As you know, Germany produces a colossal number of varieties of intoxicating drinks. If you consider yourself a fan of dark beer, we definitely recommend trying Dunkel. Its taste is very rich, with chocolate and biscuit notes, and dark malt is used to prepare it. At the same time, this variety is not too cloying, it does not contain excessive sweetness.

Beer "Dunkel": a little about history

This type of beer was first produced in breweries in northern Bavaria back in the 16th century. It was available to everyone, which is why the drink was so loved by poor Germans. At that time, modern technologies were not used in the production of beer; for this reason, the malt went through a fire-roasting process.

And only in the 19th century, in the production of intoxicating drinks, they began to use such a method as indirect roasting. Thus, the taste of the beer became cleaner, without notes of smoke and rancidity.

Beer "Dunkel": features of the drink

An old friend of Bavaria, Dunkel has a rich and complex taste, but it is not heavy and easy to drink, without causing rapid intoxication. It can be recognized by its bright ruby ​​hues and can range in color from light brown to dark. For production, hop varieties such as Tettnang and Hallerto are used. Translated, Dunkel means “dark”.

Dark Dunkel beer contains between 4% and 6% alcohol. It belongs to the category of lagers, since its production uses bottom fermentation, fermentation takes place at low temperatures.

What is special about making Dunkel beer? For its production, a technique called “decoction mashing” is used. What is she? Part of the malt is poured and boiled separately from the main volume. After boiling, it is returned to where the bulk of the malt is located.

There are several types of Dunkel, they all have one thing in common - they are dark. They are made from both barley and wheat.

Enjoy the drink slowly and you will discover that it has the aroma of cookies, cocoa and caramel.

What malt is used to make Dunkel?

The drink is often called Munich Dunkel, as it is made from Munich malt. Caramel and Pilsner malts are also used in smaller quantities.

Dunkel beer: how to drink correctly?

Since it has a fairly soft and delicate taste, it can be combined with meats, cheeses, and spicy dishes. Before serving, it must be cooled to a temperature of 9 degrees. Dunkel is served in the same way as other types of beer - in a glass or in a beer mug.

Which Dunkel to choose? There are several types of this beer on the market, so choosing will not be so easy. But connoisseurs of the intoxicating drink note that the most aromatic and delicious dunkel is König Ludwig Dunkel. It is made on the basis of classical technologies, according to ancient German recipes.

If you have never tried Dunkel dark beer, we recommend that you definitely do so. It can be found in domestic and German stores.

March 14th, 2013 , 01:35 pm

Krüger Dunkel(Russia)

Well, the third beer from a relatively new line of German varieties that Tomskoe Beer OJSC sells under the brand “R.I. Kruger’s Private Brewery”. Varieties from this trio were described by me several posts earlier.

By the way, it should be noted that this line is not so new. It arrived in our village, which is also the capital of the Russian Federation, six months after the start of sales, and in cities with normal distributors of the Tomsk brewery, beer lovers were drinking these drinks already (!!!) in September 2012. I have long been telling marketers and the management of the commercial department of Tomsk Beer OJSC that they need to think about changing the Moscow distributor, who, in my assessment, simply cannot and does not know how to distribute beer correctly. But, as it turned out, at that time the Tomsk residents had no goals to conquer Moscow, because their capacity is barely enough even to supply the Ural-Siberian region, so they were not particularly worried about this problem.

So, now about the Tomsk Dunkel.

TTX - 3.9 alcohol at 11% initial density.
Ingredients: water, light barley malt, caramel malt, sugar, hops.

On this back label there are again new pictograms telling about the sweet aftertaste and roastiness of the malt. And from the icons of spikelets and cones, we see that the malt richness of this variety is only 2 points out of three, and there is very little hops, so we won’t expect any bitterness.

I open the screw plug, which, by the way, requires some effort to unscrew, and not every woman will not scratch her delicate hand. It feels like the plug is not going along the thread, or along the thread, but something is coked in the gaps. By the way, I noticed this in other varieties of this line. But this is not a problem at all, I’m rather nitpicking, although the manufacturer should pay attention to this so that everything becomes perfect.

