I have been sleeping a lot lately so no time to drink. I work nights and sometimes I wake up too late in the day and since I have to go to work that same evening I can't really drink before work. So I think I am a little bit behind pace, but it shouldn't be difficult to make up.
Dunkelweizen is two parts, dunkel means dark and weizen means wheat beer. The most common grain in beer making is barley, with wheat being the second most common. In the states this is usually called a hefeweizen. I am not a big fan of this beer, it is true that it is very smooth, but for me it never has enough complexity.
I went with a real German this time, Ayinger Ur-Weisse from Aying, Germany, just outside of Munchen. Distributed by Merchant Du Vin Corp. Tukwila, WA. Because Tukwilla is so close I hoped that this beer, which had to travel so far from Germany, was still some what fresh. From what I understand, although there are some beers that could benefit from some aging, most lagers and wheat beers are best fresh. The beer did not have a bottling date on it so I can only hope. It came in a 500mL bottle, a whole pint! It is a 5.8% ABV, unfiltered, and it brewed according to the "Reinheitsgebot" Purity law of 1516. Which states that beer in Bavaria can only legally be made from barley, water, yeast and hops... wait a minute this is a wheat beer. So not sure how they are using this statement on their bottles, can somebody explain?
So now to the beer...
It smelled nice and wheaty. What more is there to say, wheat beer is so different from barley beer that I have no way to distinguished any subtleties about it, it smells like a wheat beer. It was brown and hazy with the most beautiful foamy head on it, that thing could probably pile a half a foot tall if I pored in a proper glass. It had those nice little bubbles, oh how I wish I had a better camera. The taste was not that impressive, but that's because I have never been impressed by a wheat beer. Maybe I need more experience with them. It honestly tasted like one of our local Hefes from Pyramid Brewing co. It actually had a little bit of a sour aftertaste, but that may be because I had it with some Thai food that wasn't all that good. Mouth feel was good, nice and smooth as a wheat beer should be. Overall, I would say it scored very high in appearance and probably was decent in taste, for a weisse that is, but didn't do much for me.
On a 0-3 scale it's a 2, I wouldn't turn it down, but I probably will never buy it again. (for rating info see first tasting)
Would I buy it again: No, maybe if it was a local
Would I recommend to a friend: Yes, some of my friends like wheat beers more than I do
What would I do different: I would like to have a good weissbier vase glass to drink this out of
Why did I chose this beer: There wasn't anything that I could find from west coast craft brewers that fit this style and this one had a high rating on http://beeradvocate.com/
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