Eminent Domain

My last take home exam was turned in this morning. Summer has officially begun. Let the beer reviews roll! No, I am not drinking beer at 3 in the afternoon. As pointed out in a previous post, I have a handful of reviews stored up in my head, ready to go. Here is the first. The Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse Dunkel is the yang to the basic Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse's yin. It has a rich, dark brown color that looks like chocolate. There isn't much of a strong aroma, but it is more noticeable than it's cousin's scent. I picked up an unexpected but pleasant mix of clove and banana.

Like most good hefe-weisse beers, it's got a crisp, clean flavor. Because it is a dunkel, the dark malts add a roasted toffee flavor to the traditional wheaty, spicy, slightly citrusy flavors. It straddles the line between a pure hefe and a pure dunkel. The interplay of flavors is very satisfying. Fairly light in your mouth, the flavor does not linger. This is good or bad, depending on what you are looking for from this beer. I like the lightness and clean finish, because you still get that burst of lots of malty flavor. Someone who expects a thicker, darker beer might want that mouth coating flavor. I think this beer is excellent the way it is. People who are turned off by the light lemony flavor of traditional hefe-weisse beers will love the depth of flavor added here with the malts. Great beer.