Frankenheim Alt - Privatbrauerei Frankenheim

Todd

Massachusetts

4.72/5  rDev +25.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Presentation: 11.2oz brown bottle. Freshness date is on the back label.

Appearance: Pours an impressive off-white patchy, frothy, cream head (2+ fingers) with amazing stick and retention, that sits upon a deep, rich dark chestnut brown liquid.

Smell: Clean, grain notes, very soft, "malted".

Taste: A very nice mouth feel, smooth, creamy and sturdy with a medium-ish body. Malt sweetness is low, making this a dry beer. Notes of dextrin, chocolate, light fruitiness, toasted malts with biscuit/cookie edges pierce a thin flavour profile with gentle complexities. Flavours goes a bit roasted, with very faint smoke in the background ... this segues into a thin hop bitterness with light herbal character and touch of grass. Smoke continues into the finish, as the beer dries and a grainy feel and touch of oil on the palate.

Notes: My oh my! What have we here?! Perhaps one of the finest German brown ales available? I think so. A very traditional, clean and balanced beer. All the flavours in this beer are gentle, yet highly complex. Exceptional.

Find it. Buy it. Drink it. Repeat.

Serving type: bottle

05-06-2002 18:44:24 | More by Todd

DoubleJ

California

3.71/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

On-tap at Zum Schiffchen, on to the beer:

This is amber brown with orange hues in the body. A good head sticks on top of the beer and leaves good lace. The nose brings vague citrus, modest bread crust, and some toffee. However, the aroma's intensity is a little softer than other alts. Not so much with the taste, which brings a note of citrus from the hops, followed by the standard good old bread crust and toffee. It's a lighter-medium bodied beer, which is both refreshing and nicely flavored.

Serving type: on-tap

05-08-2013 15:44:39 | More by DoubleJ

braican

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev -6.7%

04-08-2013 00:05:14 | More by braican

Douberd

Netherlands

2.9/5  rDev -22.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

500 ml bottle, at home. Bought in Germany, at a gas station if I remember well. Poured into an alt glass. ABV is 4,8%.
Colour is light amber, with a little bit of activity in the glass, and an off-white, froathy head, which starts tall and after a couple seconds becomes just a thin line.
Very subtle aromas of caramel and roasted malts.
Roasted malts on the taste too, they give this beer a nice bitter finish, with some dark chocolate notes there too.
Medium to thick body and quite carbonated.
Nothing special.

Serving type: bottle

12-10-2012 21:11:40 | More by Douberd

innominat

Ireland

3.5/5  rDev -6.7%

12-10-2012 19:48:53 | More by innominat

slacker79

Ohio

3/5  rDev -20%

11-19-2012 20:11:18 | More by slacker79

rale

Quebec (Canada)

3.75/5  rDev 0%

06-03-2012 09:09:17 | More by rale

kraypd

Florida

3.4/5  rDev -9.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Drawn from wooden cask in Dusseldorf.

A - A nice brown color with a decent white head.

S - Sweet aroma of malt, with carmel notes. Nice hop aroma.

T - Taste started out with nice mixture of malt sweetness, carmel mixed with firm hop bittering. However, I was very disappointed that there was a strong sulfery taste that dominated the finish. Given that this brewery is ranked highly it was probably not the sample.

M - Light bodied with decent carbonation.

O - Overall this is one of the worst of the Alts that we had during our stay in Dusseldorf. Given the high ratings that others have given this beer it is probably not the best sample to rate. I will still give it another try.

Serving type: cask

03-25-2012 19:04:08 | More by kraypd

Gregwa

Massachusetts

5/5  rDev +33.3%

12-16-2011 01:16:24 | More by Gregwa

Rochefort10nh

New Hampshire

5/5  rDev +33.3%

12-01-2011 15:38:53 | More by Rochefort10nh

rekel

Netherlands

4/5  rDev +6.7%

11-28-2011 23:26:59 | More by rekel

mdillon86

Pennsylvania

4.5/5  rDev +20%

11-26-2011 14:22:56 | More by mdillon86

mentaltraveller

Illinois

4/5  rDev +6.7%

11-15-2011 23:11:55 | More by mentaltraveller

foles

Australia

3.53/5  rDev -5.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Some spicy grassy german hops on the nose. Some mild tasting dark/roasted malt, residual sweetness, and a medium bitterness on finish. Quite a sharp profile. Sessionable but I preferred some of the other alts on the Altstadt. Seemed to be on tap in a lot of restaurants.

Serving type: on-tap

10-31-2011 11:03:49 | More by foles

bark

Sweden

3.23/5  rDev -13.9%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

The colour is dark copper-red (30 EBC), the liquid is clear. The three-finger head is compact and beige. It sinks slowly while leaving lots of fine lacing on the glass.

Caramel and semi-roasted malt dominates the smell. Metallic bitter notes, some vegetables, quite a lot of dark sweet bread.

The taste is better than the smell: Sweet bread, flowery hops, distinct clean bitterness. Toffee, dry roasted hints (but not burned). The aftertaste got a clean bitterness, some salty-meaty notes, dark bread, and very vague hints of coffee and boiled vegetables. The finish is lightly roasted and a bit alcoholic.

The carbonation is quite strong, the many bubbles very small. The liquid is a bit dry and medium smooth.

An OK Altbier, no more no less than that.

