I am catching up, this one was from May. Doubt you can find this one in stores anymore, too bad it was rather nice. Perhaps I should try and give a bit on knowledge, the limited amount that I have. Dunkelwiezen is loosely translated into dark wheat ale. This dunkel is an ale, as contrasted with a Munich dunkel which is a lager. This style of wheat beer is middle of the road beer. Nothing too flashy, IBU bitterness not too high and ABV in the normal range. The unique flavours come from a combination of lots of wheat malt used, usually 50% or higher, and a wonderful German wheat yeast. This yeast produces all sorts of spicy phenols and fruity esters. Cloves and pepper flavours are from the phenols and the banana and bubblegum are fruity esters. For those that want to get super beer geeky, take a whiff of a wheat beer and say, "Mmmm, love that isoamyl acetate and 4-vinyl guaiacol. These and the chemical compounds associated with the flavours of bananas and cloves, respectively. Enough knowledge, what about the beer.

Red Fife Dunkelweizen = 5/10


Beers like this are rarely highly rated because they are just simple and nice. Nothing too flashy in the nose, just the expected toasted banana bread, cloves and mild vanilla. The sip is spot on with a creamy fruitiness with hints of chocolate, wheat cakes and saw dust. There was a bit of soy in there, but nothing outrageous. My finish was a banana bread creaminess the faded quickly away. Just a simple and tasty sipper.

Taste +3
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content 0 4.5% (yay for a session strength ale)
Value +1
Appearance 0

Glassware: Most certainly a German weizen glass. This glass is unique with a tall body and an exaggeratedly large bowl at the top. These beers tend to produce a large fluffy head due to larger than usual amounts of protein from the wheat malts. I love these glasses because they are often very ornate with great art and sometimes gold rims.

Food Pairings: Most anything will do as the beer flavours are calm. Something grilled and slightly fatty would work nice, maybe with some breadiness too. I'm thinking of a spicy sausage sandwich.

Cellar: Nope. Then again I had a many year old Aventinus and it was stellar

I remember trying this beer in a can, it was terrible. On tap at Clive's Classic Lounge was a better experience.

Warsteiner Dunkel = 4/10

A 'vacancy' sign was hung on the edge of the glass to describe the nose. If you were to force an answer from me, I would say wood and vegetables. Every sip was dry with light caramel, roast, vegetal and slightly fruity. The roasted vegetables and caramel faded away slowly to leave a barely noticeable dry toast coating on the tongue. It was nice but not exciting.

Taste +3
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content 0
Value 0
Appearance 0

I bought a six pack of Phillips Dr. Funk to watch the Superbowl. To those that know me, watching me buy beer in a @#$#@ing nightmare. The average person takes 3 minutes to buy beer at Cook Street CBAW. I was in there for 20 minutes! After much debate I decided to go local and buy some Phillips. My first impression was that this beer tasted metallic, overly roasted bitter and too much like cream corn. Perhaps I was being a little harsh so I decided to do a head to head with a known Bavarian/Munich Dark Lager. It doesn't end well.

Dr Funk Dunkel =4/10
Ratebeer 3.3/5 3 ratings
Beer Advocate C+

The nose on this one was slightly vegetally with roasted nuts, baseball mitt and whole grain toast. The mouthfeel was a little thin but do-able. Up front there is a pronounced metallic bitterness that I couldn't place. Once that left, a good wash of roasted malts took over: faint chocolate, toast and almonds. Aftertaste was clean with only a slight astringent snap of roast nuts remaining. Perhaps I was a little harsh on my first assessment, this was not too bad. As it warmed up the roasted vegetables got more pronounced.

Taste +2
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content 0 5%
Value 0
Appearance +1 (everyone likes a potential copyright infringement lawsuit).


Ayinger Altbairisch Dunkel =7/10
Ratebeer 3.58 95th percentile
Beer Advocate B+

The nose was fainter, no vegetal, with whole wheat toast and weak coffee. There is a difference between whole wheat and whole grain toast; I can't believe I just said that. While lighter in colour it was smoother in taste. No bitterness up front, just a creamy wash of caramel, toasted almonds, cold coffee and cheap dry chocolate. Very smooth and creamy; truly a pleasure to drink. Little residual flavours, only an enjoyable warmth of caramel. The flavours changed little as the brew warmed up, maybe a little more roasted coffee. BTW if you spell this beer in Scrabble you instantly win.

Taste +4
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content 0 5%
Value +1
Appearance +1 (the colour of the pour is an amazing deep mahogany)

Needless to say I slammed the Funk back and savoured the remaining Ayinger.

