Frankenheim Alt - Privatbrauerei Frankenheim

BuckeyeNation

Iowa

2.85/5  rDev -24%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Transparent amberish brown topped with a small, pale beige head. There was an abundant amount of carbonation that, nevertheless, didn't result in much hang time for the cap of foam. Very little lace. [To be fair to the appearance, I drank this in a bar, was given a small, dishwasher-spotted glass and wasn't able to give it my usual pour].

The nose was reminiscent of sweet apple cider with a faint toasted maltiness. Frankenheim Alt can only be described as a letdown due to the disturbing lack of both flavor and body (what's left?). What I could appreciate on the palate was similar to the description provided for the nose, but was much less vivid.

The worst part for me was that this beer was one of the driest, most acidic and most quinine-like bitter that I've had yet. I've had beer that was more of each of those characteristics individually, but never one that possessed them in combination. A faint metallic flavor didn't help matters. Nor did a thin, overly harsh mouthfeel.

I've had a few altbiers prior to this one and I remember them much more fondly than Frankenheim Alt. The unfortunate thing is that it seems as if there's a good beer in there struggling to get out. More malt would seem to be the ideal solution. Thumbs down.

Serving type: bottle

09-07-2004 19:03:38 | More by BuckeyeNation

brentk56

North Carolina

3.38/5  rDev -9.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Appearance: Pours a clear dark copper color with a modest head that declines quickly and fails to leave much lacing

Smell: Vague hint of caramel malt

Taste: Starts with a somewhat sweet caramel flavor that is quickly joined by some bitter and oxidized (this is an old bottle) elements

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with plenty of carbonation

Drinkability: Sure would like to have tasted a fresher bottle as this is nearing the end of its life; nonetheless, the essence of the beer comes through and it was clearly well made

Serving type: bottle

10-26-2006 02:40:31 | More by brentk56

oberon

North Carolina

3.6/5  rDev -4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

poured a nice brown color with medium head,not alot of smell mainly malty.Taste was very dry and spicy,spiciest alt style I have had.Very peppery,I think goes well with alot of food.Medium bodied and pretty easy to drink.a classic for a reason very well made.

Serving type: bottle

02-21-2003 16:30:15 | More by oberon

NeroFiddled

Pennsylvania

4.35/5  rDev +16%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A lovely, clear reddish-mahogany body reveals some golden/orange highlights when held to the light. A short but creamy white head holds fairly well, and initially leaves thin sheets of lace about the glass. It drops to a creamy collar but continues to leave some nice thin lace. The aroma is of fresh, grainy, toasted malts with a light touch of diacetyl that adds to its complexity with its buttery character adding warmth and combining with the toasted malt to give it a gentle nuttiness. The body is light but creamy and smooth; due to an impressively fine and moderate carbonation. In the case of this particular beer, it adds to the overall drinkability. The flavor is as might be expected given the aroma with a toasty malt upfront; grassy and herbal hop flavors as it crosses the palate; and some residual butteriness and caramel character in the gently lingering dry finish. The bitterness is firm against the relatively light maltiness; and it's exceptionally well-balanced! It's a bit lighter in overall character than some other Dusseldorfer Alts; but it's still quite drinkable, with enough character to keep it interesting throughout several servings. Well worth trying.

Serving type: bottle

04-06-2003 13:38:19 | More by NeroFiddled

WesWes

New York

4.1/5  rDev +9.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

The beer pours a dark amber/brown color with a thick off-white head. The aroma is good. It has a nice malty scent with a toasty breadlike aroma that is a bit bitter and dry. The taste is good also. It has a smooth malty core with a dry and slightly bitter finish. It goes down easy with a creamy ending. The mouthfeel is fine. It is a medium bodied beer with adequate carbonation. This is a damn good beer. It has fantastic flavor and aroma; an excellent sessions brew.

Serving type: bottle

04-26-2004 00:12:40 | More by WesWes

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

WVbeergeek

Ohio

3.63/5  rDev -3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Appearance: Deep ruby brown with a nice sized cream colored head sitting atop the body leaving nice uneven rings of lacing not bad at all. Aroma: Darker roasts toasted nicely with an underlying sweetness in the background not bad at all. Taste: Soft tones of malt sweetness balanced with a dose of German hops and harsher roasted malts coming to the forefront of the flavor, simple and straight forward mass produced. Mouthfeel: Nice carbonation with a medium to light body a nice intro to the alt style bier. Drinkability: Very good crisp refreshing and flavorful not over the top but a balanced beer that you can seperate where all the tones are coming from.