Serving type: bottle

09-28-2011 18:37:43 | More by bark

stcules

Italy

3.18/5  rDev -15.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

It has an intense bronze color, with a beige colored, compact and creamy head.
In the smell malt and caramel, a lot of caramel.
And in the taste too. Quite sweet and caramel taste.
Anyway, some hop in the end. But less convincing than others Altbier.

Serving type: cask

02-23-2011 20:04:10 | More by stcules

dasenebler

Maine

3.93/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

.5L, best by 9/19/11.

Pours a clear, dark amber with a nice and creamy off-white head. Textbook lacing, and surprisingly good retention.

Not a whole lot to the aroma, just some toasted malts, bit of fruit.

The flavor is nicely balanced and surprised me with how much it has to offer. There's hints of chocolate, roasted nuts, and a touch of caramel, but no real sweetness. Delightfully toasty, and kind of bready. The bitterness is solid and keeps everything else in check, making for a pretty dry, refreshing brown ale, as any respectable Alt should be. The mouthfeel is light, but soft, with ample carbonation. At under five percent, this is a very drinkable, smooth and satisfying beer.

Really good Alt here. Though perhaps not as fresh, snappy or bitter as some of the other Düsseldorf Alts (many of which aren't really distributed in DE), Frankenheim Alt is still a very good example of the style, and it's readily available in German supermarkets.

Serving type: bottle

02-22-2011 18:49:32 | More by dasenebler

Brabander

Netherlands

3.03/5  rDev -19.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

This is an average German dark alt beer. I bought this beer in a supermarket when i was in Germany some months ago.

Poured in my Struise glass, as always, the beer starts good. A decent broken white head. The head however disappears after a short while leaving a ring with some lacing. The fluid is brown and somewhat darkreddish.

You can smell the roasted malt. For the rest nothing much to say about this beer. Taste is a teeny bit sweet.

Overall not a bad beer but not spectacular.

Serving type: bottle

01-14-2011 10:41:59 | More by Brabander

TurdFurgison

Ohio

3.18/5  rDev -15.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

I had this on tap at a Polish restaurant in Oberhausen (30km north of Dusseldorf). It was served in a larger glass than you see at the actual brewpubs, more of a pint glass.

The beer is dark reddish-brown, clear, with a couple fingers of foam that lasted OK. The aroma is muted as per style specs, not as hoppy as Füchschen or Uerige, more like Schumacher or Schlusser (slightly malty). It tasted more roasty than the others though, I think that's it's distinguishing characteristic. Not really roasty to the point of bitterness, more a slight nut-like character.

Decently carbonated, average body (light), easy to drink but not compelling in flavor, at least for me. But for the style pretty decent.

Serving type: on-tap

10-30-2010 07:19:30 | More by TurdFurgison

metter98

New York

3.8/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A: The beer is deep amber in color and has a two finger off white head that slowly died down. No carbonation is visible in the form of rising bubbles.
S: There are light to moderate aromas of caramel malts in the nose.
T: Like the smell, the overall taste is rather malty and has flavors of caramel.
M: It feels medium-bodied and very smooth on the palate with a little bit of crispness.
D: The beer is very easy to drink and quite sessionable.

Serving type: cask

10-22-2010 01:36:18 | More by metter98

StJamesGate

New York

3.98/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours oxblood with chunky beige head that doesn't manage to lace. Nose is cinnamon and chestnut. Cherry tobacco and walnut malts with earthy sandalwood hops. Long astringent finish - tingly but numbing, like mint or clove. Medium, some chew, lively enough.

Interesting first try of the style. Shares qualities with kellers. For so many dark flavors, stays light and drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

09-20-2010 20:25:38 | More by StJamesGate

Philipp

Germany

4.47/5  rDev +19.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

On-tap - poured into a Altbier-Stange.

Nice brown/red body with a foamy white head.
You can definetely smell the malts, very appealing overall.
Very clean flavor, malty, with a nice aftertaste.
High drinkability, I just had a couple of these in bar; never had it in a bottle.

Serving type: on-tap

10-30-2009 22:40:17 | More by Philipp

Murphious

Illinois

3.68/5  rDev -1.9%
look: 5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

This beer has body. I liked it a lot without really knowing why...? Nice brown with white foamy head. Very full flavored and malty. A hint of hops at the finish and other pleasant flavors I can't pin-point made this a delight. Somewhat syrupy, but not too much.

Serving type: bottle

06-05-2009 22:32:09 | More by Murphious

DukeofAle

Iowa

4.18/5  rDev +11.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

I used to buy this from a small liquor store in Lawrence, Kansas, but haven't been able to find it for perhaps five years? My wife discovered it. She knows I like to try different types of brew and brought some home to try. Generally, I tend toward hoppier, stronger ales but I found this one to be exceptional. Being an alt there is not a lot of hops here, just a very clean, crisp ale that is very well done. It was my favorite beer to drink when I was planning to have more than one or two. Great while watching football.

Now a-days I can't find any alt except for a few micros or unless I want to spend $4.00/bottle for some fancy import from Germany - this stuff was affordable. If anyone knows where to get some in Iowa or adjacent states please let me know!

Serving type: bottle

01-10-2009 16:56:20 | More by DukeofAle

tconboy

Minnesota

4.05/5  rDev +8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

On tap at a small bar in Werne, Germany

A- dark brown, moderate foamy head, decent lacing

S- malty, nutty

T- I like the taste. Its pretty malty, a little nutty, and bready

M- moderate carbonation, light feel

D- very drinkable, tastes pretty good. not the most complex beer in the world but I enjoy it.

Serving type: on-tap

01-02-2009 19:04:46 | More by tconboy