Fässla Zwergla

Brewed by Brauerei Fässla
Style: Dunkel/Tmavý
Bamberg, Germany

Serve in Dimpled mug, Lager glass, Stein

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The dwarf’s beer!
Tried this from the bottle into a Fässla stein at the Bräuhaus, Bamberg, Germany.
Place was raging whilst I knocked this one back. Germany won in a shoot out at the World Cup, the young were lively, the more mature absolutely raucous and then there was my wife and I, the only visitors from abroad. This place rocked long into the wee hours, no chance of sleep. Absolutely fell in love with Fässla, and this beer is just another notch on the side of grandish.
Bright mahogany body, very scarcely carbonated but managed to raise up a lovely, fluffy, rocky tan head that held on tight and snowed over the entire glass. Very musty, oddly aged malt nose. Strange, reminiscent of a dank cellar and a moist forest floor with touches of ripe, fell fruit that add a spice, and just a little smoke showing late. Enticing, funky!!!
Palate is quite dry, a little vinous and slightly fruity and musty like the aroma. Good depth of malt, light smoke and a little tang of tannins down the back that doesn’t upset the balance. Very well rounded, good solid feel in the mouth, and definitely flavoursome. Medium-light in body, and soft and creamy on the tongue. Swallow holds a light metal tinge, just a touch of bitter, burnt malts and is woody and malty long into the swallow. This is quite a unique tasting Dunkel. Very refreshing and bloody popular with the locals, the young mostly which is good to see. A unique one, balanced and well crafted. Good too the last.... cheers to Fässla!!!!

Had this on a train ride along the rhine, I was in the zone. It was delicious. Nice rich and sweet with plenty of malt and a leveling of hops.

cereal, grass, bread, herbs, basement aromas, citrus, cooked vegetables, banana, pale, clear, frothy, rocky head, heavy cloying sweetness, very bitter, heavily sour, creamy, full body, bitter,

500ml bottle from Ealing BF 2007. Russet colour with disappearing off white head. Some smokey toffee aroma, bit of rubber. Smokey rubber mid dark beer. Less smokey than Schlenkerla marzen, but smooth, more toffeeish, better mouthfeel. Smoke on finish is good. Very good smooth, deep marzen.

This is a very nice beer. Surprisingly full flavoured for being a bottom fermented brew. It has lots of everything.

Bottle. Dark copper colour. Fresh malty aroma with bit of hops sensed. Solid, bready maltiness with hop presence and slight caramel touch. A very clean and tasty beer.

clear dark chestnut brown body with a patchy, large-bubbled tan head. sweetened roasted chestnuts in the nose, sticky almond, toasted cereal grains... excellent aroma. up front there’s a bit of cola resemblance, but more nuts, caramel, baked bread, dried stone fruit and sweet tobacco to make up for it. body is good but not great - no strong structure, no sharp crispness, but it’s still sound and drinkable.

UPDATED: NOV 15, 2012 There is a bottle version up-date at the end of this rating: Drank this in the rear courtyard of the brewery, with a mushroom sauce covered lump of Pork, spuds and a side salad. End of September 2006. Good foaming head in a tall, thick, handled glass with the Fassla logo and Elf on it. The beer a light copper/amber colour, nowhere near some dunkels darkness often seen. No real overpowering aroma, hops and a fruity pong maybe. Tange to the taste, almost sharp and bitter, I liked it. Mouthfeel, good, not to heavy, but you could tell a beer was in your mouth, not some Euro Fizz. Very drinkable, glad I returned, after staying at the brewery some years back. Half-litre bottle: best before 23 Oct 2012, poured on 15 Nov 2012 @ home into a Wolnzacher Brauhaus tall handled tumbler type tankard (so slightly out of date). Darker than I remember the draught version: this was a deep Mahogany browny red colour with a full cream coloured head. Looked good it the glass I’d choosen. The nose was fruity, slightly hoppy and grainy with hints of malty molasses. Taste wise it favoured malts, with fruity notes to the fore, bittering towards the end of each sip. You don’t see beers from this brewery very often in the UK, so when I saw this I had to buy it and re-live the last visit I had to Bamberg, some 6 years ago.

nice amber malty brew kind of a fest

On draught at Fässla. Freshly-picked hop aroma, leafy, green and lightly citric, with a moderate amount of sweet, caramel-toffee malts. Deep reddish copper color, clear, with a fine creamy head. Flavor profile is likewise surprisingly dominated by hops, flavorful and juicy, with the maltiness providing a very nice balance, sweet and bodifying but certainly not overly so. Lingering, light sugary sweetness late. The mouthfeel is lively, body is medium-full. Seemed somehow reminsicent of a dark German IPA(?). A nice change of pace, though, to be sure, and quite intriguing. My batch received a bit more hops than some others’ here, it would seem.