Serving type: bottle

04-05-2012 00:09:48 | More by BeardedBoffin

MattyG85

Minnesota

4.43/5  rDev +16.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Poured from 12 oz. bottle into a Sam Adams perfect pint glass.

Appearance: Pours a dark and very hazy brown with a tint of orange and peach. Lots of rising bubbles and a huge five fingers of off white head with good retention. Lots of lacing clinging to the glass.

Smell: Big wheat aroma with some lightly roasted malts. Big smell of banana esters and clove spice. Also lots of yeast and bready biscuit. Light hints of chocolate from the dark malts but the yeast and banana stands out the most. Fruits are very vibrant. A very solid smell.

Taste: Big taste of banana esters throughout with wheat and bready biscuity malts. Good notes of caramel, toffee, and clove spices. Subtle hints of chocolate underneath the fruit. Light hints of earthy hops towards the finish provide a little bitterness. Pretty good taste.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with a moderate level of carbonation. Very creamy and smooth. Somewhat sweet but has a drying finish.

Overall: A very solid take on the style. The Unchained series does it again. Very nice ester and biscuit flavors. A good easy drinking warm weather beer.

Serving type: bottle

04-03-2012 05:08:24 | More by MattyG85

Tone

Missouri

3.88/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a cloudy, dark maize color. One inch head of an off-white color. Great retention and good lacing. Smells of slight wheat, slight clove, yeast, sweet malt, and a hint of alcohol. Fits the style of a Dunkelweizen. Mouth feel is sharp and crisp, with an average carbonation level. Tastes of earthy malt, sweet malt, slight wheat, slight clove, hint of alcohol, and yeast. Overall, good appearance, aroma, blend, and body.

Serving type: on-tap

03-23-2012 13:14:47 | More by Tone

deebo

Minnesota

4.18/5  rDev +10.3%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A-Ugly murky muddy brown with just a film of white foam, not a beautiful looking beer but I'm more interested in the taste.

S-Sweet malts and yeast dominate.

T-Sweet barley malt, some wheat notes. Perfectly balanced taste.

M-Medium bodied and carbonated. A smooth brew.

D-Really good. This goes down smooth and incredibly tasty. Finishes quick and cleanly.

O-Probably my favorite beer from Summit, I'll be getting more of this one. Keep it around.

Serving type: on-tap

03-23-2012 02:34:20 | More by deebo

Jason

Massachusetts

3.9/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12oz brown bottle with no freshness date.

LOOK: Hazed brownish amber, think three finger of head that does not want to move

SMELL: Powdered clove, chalky yeast, bready, banana skins, faint perry, earthy

TASTE: Big smoothness, banana taffy, kiss of clove, faint broth, yeast, carob, estery, toasted bread, nutty, dry finish

Very well done here, smacks of what a Dunkelweizen should be ... the whole banana / clove thing is there but not too strong. Maltiness is amped up and enough alcohol to keep it balanced.

Serving type: bottle

03-17-2012 02:35:37 | More by Jason

JackieTH

Minnesota

4.03/5  rDev +6.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Hazy orange-brown with a half-inch of khaki foam that recedes slowly and leaves fits of lace. Smell is ripe bananas, cloves and biscuits. Taste follows the nose, ripe bananas, cloves, allspice, hit of fruity flavor..yeast. It's got a decent level of carbonation but would have liked to see a more substantial body and a creamier feel. The good flavors yield too quickly, the body falls apart a bit on the tongue leaving a slightly chalky after taste. I enjoy the style and, though there is some room for improvement, I enjoyed this example from Summit. Keep making them and I'll keep drinking them.

Serving type: bottle

03-16-2012 04:23:09 | More by JackieTH

sonata2008

Minnesota

3.1/5  rDev -18.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Appearance: The beer poured very cloudy with two fingers' width of cream colored foam. It was a brown copper-like color. Nice lacing. But I would have expected a dunkel to be darker.

Smell: I could smell some banana, a bit of grass and biscuit, and maybe a little fruit with a hint of bubblegum. I expected a much more potent banana smell.

Taste: The beer had some banana notes but very subdued. A slight amount of bitterness. I expected much more in the way of banana for this style beer.

Mouthfeel: Medium mouthfeel, effervescence was light and tingly.

Overall: A nice, refreshing taste but seemed to lack body. It was somewhat disappointing for a dunkel.

Serving type: bottle

03-13-2012 00:49:51 | More by sonata2008

yamar68

Minnesota

3.85/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Pours like a glass of freshly brewed sweet tea. Murky, cloudy, with a slight, off-white head. Nice lacing. The nose is full of cereal, bananas, malted wheat, it smells the part. The wheat, on the tongue, is very straight-forward, unadulterated. A few wood notes, and just enough hop presence to support the bigger picture. Overall, this is a nice surprise. Not exactly a breakfast beer, per se, but it does taste like breakfast.

Serving type: bottle

03-12-2012 03:59:08 | More by yamar68

morimech

Minnesota

3.35/5  rDev -11.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Pours a cloudy, light brown color with a massive four finger head that had excellant retention. Sheats of lacing is left down the glass.

Does not really smell different from Summit's Hefeweizen. Yeast dominating with banana esters. Some wheat malt but missing anything dunkel.

In a blind tasting (literally), I would have a hard time telling this apart from their hefeweizen. So if you are not a fan of that beer, you will not like this beer. They must of used the same yeast as the same flavor dominates. Has some good wheat flavor but cannot really pick out any of the darker qualities.

