CooperSmiths Dunkel Munich

Draught. Head is mostly lasting. Body is light amber. Aroma is lightly malty (cookie, caramel), lightly hoppy (flowers, herbs). Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, lightly to moderately bitter, husky. Medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation. Pretty dang light and bland for a dunkel. Grainy.

Draught at the brewery. Pours hazy bronze with a small off-white frothy head, lined lacing. Yeast (leather, sweat) and malt (husky, corn) aroma, not very appetizing or inviting, kind of lacking in the aroma department. Flavor is sweet corn, burnt butter and malt, sweaty yeast, tart and medium acidity, low sweetness. Light bodied and slightly fizzy with a dry finish.

Had this at the brewery. Beer was a hazy, light brown color with a small, frothy, off-white, mostly diminishing head that left behind neat-looking points of lacing. I think the color was a bit timid for a Dunkel, and the aroma was pretty shy, too. All I could detect was a trace malty aroma of toasted grain and a trace ester of honey. The flavor was moderately sweet with an average-length, moderatly bitter, lightly sour finish. The body was light-to-medium, the texture was watery and the carbonation was lively. Not bad, but not really that engaging, either. Didn’t seem to fit the Dunkel description that well.

Amber. Light malty, grainy aroma. Taste is dark, grainy malts. Balanced spiciness, ginger and maybe licorice root. Evident German malts, slight bitter hopping. Well made, but too fizzy and light bodied as many Coops beers are.

Brown. Delicate, lively and lovely aroma with hints of sticky fruits, clove, coffee and toffee. Caramel and toasted maltiness with a nice coffee flavor. Dark, roasted flavor. Very fruity for a lager. Lovely for the style and probably my favorite Coop’s beer to date, besides that monstrous barley wine.