Isenbeck Dark
Dunkel

Ratebeer 2.53 16th percentile
Beer Advocate B

I tried this brew on tap at Passeros Greek restaurant in Victoria. Not certain why a Greek restaurant had a German beer on tap. BTW the food was excellent with a large selection of vegetarian options. The place was full of regulars and the waiter knew almost everyone by name.

Taste +2

It is a standard dark Euro lager. The nose is faint of roast, dark malts and fermented fruits. The nice and fizzy brew delivers the required light milk chocolate and roast. I liked the silky mouthfeel; but then again who doesn't.

Aftertaste 0

It had an odd menthol coolness at the end. The barest of hop bite upon exit. There was maybe a bit of light caramel and toffee too.

Alcohol Content -1 4.8%

Value 0

It was good but not overly flavourful.

Ingame Enhancement 0

No gaming tonight, but I did go and see The Princess and the Frog. It was a good, old fashion Disney with simple animation, singing and dancing. One of the main characters bites it in the end thought.

Overall 1/10

It was decent dunkel beer; sweet and malty were the main flavours. Nothing really exciting.

Baron Bohemian
Warsteiner Dunkel
Dunkel Weiss (Great Divide)

Longwood Pub Dunkelweizen

Ratebeer 2.89 with 8 ratings
Beer Advocate B-

This is another sampling from the Naniamo brewpub. This is still a wheat style beer. With addition of darker malts you in theory could taste richer flavours like toffee, chocolate and roast.

Taste +1

The nose is very faint of wheat and slightly caramel. The flavour is a little watery but the wheat and malt sweetness still come through. After a good hit of caramel a pleasant flowery hop bitterness washed it all away. Maybe there was a bit of bruised banana in there, but that would be a stretch.

Aftertaste 0

A clean ending and that was it.
Alcohol Content 0 5%

Value 0

It was OK but I'm not digging it.
Ingame Enhancement 0

This lackluster beer did not enhance my video gaming experience at all. All I could think about was other brews in my beer fridge to make my palate happy.

Overall 1/10

This just seemed a little off for a Dunkel.

Baron Bohemian
Warsteiner Dunkel

Dunkel Weiss - Great Divide Brewing
Dark Wheat Ale/Dunkelweizen

This a different take on the wheat beer. The addition of darker malts adds flavours of roast and chocolate.

Ratebeer 3.28 70th percentile
Beer Advocate B+

Taste +3

Your nose is tickled with a sweet aroma of sherry, cherries and toffee. The mouthfeel is very full with rich toffee, a little roast and yeasty biscuits. Bananas and cloves are still there, just a little hard to find.

Aftertaste +2

The finish is very resiny-like with a long coating of glycerin, yeast and tart wheat.

Alcohol Content +1 6.2%

Value 0

This was a nice beer, but it was $7.50US. It was a little above average price for the quality of beer.

Ingame Enhancement 0

Rumor has it that Meterman will be back soon in the L4D world. He needs to stop getting things done and spend more time in a dark room alone.

Overall 5/10

If you are particular to the wheat beers, this might provide a richer experience.

Baron Bohemian
Warsteiner Dunkel
Schneider Weisse

Warsteiner Dunkel (Germany)

Ratebeer 3.04 48th percentile
Beer Advocate B-

I left out the 'premium' in the title for reasons very apparent if you ever try this beer.

Taste +1

Take everything a great Dunkel should be. A rich nose of caramel malt, green apples with a nice balance of aromatic bitter hops and a healthy dose of carbonation; then add water. I'm sure this beer has some flavour somewhere. The label actually says 'hop extract'.

Aftertaste 0

For an aftertaste there first must be a taste.

Alcohol Content -1 4.8%

Value 0

At least it was cheap. A 500ml can was under $3.

Ingame Enhancement +1

This dish water of a beer did not distract me from finishing a L4D map with Aqualung.
Overall 1/10

Technically it was beer. There is some German printing on the front of the can; I sure it says, "I can't believe you bought this beer, sucker!"

Baron Bohemian Tmavy Lezak (Lobkowicz)

Ratebeer 3.26 66th percentile
Beer Advocate B

Taste +2

Not a bad beer; a very light nose of roasted malt and nuts. There was lots of malt in every sip. You could also taste toffee, cookie dough and just a bit of subdued hops at the end.

Aftertaste +1

After all the hops faded away, you were left with a brief coating of roasted malt and nut flavours.

Alcohol Content -1 4.7%

Value 0

It was a nice beer, but you could buy a similar tasting nut brown ale locally.

Ingame Enhancement +1

Any day that you sit alone in a dark room while shooting zombies is a good day.

Overall 3/10

It was OK, but nothing spectacular.