Dunkel Weiss - Great Divide Brewing Company, Denver

I picked up a bottle of Great Divide Dunkel Weiss this week mostly because I've never seen it on shelves before at my local liquor store. Hefeweizens are one of my favorite styles, the more weiss-ier the better. Dunkelweizens are an interesting take on the style, taking a richer and more savory approach to what is essentially a lighter summer wheat. The getting darker malt to play nicely with cloves and banana flavors can be a difficult task. Great Divide makes some awesome beers so I had faith in their ability to pull it off. What I found in the Dunkel Weiss was a bit disappointing, it turned out to be more Dunkel than Weiss.

The balance is close, but not quite there. The malt has the upper hand in this beer, but only slightly. You'll notice right off the bat that this beer is maltier than your traditional wheat. That much is expected, but the lighter Hefeweizen flavors of citrus, banana and clove aren't able to hold up their end of the bargain and you're left with more dark malt than you probably bargained for. It is by no means a malt bomb, the levels are respectable and quite tasty, but for a Dunkelweizen I really expect more of those Weiss flavors ...even more so because this is very clearly labeled a Dunkel Weiss.

My main problem isn't so much with the malt and Weiss imbalance, it's with the texture. The flavor falls a little short and as I drink my way through this pint I can't help but think this beer is a little on the watery side. For a summer seasonal that is forgivable to a degree, but for a style that should be a Hefeweizen with a little extra, it seems to be lacking that "little extra."

In the end, this beer wasn't bad, I enjoyed it but found myself a little frustrated at its shortcomings. I can't recommend this beer to someone looking for a genuine Dunkelweizen, but it's not a bad gateway beer for someone who needs a softball thrown their way in the form of an exotic looking German-named wheat beer.