Serving type: bottle

09-29-2003 23:16:57 | More by WVbeergeek

Jason

Massachusetts

3.93/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Brightly hued brownish copper with a thick rocky head that has no problem sticking to the glass. Great clarity.

Suggestions of caramel and mild smoke with a cake like malt and ripe fig aroma.

The smoothness has some depth with a medium body and light carbonation. Maltiness is stogy with toasted and light caramel flavours. Hints of mineral (almost metallic), carob, grain husk and veggie hop burst in the middle. The hop bitterness is of the cutting kind and comes slowly but steadily to balance the brew out. More husk flavours in the finish with a trace amount of residual sweetness also.

Not too shabby, I kind-of like this one and it is a sure change up in my fridge. If you are not sure what an alt is supposed to taste like this is a good starting point.

Serving type: bottle

07-22-2002 13:48:01 | More by Jason

Bighuge

Minnesota

3.8/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Clear copper color. Very little aroma. I almost get the slightest hint of skunk in the aroma. There doesn't seem to be a reason for it as it is bottled in brown and doesn't expire for months. Taste is very mellow and dry. Unique hop taste that I can't nail down. Medium body. There's a bit of a roasted malt taste. As I work my way through it, it seems to become more dry. Very unique beer worth a try. I like it.

This is the first Alt I have tried from Dusseldorf. I was very excited to find it available recently as I have been enjoying alts more and more over the past year. It is unfortunate that there are not many representations of this style put out by microbreweries. And I was extremely bummed when Summit Brewing pulled their Alt this year in favor of their new and more marketable Oktoberfest.

Serving type: bottle

03-27-2002 00:39:34 | More by Bighuge

BlackHaddock

United Kingdom (England)

3.05/5  rDev -18.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

This beer used to be a great example of an Alt Beer. Sadly something has happened (has Warstiener messed with the ingrediants?).

I used to buy 5 litre mini barrels of it when I lived in Germany. So when on holiday on the Mosel, I saw it on tap in a bar I happened to be in, I revisited it.

It is lighter, appeared weaker and almost tasteless, not the beer I remembered at all, very dissappointed!

Of course it may well have been only poor in the bar I was in, so please try it if you see it, and let me know if it was a one off on my part.

Serving type: on-tap

08-04-2006 13:23:15 | More by BlackHaddock

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

wl0307

United Kingdom (England)

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

Purchased from the Beers of Europe. BB 09/08, served lightly chilled in Gaffel's Kölsch Stange.

A: pours a dark amber to chestnut brown colour; the light beige head comes puffy and quite tight, on top of very lively but fine fizziness.
S: the clean, mild tartness of autumn fruits and a touch of dust come on top of a mildly sweet caramel-malty & toasted-nutty Munich malt background... Neat and well-crafted.
T: the sour-sweet fruity malts with an edge of bread dough upfront quickly leads towards a pretty dry and bitter aftertaste, where a lingering nutty aroma intertwines with chewy palate of earthy hops and bitterness. A little syrupy mouthfeel sustains in the very end of tasting.
M&D: the overall flavour is more fruity with an assertive sour-sweet edge than both Hannen and Niederrhein Alt tasted yesterday, but the sourness seems to balance with the lingering bitterness in quite a harmony. A well-hopped and -bittered Brown Ale, but still suffering a little from the thin-ish body overall.

Serving type: bottle

07-18-2008 20:18:25 | More by wl0307

tavernjef

Minnesota

3.85/5  rDev +2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Solid brown with no head. Slight aroma of sweet maltyness. Taste is clean and crispy sweet. Taste of sweet malt and grains, yeast like notes, but very light. Light body feel, a small malty sweet tang with a slight hop presence. Everything about this beer speaks drinkable. Very clean and malty sweet. Not bad at all.

Serving type: bottle

03-23-2003 08:36:38 | More by tavernjef

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

ZAP

Minnesota

3.58/5  rDev -4.5%
look: 5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Great looking beer....clear dark amber...soft small lace...I get that European slightly skunky smell on the nose...on the buds there is none of that...toasty...clean drinking...a bit of caramel...some lingering hop bite but in a subtle manner...a decent beer, just not a powerhouse of flavor and I'm not sure if it's designed to be one...the only thing I dislike a little is that slight skunky smell on the nose..

