Einbecker Dunkel

Brewed by Einbecker Brauhaus
Style: Dunkel
Einbeck, Germany

Bottled. Toasty, bready aroma, some faint sourdough, hazelnut and light brown sugar, along with something like old, dried flowers in the background. Medium-dark mahogany color with a slight, fine, subsiding head. Flavor begins on a darkly sweet note, becoming more grainy and bitter and finishing with a blend of faintly spicy hops, dark bread and roasty malts. Fairly effervescent and insubstantial palate with a light-medium body. I thought this was going to be a Schwarz, but it is certainly classed correctly here.

330 ml bottle sampled with tiggmtl, Rastacouere and Olivier_MTL at Ashleys in Ann Arbor MI. Ah, so this is a dunkel..that explains why it didn’t seem much like the schwarzbier it was labeled. Well anyway, it’s clear dark caramel colored with a moderatley lasting off-white head...light malty nose hints of anise, prunes, slight burnt quality...malt and some dark fruits in the body, caramel and grape/raisin, touch of smoky bitterness. OK.

Packaging sure made this one look deceptively good. But nothing particularly distinctive. I was disappointed with something so dark. Slightly above-average but don’t think I’ll have again.

(The beer was 3 Month out of date). Dark-brown to red color, frothy head, of white color. Light malty and roasty, hints of cherry, medium bitter.

Dark brown and clear. Has an off-white head, mostly lasting. Sweet aroma, caramel, malt. Flavor starts heavy sweet and finish sweet too, bitter notes though.

Fairly subtle and boring but still beats a typical American macro. Dark dark amber appearance, thin head, gingerbread and toffee aroma, caramel and bread palate. Mild hops at the end.

Roasted, dark malt aroma. Labeled Schwarzbier on the face and Dunkel on the neck, it's got attributes of both. It's light bodied and malty, yet the finish is dry. Pleasant but not outstanding.

Full bottle, 6/9/06. Poured straight into a dimpled mug, raising a big stiff ecru foam. Kind of a sugary smell. No skunk here, even though it had been sitting on the loose bottle shelf. Definitely not a schwarzbier in taste, but a nice, easy dunkel. A bit thin on mouthfeel, and the sugar and graininess make a cousin to an American dark beer, but not in a bad way Easy drinking (if that head would ever go down), just a bit of bitter after-taste and milk sugar. Relatively light in alcohol and priced as an everyday beer.

Sampler from bottled labeled "Schwartzbier," Mar 6/06 Ah, no wonder this wasn’t quite so black as other Schwartz’ I’ve had. Distinctively brown in color and light in body. The green bottle allowed this import to get a bit skunked. Offers some toffee and caramel notes.