Samuel Adams
Dunkelweizen
Review Date 9/11/2009
Last Updated: 9/15/2011
Try?
Re-buy?
A few weeks ago, I
got an e-mail from Boston Beer. I get them all the time, of course, and you
can too if you sign up for them on their website. They're a great way to
keep up with the latest and newest beers in the Samuel Adams line. This time
around, the company was announcing their Harvest Collection 12-pack
sampler, which includes two bottles each of Samuel Adams Dunkelweizen,
Boston Lager, Octoberfest, Cherry Wheat, Brown Ale, and Irish Red.
It was the Dunkelweizen, though, that really got me excited. You see, years ago, Samuel Adams Brewed a Dark Wheat beer that I really loved a lot. And of course, Dunkelweizen (which means dark wheat) is really the same thing, and is in fact a German styled wheat beer brewed with dark malts. Think hefeweizen with a bit of roasted malt thrown in. It's usually unfiltered, meaning yeast remains in suspension (that's the case here), a fact that adds a bit to the flavor.
Boston Beer did a very nice job on it, and I missed it a great deal. Thus my excitement when I saw it was coming back. But let's get right down to the heart of the matter and see how it is today, shall we?
Samuel Adams Dunkelweizen pours to a cloudy ruby brown color with a thick, rocky head formation and a spicy clove and smoke nose. I pour most of my bottle into a tapered German wheat beer glass, then swirl the last third around in the bottle to rouse the yeast and add that in, too. The dark malts are readily apparent and add a delicate chocolate chip cookie character, while the crisp wheat adds a decided tartness.
And then there's the spice. Pungent clove and nutmeg, fruity banana and pear, black pepper and smoke. Samuel Adams Dunkelweizen is brewed with an authentic Bavarin yeast strain and it shows: this one is pretty darned close to some of the better imported German examples of the style. A couple bottles of this one are worth the price of the entire twelve pack (though the other beers are no slouches, either).
Sadly, I never took notes on bottled Dark Wheat in the nineties for comparison purposes, though I can remember to this day drinking a few bottles with my boss and a friend after closing up the liquor store where we labored for the day. I can almost taste the smoke and clove flavors that were so pronounced in that wonderful beer.
Fortunately, I did jot down my thoughts when Dark Wheat mysteriously appeared in 2000 on draft:
I always regretted not taking tasting notes on this beer. It was highly regarded among many beer enthusiasts, and I've always missed it. You will imagine my sheer excitement then, when I walked into the Great Lost Bear, a multi-tap beer bar in Portland Maine, and saw this beer listed on the draft menu yesterday. Surely there was a mistake. I rubbed my eyes and re-read the listing of wheat beers. It was still there, plain as day: Samuel Adams Dark Wheat.
I ordered a pint and hesitantly took a sip. Would this taste the same as my tastebuds remembered it tasting? It did! Cloudy yellow-brown in color with a generous head formation, Samuel Adams Dark Wheat has a spicy clove nose with a hint of smoke. There's a cracker-like wheat body, a touch of chocolate, heavy clove notes, banana, and a tart refreshing finish. Loaded with hearty yeast character, this is a very authentic dunkelweizen. This was a test batch from the brewery in Jamaica Plain with limited distribution, so don't look for it in bottled just yet. Could this mean Dunkel Weizen is returning however? We can only hope.
Apparently, it did mean as much, it just took about nine years for it to happen. But hey, it was worth the wait. Go out and get some. You can thank me later.
It was the Dunkelweizen, though, that really got me excited. You see, years ago, Samuel Adams Brewed a Dark Wheat beer that I really loved a lot. And of course, Dunkelweizen (which means dark wheat) is really the same thing, and is in fact a German styled wheat beer brewed with dark malts. Think hefeweizen with a bit of roasted malt thrown in. It's usually unfiltered, meaning yeast remains in suspension (that's the case here), a fact that adds a bit to the flavor.
Boston Beer did a very nice job on it, and I missed it a great deal. Thus my excitement when I saw it was coming back. But let's get right down to the heart of the matter and see how it is today, shall we?
Samuel Adams Dunkelweizen pours to a cloudy ruby brown color with a thick, rocky head formation and a spicy clove and smoke nose. I pour most of my bottle into a tapered German wheat beer glass, then swirl the last third around in the bottle to rouse the yeast and add that in, too. The dark malts are readily apparent and add a delicate chocolate chip cookie character, while the crisp wheat adds a decided tartness.
And then there's the spice. Pungent clove and nutmeg, fruity banana and pear, black pepper and smoke. Samuel Adams Dunkelweizen is brewed with an authentic Bavarin yeast strain and it shows: this one is pretty darned close to some of the better imported German examples of the style. A couple bottles of this one are worth the price of the entire twelve pack (though the other beers are no slouches, either).
Sadly, I never took notes on bottled Dark Wheat in the nineties for comparison purposes, though I can remember to this day drinking a few bottles with my boss and a friend after closing up the liquor store where we labored for the day. I can almost taste the smoke and clove flavors that were so pronounced in that wonderful beer.
Fortunately, I did jot down my thoughts when Dark Wheat mysteriously appeared in 2000 on draft:
I always regretted not taking tasting notes on this beer. It was highly regarded among many beer enthusiasts, and I've always missed it. You will imagine my sheer excitement then, when I walked into the Great Lost Bear, a multi-tap beer bar in Portland Maine, and saw this beer listed on the draft menu yesterday. Surely there was a mistake. I rubbed my eyes and re-read the listing of wheat beers. It was still there, plain as day: Samuel Adams Dark Wheat.
I ordered a pint and hesitantly took a sip. Would this taste the same as my tastebuds remembered it tasting? It did! Cloudy yellow-brown in color with a generous head formation, Samuel Adams Dark Wheat has a spicy clove nose with a hint of smoke. There's a cracker-like wheat body, a touch of chocolate, heavy clove notes, banana, and a tart refreshing finish. Loaded with hearty yeast character, this is a very authentic dunkelweizen. This was a test batch from the brewery in Jamaica Plain with limited distribution, so don't look for it in bottled just yet. Could this mean Dunkel Weizen is returning however? We can only hope.
Apparently, it did mean as much, it just took about nine years for it to happen. But hey, it was worth the wait. Go out and get some. You can thank me later.
Update: September 15, 2011: How lucky I was when I sat down for a beer at my local Taco Mac tonight. I had ordered a mug of Samuel Adams Octoberfest but the keg had just kicked. To replace, a fresh keg of Samuel Adams Dunkelweizen was almost ready to be tapped. Of course I ordered a mug, and this slightly dark malty, subtly smoky, and complex tart ale packing notes of banana and clove was a real treat indeed. Not to be missed if you catch it on draft.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