Serving type: bottle

04-24-2002 23:51:35 | More by ZAP

cokes

Wisconsin

4/5  rDev +6.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Lovely copper-brown body with an impressive fluffy head that stays around.
Malty aroma. Lightly sweet and carmelly. Hints of chocolate and grain.
The faint chocolate and grain makes themselves known right away. Somewhat grassy and grainy. A certain buttery aspect mixing with a carmel sweetness that begins to materialize, before being pushed aside by the herbal hops.
Moderate in the mouth. None too thick, none too thin...just nice.
It could use a bit more hops, but still a nice tradtional german treat as it is.

Serving type: bottle

09-16-2002 23:05:08 | More by cokes

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

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

francisweizen

Australia

4.5/5  rDev +20%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

This beer poured a nice, frothy brown colour, with an equally frothy beige head. The aromas are of nuts, caramel, chocolate, malts, and more! The taste is a wonderful blend of patent malts, roasted malts and yeast...with a kiss of hops in the background. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and just right and the drinkability is off the hook. This is awesome stuff!

F

Serving type: bottle

08-26-2003 22:27:45 | More by francisweizen

GClarkage

California

3.08/5  rDev -17.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

05/09/05- Purchased at Wine Exchange of Sonoma.

Presentation- 11.2oz bottle dated on the lower back label. Poured into a standard pint glass.

Appearance- Amber-brown pour with a average foamy head which disappears quickly. Medium to fair lacing.

Smell- Mostly of malt, maybe a bit burnt and smoky.

Taste- Fairly heavy dark malty taste with some burnt flavors. Maybe a touch of hops, but not much.

Mouthfeel- Medium carbonation. A bit dry.

Drinkability- Not really my style of beer. Not flavorful enough for me.

Serving type: bottle

05-09-2005 21:53:05 | More by GClarkage

tgbljb

Pennsylvania

4.13/5  rDev +10.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

My first experience with an altbier. Poured a deep copper color with white head that was fell to a lacy retention. Smell is roasty with a caramel background. The taste is a mixture of roasted grains, a toasted maltiness and a nice hop features. Left a bitter, dry taste in the mouth. I'm sorry I haven't tried this type of beer before, but I wiil need to some other examples.

Serving type: bottle

07-08-2005 00:52:25 | More by tgbljb

mynie

Indiana

3.78/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Funny, I always thought that Alts were yellow. This is a very pretty dark amber, with a nice head.

Smells like multi grain and flowers and toffee malts. Nice.

Light flavor, surprisngly. Malt and fruit and zip are all there, but they all just kind of die near the middle, leaving a very dry aftertaste. Strange.

Serving type: bottle

01-15-2005 05:00:43 | More by mynie

Bierman9

New Hampshire

3.6/5  rDev -4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Had on tap at the Sunset Grille.... Had a deep copper-brownish color, and a real creamy head with A-1 lacing. Nose had a mild sweetness to it, yet I found no hoppiness. Body was a bit more towards the thin side than medium, yet it was still fairly smooth on the tongue. Flavor was semi-sweet as well, with a grainy maltiness to it. Again, though, I found no hoppiness at the end, which I thought should be present in some manner.... Still, a fairly decent bier.

overall: 3.75
appearance: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | mouthfeel: 4 | drinkability: 3.5

316

Serving type: on-tap

09-08-2002 09:16:09 | More by Bierman9

canucklehead

British Columbia (Canada)

4/5  rDev +6.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This just came into B.C. and it is the first Altbier I can remember
being available.

The beer is dark opaque brown with a thick white head. The nose
is malty and fragrant with some hops. The taste is full of malts
and an almost fruity topnote. There is a dryness to the finish
which enhances its drinkability. This tastes more like a brown ale
than any other beer from Germany which probably has to do
with its top fermentation. I would love to have this with BBQ pork,

Serving type: bottle

04-09-2003 16:32:48 | More by canucklehead

IronDjinn

Alberta (Canada)

3.2/5  rDev -14.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

A very fine looking ale, it's a deep clear chestnut brown with a frothy biege head which begins to lapse into a a thickish ring around the glass. The aroma is of sweet pastry in the beginning, but soon picks up grassy characteristics and a hop presence. Flavour packs toasted dry malt along with astringent herbal tones and a bittering hop finish that is very dry. Mouthfeel is full and rich, but the aftertaste leaves the palate dry, nearly parched. A very curious experience, yet not really my kind of beer. Although looks are deceiving in this case, it is still a very attractive looking beer all things said and done. What lurks beneath was totally unexpected.

Serving type: bottle

11-20-2003 01:12:08 | More by IronDjinn