Dutifully, I’ve tracked down a bottle of Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse Dunkel to round out the recent sampling of Franziskaner’s Hefe-Weissbier. Yeah, the bottle sported the same portly monk with the stein and the keys.

I found the dunkel to smell faintly of sweet malt in the bottle and it poured with a thick head in an orange-bronze color with medium lacing. Clear wheat taste was there but no strong hint of caramel and only a vague taste of banana that I’m accustomed to with dunkels. Not as good as most dunkels I’ve tried but given a choice of the two, I’ll key in on the Franziskaner Dunkel over the Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier every time.

Now where did I leave my keys?

Programming Notes:

Sam Adams Chocolate Bock - Where's my wallet?

I scored a single bottle of Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock on Friday. At roughly $16 a bottle, this is one roller coaster I'll not be riding repeatedly. Now I've got to decide when to drink the stuff.

Shiner Holiday Cheer - Oh, Yeah!

I've been sampling a lot of winter/holiday beers the past couple weeks; so much so that I'm quickly losing track of them and more importantly, losing track of which ones I particularly like. So, in case I slip, bash my head and lose my memory, I want to proclaim, even at this early stage, that the Shiner Holiday Cheer is basically riding roughshod over the competition. I'll post a more detailed set of sampling notes later but in the meantime, here's a link to the
Shiner Beer Website. Buzz on over there and track down the skinny on their Holiday Cheer.

I've ambled my way through almost a case of the Shiner Holiday Cheer, having shared it with guests and family over the Thanksgiving holiday and sharing it with a co-worker. It's good stuff and on a par with the Cinder Cone from Deschutes. For you beer poachers who might be thinking of bagging some of this product right away, here's a picture of a now long-gone six pack trying to hide on a high shelf in the garage last week. Gotta love that retro label!