Lakefront's Eastside Dark placed 2nd in an informal tasting of dunkels by the New York Times. Good on them. But it was also an interesting article because it, well, defended the dunkel.
Florence pointed out that many Americans imagine that dark beers will be rich, thick and heavy, even though good stouts, porters and dunkels belie that assumption. In a sense, the dunkel style is in an uncomfortable position. The ignorant avoid it because they believe it’s too heavy, while the cognoscenti ignore it because they find it too simple.
Too true. I've met many people who equate dark beer with high viscosity. Even people who have something of a taste for quality brews. For them beers of lighter color are "thin" on the palate - you just have more or less hop bitterness - while darker beers taste thick. Yeah, those Russian Imperial Stouts are pretty much motor oil but dunkels are much more nimble on the tongue. I can also understand why the cognoscenti avoid them - it's not a style known for high IBUs or high alcohol content.
Check out this article from the Brewers Association. It describes a joint brewing expedition of Cornelius Faust of the Faust Brewery in Miltenberg, Bavaria and Tod Mott of the Portsmouth Brewery in Portsmouth, N.H. Faust says: "The North American craft drinker has different expectations. Here, beers are more hop-accented; while in Germany they are more malt accented." I think this goes a long way to explain why the dunkel rates fairly low amongst craft brew drinkers.
Personally I love dunkels (and schwarzbiers which is why I suggested local homebrewer Joe Walts brew one) and Capital's Munich Dark is on pretty regular rotation in my refrigerator. I love the coffee and chocolate overtones. One of the tasters in the article mentions the style's sessionability, i.e. - it's not high in alcohol and so you can drink several in one session. Notice that the winner of the competition - Gösser Dark - weighs in at only 4.2%. Eastside Dark is 5.5% and I think Munich Dark is about the same while Sprecher's Black Bavarian is a bit higher. When I think of a session beer I think of something that is less than 5% ABV. To me Eastside Dark and Munich Dark aren't session beers. They're not big beers to be sure, but not session beers either.
Going back to the article mentioned above, Faust also said: "In Germany most beers are below 5 percent alcohol." Exactly. That's a session beer to me. This could very well be explained by the fact that my introduction to good beer was given to me by someone who had lived in Germany and would go on to be a brewer.
If you're a beer dork, read the whole article. The differences in attitudes between Americans and Germans regarding beer are pretty stark.
And my last comment on dunkels (for now) is to say that the best one I've had lately is Lammsbräu Organic Dunkel. I find their pilsner to be a bit on the watery side but the dunkel is fantastic. The bottle I tried had a lot more of the coffee/chocolate flavors than most dunkels I've tasted. Great stuff.
ADDENDUM
Robin Shepard has a look ahead at what 2011 will bring for Wisconsin breweries in the southern half of the state. Some thoughts:
---I am thrilled to see that New Glarus will bottle Two Women Lager. Edel Pils and Yokel have been missed greatly.
---My friend Dogger will shit his pants if he sees NG Cran-bic on store shelves. He has vowed to buy all of it.
---Sand Creek, O'so, and Lake Louie are looking to expand. (Ale Asylum is as well though the article doesn't mention it.) Good to see.
---I've tasted a test batch of Robin Klinge's hibiscus saison. Very tasty stuff and makes for a very pretty glass. I look forward to drinking it when the weather is hot.
Up nort, Viking Brewery has become Five Star.
While the company plans to continue offering a wide variety of microbrews, the bulk of its production will focus on four lines: a wheat beer with a lime twist, a retro pilsner, a black and white porter and also a red lager.
I presume these beers are, in the old Viking parlance, Lime Twist, LES Beer, Whole Stein, and CopperHead. Interesting selection to focus upon. The Dulcinea will be pissed if Hot Chocolate doesn't return as a winter seasonal and I will miss Blonde, a rye pilsner.
Regardless, the more, the merrier.
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