Erdinger Weissbier Dunkel - Erdinger Weissbräu

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

3.38/5  rDev -9.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Nice looking and creamy. Easy drink but not one that distinguished itself. Some aroma there including cocoa. Bit of different flavours, including nuts but altogether on the thin mouthfeel side. Roast and also a tad burnt wheat. Malty more than anything. Thanks Pootz. Had another bottle straight from Germany and more carbonated less mellow. Thanks Mark.

Serving type: bottle

10-17-2004 03:01:28 | More by northyorksammy

BuckeyeNation

Iowa

3.15/5  rDev -15.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Tobacco brown with red and gold highlights. With bright backlighting, the color is closer to dusky maroon. No beer was visible immediately after the pour due to an explosion of ecru foam. The cap is creamyfluffy and sports huge craters on its upper surface. I don't expect much lace given the texture of the head... and don't get much.

The nose is so low on power and presence that it's tough to pick out the usual aromas that are characteristic of the style. In fact, it's hard to appreciate this beer as a 'dark' beer at all. I'm hoping that it blossoms with warming, although it isn't anywhere close to cold now.

I was surprised to discover that I've only had four dunkel weizens prior to this one. I was equally surprised to see that I thought highly of 75% of them. It looks like my 'impressed by dunkles percentage' has dropped to 60%. Even though I haven't had a really good Erdinger Weissbrau beer yet, I had high hopes for this one.

The biggest problem is a simple one: lack of flavor. While the beer isn't quite the no-show on the palate that it is in the nose, it isn't getting up close and personal with my taste buds either. Weissbier Dunkel tastes like a dark lager brewed by a second-rate brewery. Where's the toasted wheatiness? Where's the banana and clove yeastiness? Where's the complexity? Absent, absent and absent.

It doesn't look like the flavor is hiding in any 'stealth yeast' at the bottom of the bottle since I've added the entire contents to my weizen glass and the beer is as crystal clear as it was after the first pour. Is there such a thing as a kristal dunkel weizen? It tastes as if all (or at least most) of the personality has been filtered out. The 'best by' date would suggest that this is still a relatively fresh beer.

The mouthfeel is definitely on the lighter end of the style spectrum. I like my weizens to have a wheaty lushness, a light creaminess. Nothing of that sort is evident here. An energetic amount of carbonation tries to help, but it can only do so much. At least the mouthfeel is consistent with the flavor. Consistently average.

Apparently, I like dunkel weizens more than I remembered. My fondness for them may be due to the fact that I've tasted some of the best that the style has to offer. Or it may be that I just like dark wheats in general. Erdinger Weissbier Dunkel, on the other hand, isn't weissbier enough or dunkle enough to suit me.

Serving type: bottle

04-08-2006 22:14:36 | More by BuckeyeNation

mikesgroove

South Carolina

4.1/5  rDev +9.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Dark as could be it comes to my table looking like melted milk chocolate. Nice firm head of maybe three inches caps the top and settles down quickly into a smooth and even layer.

Aroma is big, deep chocolate, rich roasted malts, enormous brown sugar and caramel notes, this one was a beast to say the least. Really carried over and expanded into the flavor. Rich chocolate, roasted nuts, molasses, hints of earthy, dry notes. Really just very full and deep. Rich, creamy feel and a session ability that was top notch.

Overall this was about as solid as it gets. A tremendously good beer that I would love to be able to try again.

Serving type: bottle

04-28-2011 02:10:12 | More by mikesgroove

womencantsail

California

2.83/5  rDev -24.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

A: The pour is a dark mahogany color with some red/amber notes and a fizzy off-white head.

S: The nose is quite yeasty with lots of spice esters (particularly clove). A fair amount of sweet dark fruits and a mild cola characteristic.

T: This starts off somewhat mild with trace amounts of banana and spicy esters. There are some notes of roasted malts and there's a high level of (carbonic) acidity which does not appeal to me.

M: Very highly carbonated with a medium body. The carbonation and acidity from the carbonation that is present in the flavor gives this a bit of a soda water feel.

D: I found this one to be disappointing. I don't know if the bottle was old or what, but the flavor was really not very good.

Serving type: bottle

11-06-2010 20:34:09 | More by womencantsail

UCLABrewN84

California

3.58/5  rDev -4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Best before 12/2012.

