Brooklyner Dunkel Weisse
Review Date 5/6/2013
Try? Re-buy?
Brooklyner Dunkel-Weisse, have you heard of that? I don’t think I had before Taco Mac offered it as one of the beers of the month for May, 2013. Oh, it’s been around before but on a very limited basis; draft only, to begin with. It’s a companion beer to Brooklyner Weisse, another draft-only beer from Brooklyn. That beer I have had in the past at the now defunct Charlie Mopps beer bar in Sandy Springs, GA.
Brooklyner Dunkel-Weisse being so rare, it’s a no-brainer that you shouldn’t miss it if you see it on draft. In style, the beer is a German Dunkeweizen, of or Dunkel-weisse, basically a dark hefeweizen, or a hefeweizen brewed with a dash of dark malts. I got a mug for $6.25 of this 5.1% alcohol by volume treat.
A darker, richer version of our award-winning Brooklyner-Weisse, this seasonal beer makes a fine match for cold-weather foods. Brooklyner Dunkel-Weisse is brewed from 50% wheat and 50% barley malt, some of which has been roasted and caramelized. These darker malts lend a deeper color as well as notes of chocolate, bread and caramel. The beer retains the signature of the Bavarian wheat beer - low bitterness, a brisk palate with a touch of sweetness and an aroma of bananas and cloves from our special yeast strain.
My take on the Brooklyner Dunkel-Weisse is as follows from my scratchings while sipping it at the pub:
Brooklyner Dunkel-Weisse could have come straight from Bavaria. My mug arrived a light brown color with a thick rocky head and a banana clovey nose laced with nutty malt. More bananas and cloves arrive in the palate, and the beer is ever so lightly phenolic with a charming fresh baked chocolate chip cookie maltiness. I get a lightly toasty-nuttiness and a quenching crackery tart finish, too. The light smokiness some examples of the style possess was not present here.
Overall I find this an excellent dunkelweiss, one of the best I have tasted that did not come from Germany. A beer not to be missed, try it with smoked gouda cheese or a snack of Weisswurst sausages in the afternoon.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft