Spring is well upon us and with that we down some dunkelweizen from John.

John intended to try a dunkelweisse a year or so ago, but it never made it into the rotation.  Dunkelweizen seem to us to be a perfect way to straddle two seasons.  Its still cool enough for darker beers with flavors of caramel and toast.  But our dreams are on the warmer months ahead when we dream of wheat beers and well balanced sessionable drinkers.


Tasting this beer we experience all that German wheat brewing can be. Clean fermentation profiles, hearty malt aromas and flavors and interesting yeast derived esters and phenols (or lack there of if German lager yeasts are still in employ at your brew house).

There is a clear presence of darker malt and a touch of caramel, but not accompanied by a sweet finish. The pilsner and wheat backbone give a medium bodied mouthfeel, but maintain a uniquely balanced backdrop for the character malts that give us the color and flavor.

A great Dunklelweisse (I imagine) makes great use of the malt available while creating a clean enough backdrop for the fermentation profile. Weizen yeasts can be coaxed into a great many flavors. You can push them into banana ester bombs or you can create clove like immensity that would make you cry (at least me). Lurking in there somewhere to I have experienced weizen yeasts that can make the beer seem a little solvent like as well. Not a great combo when the clove is high as well.

These dangers be damned! This version of John’s delivers in the balance category. Just enough clove and a sense of banana that muted way in the back. Its presence is just enough to lure me in for sip after sip, trying to pull the flavors apart. Getting this keen balance is a function of temperature profile most of the time. Assuming adequate pitching volumes and oxygen levels, a cooler than normal ferment seems to restrain some of the harsher edges that Weizen yeast can throw.

While this isn’t normally my style to enjoy, and I certain’y don’t think about brewing it, this version comes out pretty damn good. Some early season brats and pickled cabbage on an early season 80+ degree day would be a perfect pairing combo. (Get on that John!)

Tell us about your Dunkelweizen experiences, recipes or questions. Tell us about your favorite spring-time transition brews! We’d love to hear about it.

BREW ON!