Pours an opaque dark brown with a 2 inch foamy dark khaki head that settles to a thin cap on top of the beer. Foamy swaths of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of wheat, caramel, and some yeast aromas. Taste is of wheat and caramel mainly with some slight yeast flavors. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp and medium bodied mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty good beer that is easy drinking but nothing really stands out with this one.

Serving type: bottle

06-22-2012 02:34:16 | More by UCLABrewN84

brentk56

North Carolina

4.03/5  rDev +8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: Pours a cloudy dark brown color with a typically fluffy white head that lasts forever and leaves nice lacing

Smell: Brown bread, bananas, cloves and a nice yeasty aroma

Taste: Tastes much like the aroma from start to finish; a touch of chocolate malt and caramel adds a nice dimension to the aftertaste

Mouthfeel: Light and spritzy

Drinkability: Nothing complex, just a very enjoyable dark weissbier

Serving type: bottle

10-28-2005 01:53:53 | More by brentk56

Phyl21ca

Quebec (Canada)

3.28/5  rDev -12.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Bottle: Poured a clear dark dunkel with a large foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of light roasted malt with light caramel and light banana aftertaste. Taste is mostly dominated by some roasted malt with a light bitter finish and some light fruity notes also noticeable. Average body with good carbonation. OK but again a style that really doesn't appeal to me that much.

Serving type: bottle

01-24-2009 03:43:49 | More by Phyl21ca

BEERchitect

Kentucky

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

Not my favorite style, but a solid beer. Has the flavors of a very light Brown Ale or a Viena Lager with the body of a Bavarian Wheat. Got to get over the muddy brown color, but the head, retention, and lacing makes up for it. Faint roasty aromas, mildly cocoa, and lightly estery and tart. Flavors are mildly bready, roasty, cocoa, and fruity. The darker grains tend to mask what I like most in a Wheat. The darker grains don't display enough character to make this beer interesting. It's caught in the middle. There is more malty sweetness than is detected in the first sip. The body is quite large and full. Finishes mildly sweet and slightly dry. No alcohol or hops detected; just for balance. It's a clean, well balanced beer--maybe too balanced. It's ok, you just got to be in the mood for it.

Serving type: on-tap

08-09-2005 14:19:04 | More by BEERchitect

oberon

North Carolina

3.78/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a slightly hazy medium brown with a big blooming white head that settles pretty quickly leaving no lace behing,aromas of banana,smoke, and clove dominate here staying true to style wich is very nice.Pick up some banana and clovey spiciness up front flavor wise,finishes with a black liquorice flavor I havent encountered with this style I have to say.Not very complex but enjoyable pretty straight forward and thats ok,not bad I would try again some time for sure.

Serving type: bottle

06-30-2005 22:26:37 | More by oberon

metter98

New York

3.28/5  rDev -12.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A: The beer poured dark brown into a weizen glass with a perfectly sized tan head that has good head retention properties. A very high amount of carbonation is visible from the rising bubbles.
S: There are faint aromas of cloves, dark malts and yeast in the nose.
T: The overall taste has a bit of sweetness and is mostly malty with some notes of cloves and yeast.
M: It feels light- to medium-bodied on the palate and very bubbly.
D: The beer is rather easy to consume, although there's nothing particularly special that would definitely make me want to have another one.

Serving type: bottle

06-27-2010 15:53:23 | More by metter98

feloniousmonk

Minnesota

3.58/5  rDev -4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Pours out a murky brown, nearly maroon, with reddish tinges, and features an impressively large, flourishing head of frothy off-white foam.
Aroma: disappointing, suggesting nothing at all, spare, blank, giving off a hint of spiciness, a touch of fruit, but nothing major.
Very smooth, very easy, very minimal texture, just enough to qualify as a weizen, but with very little complexity and scant flavor. I run out of things to say about this beer, for it gives little else of itself to be examined. Some chocolate comes forth later on, much appreciated, but too little, too late?
Not bad, just not much. Thanks to JohnnyDuvel for the sample.

Serving type: bottle

07-19-2003 10:36:01 | More by feloniousmonk

WesWes

New York

3.53/5  rDev -5.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

The beer pours a dark brown color with a thick frothy offwhite head that slowly fades to lacing. The aroma is decent. It has a dry, roasted malt aroma that boasts of crystal malts and roasted barley. It has some yeast fruitiness, but not much. The taste is decent as well. It a dry, earthy flavor that boasts of crystal and roasted malts. It goes down slow due to the overwhelming carbonation. It has a slight tart aftertaste, but little sign of wheat malt. The mouthfeel is decent. It is a medium bodied beer with a little too much carbonation. This is a pretty good beer, but I prefer a sweeter, fruitier dunkel. This was neither.

