Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier Dunkel

Brewed by Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu (InBev)
Style: Dunkelweizen
Munich, Germany

50 cl bottle, Fargo, ND, USA. Hazy iced tea colour, thin even head. Banana and hazelnut aroma, carbonated with mild flavor, balanced spiced with a dry finish.

500ml bottle. Hazy brown body, big beige foam hangs around. Nice aroma of candy banana, caramel, nuts, cocoa, dried fruit and cereals. Creamy texture, lively carbonation, decent full body with husky wheat dryness. Flavour is a bit subdued on the body; light roasted nuttiness, caramalised banana, sultana and dried fruit, and clove spice. Very dry finish, low bitterness yet not all that sweet. Tasty dark wheat beer.

500ml bottle. Pours like a muddy puddle. Beige head fades to a cm or so. Smells a little of yeast, a little more of roasted malt. Some spicy/ sour funk too. Velvet mouthfeel at first, but starts to taste a little watery after a bit. Some fruit sweetness and bread with a modest sour and spice finish. A good example of the style.

500ml bottle. Pours red-brown color with little white head. Aroma and taste of caramel malt fruits. Specialy banana is noticeable. Plenty carbonation, almost fuzzy. Mild bitterness and short aftertaste.

Pours cloudy with a deep reddish brown color and a big fluffy head that shrinks but never goes away completely. The aroma isn’t quite as strong as the regular non-Dunkel style from Franziskaner. But there is some clove some cinnamon and some apple. The flavor has lots of red apple and some spice with some caramel and banana.

Bottle. Not as complex as the regular Hefe. This one is kind of lame, although well balanced and refreshing.

Bottle, purchased at Bottle Barn. Pours a deep mahogany / caramel color; fluffy light tan head with good retention and lacing; great looking pour, though it could have retained its head better. Medium-to-high amounts of clove and banana in the aroma, along with light caramel and seemingly overripe fruit character; moderately sweet without any stickiness. Medium mouthfeel: creamy texture, lots of flavor here without much heaviness; clove and banana, certainly, along with some caramel and hints of wheatiness; nicely textured, no roast and minimal hop character apparent, this is a tasty dunkel that errs on the side of the slightly bland and a touch overly sweet; otherwise a great example of a style that tends, in my mind, to be slightly lackluster compared to the standard hefeweizen offering. Medium finish, showing light wheaty graininess, some lingering malt sweetness, and a pleasantly dry ending.

Bottle. Pour was medium brown with a malty roasted aroma. Flavor was mostly malty with a slight floral and fruity character. Fine beer, but could have been more over the top fruity.