This seems undercarbonated. For something that was a lively pour, I expected more pop in the palate.

Not the most successful beer of the Unchained Series. Maybe if I had not drunk so much of their hefeweizen over the years, this would of seemed more special.

Serving type: bottle

03-11-2012 19:30:58 | More by morimech

plfahey

Minnesota

3.4/5  rDev -10.3%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

12 oz. bottle poured into a tulip glass.

Appearance-Tawny-amber brown hue with a fair amount of haze. Moderate yellowish head with fair retention.

Aroma-Ripe bananas, clove spice, and toasty/bready melanoidins. Rich banana bread and just a touch of chocolate. Spicy and yummy.

Flavor-Heavier spice flavor than on the nose, with little to no banana fruitiness here. Still some toasty/bread crust flavors here with thick caramel in the mid palate. Quite spicy clovey in the finish with light hop bitterness. A little bland, but not bad, and no off-flavors.

Mouthfeel-Medium body with moderately high carbonation-almost effervescent.

Smells better than it tastes-quite spicy with little banana on the palate. It's certainly not a bad dunkelweizen, I just prefer mine a little fruitier. A nice attempt at a great style, but it falls a little short in my opinion.

Serving type: bottle

03-10-2012 03:21:08 | More by plfahey

jera1350

Minnesota

4.13/5  rDev +9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours out viscous looking. The color is a hazy orange hued brown and the head is of dense sticky foam. Some nice sticky lacing also.

Lots of overripe banana in the nose to go along with some clove and caramel roll smell.

The taste consists of caramel with banana bread and clove with a lighter smoked malt presence on the back end. Some warm alcohol peeks its head out at the very end with a touch of bitterness. Very pleasant taste with a mild complexity to it.

As it warms a bit, the carbonation becomes quite creamy. Light-medium body here with a lightly sticky finish.

I am really glad Summit did this. It's a different style than what 99.9% of breweries in the U.S. are willing to do and this shows how good this style can be when done correctly. Makes a really nice transitional beer from winter to spring.

Serving type: bottle

03-10-2012 01:21:42 | More by jera1350

THEFRANCH15E

4.9/5  rDev +29.3%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Beer: Summit Dunkel Weizen

Appearance: It has a very attractive dark golden/amber color when held up to the light. The head is thicker towards the sides and thins towards the middle. When it's poured into a pint glass it's a very good looking beer.

Smell: It smells very good with hints of roasted malt.

Taste: The taste is fantastic. It has a nice wheat base with malt flavor body and touch of sweetness that has layers that taste like caramel, chocolate and toffee. Very nice mixture.

Mouthfeel: Incredidibly smooth with a clean finish.

Overall: Originally this wasn't supposed to be released in bottles until the week of the 19th but I stumbled across this early release at The Four Firkins. They told me the Brewmaster said to release early and I couldn't be happier! This is a fantastic and well thought out beer and recommend everyone give it a try. I'm so happy Summit came out with this but I am disappointed that it's part of their Unchained Series and won't be around for long...

Serving type: bottle

03-07-2012 13:53:32 | More by THEFRANCH15E

KarlHungus

Minnesota

4.78/5  rDev +26.1%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

This beer pours a cloudy light brown color. The head is a massive three inches in height that lasts until the beer is gone leaving large chunks of foam sticking to the side of the glass. The aroma is of clove, banana, roasted malt, and hints of cocoa. The taste is of clove and allspice mixed with overripe bananas. There are also some malty cocoa notes in the background that round things out. The taste is less yeasty and more malty than the aroma. There is still quite a bit of yeast character to the taste, but I would prefer if it were a little bit more prevalent. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with a chewy texture, and effervescent carbonation. Overall, I really love this beer. Dunkelweizen is one of my favorite styles, and I really wish more American brewers would make more quality example of it. Cheers to Summit for making this beer. I will be drinking it by the case until it is gone.

Serving type: bottle

03-07-2012 03:49:29 | More by KarlHungus

wrycon

Minnesota

4.18/5  rDev +10.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A cloudy burnt umber. Glows light tan in the edges. Thin, white head that clings to the edges and vacates the middle. Smells quite good. Obvious wheat notes coupled with a lemony undercarriage. Some toasted almond notes, as well. Wow, what a smooth, flavorful brew. A bit of tartness at the outset, buoyant with high carbonation. Seems almost thin until a wave of earthy, bread tones come crashing in. The middle lays a heavy blanket of wheat and malt on the tongue and, just as quickly takes it off, leaving a slightly tart, clean finish. Semi-reminiscent of Stillwater's Existent, which pleases me immensely.

Like it? Correct

Serving type: bottle

03-07-2012 01:31:13 | More by wrycon

bsp77

Minnesota

3.98/5  rDev +5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Unchained #9: With White Wheat, Cara Wheat, Malts (Vienna, Munich, others), Tettnanger Hops, and Bavarian Weizen yeast.

Serving glass: Poured from bottle into Weizen glass.

Appearance: Dark, cloudy orange with billowing creamy head and great lacing.

Smell: Sweet banana bread with notes of caramel and chocolate. Very minor touches of clove and Tettnanger hops.

Taste: Very malty and not as sweet as the aroma, with chocolate, caramel and banana. Ends suddenly with light clove and spicy hop notes.

Feel: Creamy (but thin) body with moderate carbonation. The sudden drier finish is slightly odd.

Overall: Very solid example of the style, with nice appearance, aroma and taste. The mouthfeel is the only minor issue I have.

Serving type: bottle

03-06-2012 23:13:19 | More by bsp77