Serving type: bottle

05-28-2005 00:24:12 | More by WesWes

drabmuh

Maryland

3.7/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Beer served on draft at Churchkey in D.C. Beer is brown, hazy with a gigantic head. Head falls away in a few minutes leaving a lot of lacing on the glass. Carbonation is moderate and steady, large bubbles. A really attractive beer.

Aroma is much weaker than I expected. I can't really smell any malt to speak of, there is some hints of esters (banana) like you'd expect, just a lot more subtle than I thought it should be.

Medium body smooth beer. Both this beer and Erdinger hefeweiss have very similar flavors. And that flavor is bland. I know that these beers are suppose to have refreshing and simple flavors, all I'm saying is that I've had better beers in these categories. All of the flavors you'd expect are there, just muted, some banana / clove-like flavor, some malt (since this is the dunkel) just not a lot of it. Perfectly fine tasting beer, just really subtle.

Mouthfeel is good, medium bodied, smooth, no aftertaste. Drinkability is high, as it should be. A pretty good beer.

Serving type: on-tap

11-07-2009 15:14:14 | More by drabmuh

Mora2000

Texas

4.1/5  rDev +9.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours dark brown with a fluffy white head. Strong caramel malt presence in aroma as well as the flavor. Slight smoke presence in the flavor as well. Light-medium body and a very easy drinker. Medium carbonation. Drank this with some homemade venison German sausage and it was outstanding.

Serving type: bottle

12-29-2009 20:40:27 | More by Mora2000

zeff80

Missouri

3.83/5  rDev +2.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A - Poured out a dark brown color with flecks of red. It had a foamy, off-white, three-finger head that left some lace.

S - It smelled of wheat and nut.

T - It tasted of malt and wheat. It also had some yeast flavor.

M - It was crisp and smooth. A medium-bodied beer.

D - This is a very good dunkel. Another good German brew.

Serving type: bottle

06-07-2007 15:03:04 | More by zeff80

TheManiacalOne

Rhode Island

3.65/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 16.9oz bottle into a US tumbler pint glass.

A: The beer is a medium brown color, with a large beige head that fades quickly and leaves a spotty lace on the glass.

S: The aroma is faint but contains wheat, caramel, dark malts and a faint touch of hops.

T: The taste starts out bready with flavors of wheat and roasted malts. Then there are some semi sweet flavors of caramel and bananas that comes in. The hops presence is mild but complementary. The after-taste is slightly bready and slightly sweet.

M: Crisp and smooth, medium body, medium carbonation, finish is slightly sticky.

D: Tasty, goes down easily, not too filling, mild kick, good representation of style, this one is a little darker than most others I've had in the style, but it's a decent beer to drink for a while if you're in the mood for this kind of beer.

Serving type: bottle

10-06-2009 02:20:52 | More by TheManiacalOne

russpowell

Oklahoma

3.38/5  rDev -9.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Pours mahgony with effervescence & a 4 fingers tan head. Some lacing & okay head retention

S: caramel notes & that's it

T: Fruittty with a slight licorice flavor. Slight grainyness & choclate assert themselves as it warms. Finished fruitty & quenching

MF: A little thin but has good carbonation

Drinks okay, just not very memorable. Try it & decide yourself

Serving type: bottle

07-04-2006 04:31:35 | More by russpowell

Gueuzedude

Arizona

3.95/5  rDev +5.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours a thick, opaque, brown color, and is topped by a thick light brown head. Enticing aromas of raisins, caramel, and toast waft from my glass to my nose. Overall the aroma is quite fruity as well. The taste is mildly sweet and finishes with a hint of clove, and smooth mellowness. This has some really nice bready notes mixed with caramel and biscuit flavors. There is a dry finish, which begs for you to take another sip. This is a nice enjoyable example, that could use, perhaps, a bit more of the traditional Hefe flavors, but it is quite good as is.

Serving type: bottle

06-12-2004 22:10:59 | More by Gueuzedude

Halcyondays

California

2.68/5  rDev -28.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

16.9 oz. bottle,

A: Pours brown with a fizzy tan head, fair head retention, fleeting, no lace, looks good initially.

