Shiner Dunkelweizen: A Good but not Great German Wheat Beer Jan 29 '08    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet Popular Products in Refrigerators LG LFC25765ST Glass (24.9 cu. ft.) Bottom Freezer French Door Refrigerator From $1600 Avanti Ewc-1201 Wine Cooler From $111 The Bottom Line This is a good wheat beer product, but it falls short of greatness. Some craft brews are easier to find than others. Most every state and city in the USA has easy access to Samuel Adams, Sierra Nevada, and a handful of other microbrewed products and more companies continue to be added to this wide distribution list each day. One company whose name is slowly becoming a household word is Shiner and one of its several products is Shiner Dunkelweizen, a dark wheat beer. Basic Characteristics of This Beer: Shiner Dunkelweizen pours to a reddish- brown hue with an aroma that is bread- like and sweet, with some metallic character as well. The head of foam on this beer is pretty good and it holds itself together long after the initial pour. This beer offers the taste of wheat, biscuits, and a touch of raisin. There are some roasted notes, a touch of chocolate at the beginning, apple- like esters in the middle, and the slight taste of molasses near the end. The beer starts and finishes sweet, with a body that it is a little lighter than average. Shiner Dunkelweizen utilizes the practice of Krausening (secondary fermentation) that leads to a (supposedly) full, but smooth taste. Another unique part of the brewing process is decotion, which involves taking small amounts of the boiled mash and adding it back to the main mash. There are no other specifics (ingredients, alcohol content, etc.) listed for this beer. Food Compatibility: Shiner Dunkelweizen would make a fine choice of beer for many foods. The first thing that comes to mind is sausage and hash browns. It would also make a good choice to drink with a hearty meal of beef stew served with fresh, hot biscuits. Final Thoughts: Shiner is the brand name for the Spoetzl Brewery- a brewing operation located in the small town of Shiner, Texas. This company has been producing beer since 1909 and it was relatively unknown for most of its years of existence. Today, Shiner products are marketed and distributed more widely and most everyone is at least familiar with Shiner Bock, an okay beer brewed for mass acceptance and sold in a large number of states. I have tasted many Shiner products, but Shiner Dunkelweizen is a new product for me, and I began to notice it on the store shelves for the first time a couple of months ago. The reason I had not seen it before is because it is brewed as a winter seasonal. It isn’t as full, rich, or spicy as most winter beers, but Shiner promotes it as a winter beer nonetheless. Shiner Dunkelweizen is a wheat- enhanced beer that offers the sweet, malty taste of biscuits and other flavors. One interesting quality with this beer is that its body is a little weaker than average, but yet it still leaves a sweet, molasses- like coating in the mouth as you consume. It isn’t cloying by any means, but the sweet malt does leave a residue that causes one to work up excess saliva and want to spit. The coating is most evident on the roof of the mouth and while it certainly doesn’t make me gag, it does get a little bit distracting. This dark German wheat beer has a taste that will be acceptable to most people. In many respects, it is brewed in much the same way as other Shiner products: Acceptable, but not commendable. As I sit here and sip on my second bottle, I cannot find anything bad to say about Shiner Dunkelweizen. But I cannot think of anything incredible about it either. The coating on the roof of the mouth continues to haunt me, but I enjoy the biscuit- like malts combined with the raisin flavor. Overall, Shiner Dunkelweizen is a good- tasting beer that makes a good choice for introducing individuals to craft beer. It isn’t overdone, and its sweet, biscuit- like wheat taste will be acceptable to most anyone who samples it. I’m going to rate Shiner Dunkelweizen 3.5 out of 5 stars. It ranks as one of my favorite beers in the Shiner family, even though its taste is less than exceptional.

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