The beer pours with a respectable head, but that head dies away very quickly. What's left is a paltry single leaf of tiny little bubbles in the middle of the glass with a few points of nucleation visible just when the bubbles burst on the surface. The beer itself is remarkably clear, it has a red-caramel color to it that is quite inviting. The aroma is roasted grains, and it hints at a dry beverage underneath.First sip is quite enjoyable. I thought this would be a lot drier, but it's only a modicum of dryness added to the roasted grains. The problem is, this beer has a lot of that one flavor, but it doesn't have many others to to join the roast. There may be some brown sugar mixed in there with it, but almost nothing else is coming out in the sip. I could see sipping this for quite some time, and the flavor's not going to hit you over the head. It's possible there are more flavors deeper inside, but that requires me to gulp. And so I shall.
Tip-in is very light carbonation tingle with gently roasted malt and maybe a hint of banana. As the middle hits, the beer goes right down without feeling like a freight train; the gentle swirling of brown sugar eddy's in the river of toasted malt is highlighted by carbonation that is ONLY on the top of the mouth - the rest of the mouth seems untouched. The finish is a little nuttiness added to the malt before the slightly smokey trail-off.
Bottom Line: A very crushable dunkel.
3.75/5
