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?
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.
ReplyDeleteNothing from Erdinger?
ReplyDeleteGo back to the turn of the century and they seemed to be one of the few committed to brewing the stuff.
It wouldn't look different enough to an ordinary dunkel weiss, would it?
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, can any one explain the semantic difference between:
Dunkle Weisse
Dunkles Weissbier and
Weissbier Dunkel?
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
DeleteYou 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.
ReplyDeletePersonally, 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" ;)
The dark colour will, in many cases, be due to the use of Sinamar, which is, of course, compliant with the Reinheitsgebot.
ReplyDeleteIn 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.