Friday 13 October 2017

Bavarian Dunkel Hefeweizen in 2014

It wasn’t just pale Hefeweizen that I caught in my sweep of Bavarian brewery websites. I also found quite a few dark versions.

It’s a sign of the increased popularity of Weissbier that there a many breweries that produce more than one variation. Sometimes a dark version. Which is a bit like black IPA. Because the name Weissbier is connected to the colour and not necessarily anything to do with wheat.

I can’t help wondering how these beers are coloured. It wouldn’t surprise me if some were just the brewery’s standard pale Weissbier with added Sinamar. Or maybe I’m being over cynical.

Though the fact that the averages for these beers and the pale versions are almost identical. Here are the lovely numbers:

Bavarian Dunkel Hefeweizen in 2014
Brewer Town Beer OG Plato OG FG ABV App. Atten-uation
Weihenstephan Freising Hefeweissbier Dunkel 12.7 1051.16 1010.5 5.30 79.48%
Brauerei Kanone Löhr Schnaittach Weizen (dunkel) 12.8 1051.59 1013.9 4.90 73.15%
Arnsteiner Brauerei Seinsheim Ur-Weisse 12.7 1051.16 1012.7 5.00 75.18%
Kitzmann-Bräu Erlangen Dunkles Weißbier 12.6 1050.74 1007.9 5.60 84.53%
Klosterbrauerei Andechs Andechs Weissbier Dunkel 12.5 1050.32 1011.9 5.00 76.35%
Göller Zeil am Main Kaiser Heinrich Urweisse dunkel 12.5 1050.32 1010.4 5.20 79.43%
Distelhäuser  Tauberbischofsheim Dunkles Hefe-Weizen 12.5 1050.32 1008.9 5.40 82.31%
Brauerei Hermann Sigwart Weißenburg Dunkle Weiße 12.5 1050.32 1012.6 4.90 74.96%
Paulaner Munich Hefe-Weißbier Dunkel 12.4 1049.90 1009.2 5.30 81.56%
Hacker-Pschorr Munich Dunkle Weisse 12.4 1049.90 1009.2 5.30 81.56%
Brauhaus Leikeim Altenkunstadt Dunkle Weisse 12.3 1049.47 1008.1 5.40 83.63%
Pyraser Landbrauerei Thalmässing Angerwirts Weizen altfränkisch dunkel 12.3 1049.47 1008.8 5.30 82.21%
Privatbrauerei Kesselring Marktsteft Schlemmer Schwarz 12 1048.21 1007.6 5.30 84.24%
Average 12.5 1050.2 1010.1 5.22 79.89%
Sources:
The relevant brewery websites


And these are the averages for the pale ones:

OG Plato OG FG ABV App. Atten-uation
12.5 1050.3 1010.1 5.24 79.96%

See what I mean? The averages are scarily similar.

Interestingly, no-one seems to make a Kristall Dunkles Weissbier. I wonder why that is?

6 comments:

Sebastian said...

I enjoy them alot. It's a bit like a Rye Wheat, but with more roasted flavors. And mostly colored the same, a dark brown.

StuartP said...

Nothing from Erdinger?
Go back to the turn of the century and they seemed to be one of the few committed to brewing the stuff.

The Beer Nut said...

It wouldn't look different enough to an ordinary dunkel weiss, would it?

Incidentally, can any one explain the semantic difference between:
Dunkle Weisse
Dunkles Weissbier and
Weissbier Dunkel?

Anonymous said...

You are correct that some examples of Dunkelweizen are colored with Färbebier. I only know that, because some breweries are infact honest enough to put that on the label. I don't know whether they use the same base wort/beer as the regular Weißbier though.

Personally, I like roasty Dunkelweizen which seems to be a rare taste profile. Autenrieder and Kuchlbauer are my favorites and Unertl is also very tasty. Many others I find quite bland, but someone else might prefer them, because they are less "aggressive" ;)

rod said...

The dark colour will, in many cases, be due to the use of Sinamar, which is, of course, compliant with the Reinheitsgebot.

In other cases, though, it will be the use of a de-husked Caramalz, such as Weyermanns Carafa Special, that gives the colour without roastiness - especially if the farbmalz is added late in the mash.

Anonymous said...

With regards to the table concerned with dark Bavarian Hefeweizen: there is none. It's just different ways of describing the same product. Cheers, Sebastian