Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier Dunkel

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

On tap. Brown pour, has a typical hefe smell of banans and cloves with a taste to match. Not really different in taste to a god hefe, just darker. Pretty good.

Tap. Moderate notes of grain and roasted for the malt, light lemon and grass for the hops, moderate barnyard smell for the yeast and banana and clove in the background. Head is average sized, creamy, white with fair lacing and is mostly diminishing. Color is muddy brown with tiny particles. Flavor starts lightly acidic and finishes moderately acidic and lightly bitter. Palate is light to medium, watery, and has a lively carbonation. A nice deep roasted smell sets this Dunkelweizen apart from others.

Slight roasty aroma with thick biege head. Cloudy brown color. Roasted malt notes in the brew, with a little lemon. Detected a very slight metallic aftertaste. As a stand alone brew, I prefer a standard hefe, but the roasted flavor addition makes this pair better with slightly stronger tasting foods than a standard hefe.

Mix franziskaner hefe-weiss with any random dunkel and you’d get this; a heavier, maltier hefe-weisse.

This looks exactly how you want a Dunkel to look. Rich brown with a dense off-white head that leaves very strong lacing. Aroma is very pleasant - subtle spice and deep clove. Very well-balanced aroma that intensifies as the beer begins to warm slightly. A bit watery on the palate but very refreshing. I enjoy the Dunkel style. Doesn’t quite measure up to Ayinger’s but still would highly recommend this for the style.

Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier Dunkel is a cloudy, marvelously brown beer. It’s very sparkling and wears a dense, splotchy, oily, off-white head that leaves nice lacing. The aroma is spicy: banana and nutmeg, mostly. It’s pretty light bodied, a little watery, but reasonably smooth. The flavor is pretty faint. It’s fruity like raisins and spicy like clove and nutmeg. It’s sessionable, refreshing.

THOUGHTS: Very nice. Aroma just kept getting better as it warmed. The flavor is a little watery, but that’s all the better for a summer refresher. I actually think these darker wheats are more refreshing than the lighter ones. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a murky, light to medium brown with an average-sized, off-white head that mostly diminished and left fair lacing. The aroma was wheat, spices, banana and very light chocolate malt. The initial flavor was lightly sweet and acidic; while the finish was light to moderately sweet, moderately acidic and a little sour with an average to long duration. There was malt, wheat, yeast and spice. Also some banana and slight chocolate. The light to medium body was dry with quite fizzy carbonation and a light astringent and also dry finish.

Pours cloudy amber brown with a fizzy off-white head. Subtle fruity aroma with a bit of yeast. Flavor is slightly fruity, with a bit of sugary malt, but very watered down. Palate is light and a bit fizzy, but not unpleasant. Not bad, but a bit off for the style.