Wheat Beer on the Dark Side

Joseph Brau Dunkelweizen

By golly, I think I found a wheat beer I can call my friend! (I’d begun to wonder after that fiasco with Hoegaarden.) Little wonder this one’s a “dunkel.” I gravitate to the darker brews, I guess. Picked up a couple of bottles of this at the Trader Joe’s in Sun City, Arizona…you know, where all the retirees live.

I’ll echo one online comment I saw regarding the retail availability of this nameplate. Seems Trader Joe’s is the only outlet that handles the brand. Fact is, I believe this is actually one of Trader Joe’s store brands. Thank you Trader Joe’s but a word of caution: If a single bottle of beer is labeled with a specific price, you should honor that price and not add the recent mark up. Honor still means something to a few of us. (Okay, ass-chewing over.)

The Tasting

In the bottle has a roasted smell but once poured there is a scent reminiscent of caramel and bananas.

Pours with a fairly thin head that leads to little or no lacing but the fizz, the carbonation, is amazing. The most carbonation I think I’ve ever seen in a beer! (But I’m something of a novice.) A second bottle, poured less aggressively, produced less carbonation and allowed me to see the real sediment that is in the bottle. (Naturally, I gave it the old Hoegaarden swirl with just a little left in the bottle, to stir up the last of that sedimentary goodness.)

Presents rich brown in the glass with medium to light beading that can be difficult to find given the darkness of the product. Dry, slightly bitter to the taste initially, builds to a distinct banana flavor that is altogether likable.

Like Captain Kirk (or maybe more like Scotty) I will seek out and buy this beer again.

Don’t take my word for it.
(For the record, I conducted my tasting and note taking before visiting these sites.)

Here’s what the masses at Beer Advocate had to say about this one:
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/10707/39924

A blogger named Brewnette reviewed the dunkel along with 5 other Trader Joe’s beers. Here’s her review:
http://brewnette.wordpress.com/

For the straight dope on dunkelweizen visit the German Beer Institute:
http://www.germanbeerinstitute.com/Dunkelweizen.html