S: Dark bread, pumpernickel, molasses, notes of root beer.

T: Really dark bread malt is the only thing there akin to a dopplebock, in fact it tastes more like a bock than a weizen, no real estery flavour at all. Flavour is light across the board, vapid.

M: Too much carbonation for the style, bursts in to carbon dioxide upon entering the mouth, overall light-bodied.

D: Can be difficult to drink due to the carbonation. Similar to the hefe from this brewery, I'm just not getting much. Compared to the real good weisse beers out there, this one just screams average.

Serving type: bottle

09-03-2008 05:32:29 | More by Halcyondays

biboergosum

Alberta (Canada)

3.38/5  rDev -9.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

This beer pours a murky, practically opaque chocolate brown colour, with many fingers of thick, foamy beige head. It smells lightly of wheat, yeast, banana, and roasted caramel malt. The taste is mild wheat grain, some nutty malt, and a very subtle bready yeastiness. The carbonation is a bit on the high side, the body kind of thin (but that may just be perception based on the weighty appearance), and it finishes dry and somewhat chalky. Decent, but inoffensive, and nowhere near the fruit/yeast that I was expecting. It's more akin to the well-made but boring brown ales around here.

Serving type: bottle

07-03-2009 22:49:35 | More by biboergosum

jwc215

New Jersey

3.63/5  rDev -2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Freshness date of 10-2007. Poured into weizen glass.

Pours brown with thick (at first too foamy, but quickly settled) off-white head that slowly descended to a sizeable cover.

The smell is of caramel, dark fruitiness, slight wet cardboard. Earthy in the back.

The taste is of caramel/toffee. Faint cocoa. Dark fruits and a nutty/earthiness in the back. That hint of wet-cardboard from oxidation is there, but not strong. Slight non-descript spiciness - not quite clove - comes in and out. Candy sweet in the finish.

Mild carbonation in a thin, but not watery, body.

A decent dunkel weizen, though I've had better of style from Bavariia. It's well-within freshness date, but slight oxidation and blandness make me wonder how well this one held up in transit.

Serving type: bottle

06-06-2007 15:26:52 | More by jwc215

tempest

Pennsylvania

3.3/5  rDev -11.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Ordered a a beautiful half-liter at Sunswick 35/35 for $7. This dark brown beer with its light tan head looked oh-so promising, but fell flat once I started sipping. Sure, the carbonation was fine, but it only tasted like a creamed wheat or oatmeal cereal with a hint of cocoa powder.

Serving type: on-tap

06-01-2009 00:58:13 | More by tempest

akorsak

Pennsylvania

3.55/5  rDev -4.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I am drinking a 650 mL bottle poured into a Widmer Bros. weizen glass. The ale is cool in temperature.

Appearance: The ale is highly carbonated as I pour it, giving 4-5 fingers worth of head. Unsurprisingly, the ale is a deep brown color. There is also a certain level of sediment in the glass.

Smell: The roasted malts used to make the dunkel are readily apparent in the nose. After that, there is a light wheat aroma.

Taste: The ale's roasted character is the first thing that strikes me in the taste. The roast notes along with the soft rounded wheat gives the ale a unique and very enjoyable flavor. I don't taste any clove notes, but I am mostly pleased by the taste.

Mouthfeel: The ale's roasted notes are very pleasing on the palate.

Drinkability: The ale is good, not the best dunkel weizen, but drinkable nonetheless.

Serving type: bottle

04-01-2006 01:46:35 | More by akorsak

Wasatch

Utah

3.38/5  rDev -9.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a clear brown color, nice carbonation, huge head, lots of lacing afterwards. Scents of sweet slightly roasted malts, yeast, and banana. The taste is kinda sweet malts, slight tones of banana. Medium body, highly carbonated feel in the tongue. Drinkable, not a bad brew, but other's of this style are quite different and more re-freshing.

Serving type: bottle

10-21-2006 01:20:17 | More by Wasatch

jdhilt

New Hampshire

4.08/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours a five finger light tan head that fades quickly to a thin layer and leaves traces of lace. Cloudy amber color, yeast left in bottle. Light-medium carbonation and medium bodied. Mostly malty nose. Flavor is malty, sweet, hints of yeast. Clean finish. Nice hefe. $3.99 for a 500ml bottle from Capitol Convenience Concord, NH.

Serving type: bottle

04-28-2008 23:48:10 | More by jdhilt