Pour into a glass. The foam is formed in gorgeous, beige cottony clouds of varying grain sizes and densities. It settles for a relatively long time. The color of the beer is dark brown, transparent with a ruby ​​tint when held up to light. The aroma is malty, bready, there are notes of caramelized sugar. The body is slightly below average in fullness, and even seems a little watery. Carbonation is medium, soft, finely bubbled.

The taste is malty, bread-rich and leavened - these are the most basic features of the flavor palette. If we talk about shades, then you can feel a light, unobtrusive sweetness, serious leaven sourness and light caramel-honey tones. There is practically no hop bitterness, but if you look for it, you will feel something in the distance. Alcohol, of course, is also not noticeable. The aftertaste is sweet and short.

A good quality and very drinkable German dunkel that women will really like.

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Dunkel is a dark lager. Geographically, this variety is most often associated with Bavaria, the cradle of this drink, but nowadays Dunkel is also produced in other regions of Germany. Like all Bavarian beers, Dunkel tends to have strong malty notes, while the hop aroma is subtle, resulting in virtually no hop bitterness. The sensation at the tip of the tongue is very weak. The alcohol percentage of a traditional Dunkel varies from 4.8 to 5.6%. The term "Dunkel" is also often used in combination with other names to indicate a dark variety of a particular type of beer, as in the case of Dunkelweizen ("Dark Wheat" - a dark wheat ale, the lighter version of which is known as "white beer" - "Weissbier")
Similar beers:

Dunkel - the world's first kind of beer

The German Dunkel has a dark brown, redwood or sepia color. This lager is produced exclusively from barley. This variety is characterized by softness and elegance, rich, with a slight aroma of vanilla and sweet nuts, taste sensations on the palate and a dry taste, balancing on the verge of harshness, on the back of the tongue. The taste of the drink is rich and viscous, and the foam is creamy and stable. Having significant similarities with Dark English or Dunkel, in contrast, Dunkel stands out for its typical clean taste, which completely lacks fruity tones and taste sensations on the front of the tongue.

Dunkel, royal beer

Quite rightly, the most popular brand of Dunkel in modern Germany is (“King Ludwig’s Dark”), the same drink whose origins directly go back to the very first Dunkel mug, brewed in its current composition in the 16th century. "King Ludwig" is produced by the Kaltenberg brewery, which is also the property of His Majesty the Bavarian Prince Luitpold, a descendant of one of the drafters of the "Reinheitsgebot" - the Bavarian Beer Purity Law of 1516. Prince Luitpold is the current head of the House of Wittelsbach, which ruled Bavaria for seven centuries, from 1180 to 1918. Among them were dukes, electors, kings, emperors, princes... and brewers! For centuries, the blood of the Wittelsbachs mixed with the blood of the leading ruling dynasties of Europe. When an important historical decision was to be made that would change the fate of Europe, one of the Wittelsbachs would certainly have the right to vote. The political legacy of the Wittelsbach dynasty is difficult to overestimate, but its contribution to the development of brewing is truly enormous and unique. In addition to authoring the original version of the 1516 Beer Purity Law, the modern version of which is still in force in Germany (making it the oldest piece of legislation governing food production), the Wittelsbachs built what may be the oldest beer hall in the world, welcoming its first visitor in 1591. It was the public celebrations on October 12, 1810, dedicated to the marriage of Prince Ludwig I and the Saxon princess Therese of Hildburghausen, in which 40,000 Bavarians took part, that became the first in Munich history. Since then, the annual fall celebrations have grown into the largest festival in the world, attracting up to seven million visitors from around the globe.

The current head of the House of Wittelsbach, His Majesty the Bavarian Prince Luitpold continues the family tradition of brewing, although not in a royal form. In modern, democratic Germany, the once powerful Wittelsbach throne retained only ceremonial functions. The once powerful brewing empire, however, still lives and prospers. The current Prince of Bavaria has absolutely no intention of giving up his centuries-old family passion for brewing. Prince Leopold is a certified brewer and businessman. He is the owner of a brewery in the town of Fürstenfeldbrück, as well as a beer garden and brewery on the family estate of Kaltenberg. Both towns are located on the outskirts of Munich. Also in America, Prince Luitpold is involved in the affairs of Kaltenberg Castle, a brewery and pub complex located at the foot of the Vail ski resort in Colorado. His brands are expectedly traditional. Following the original recipes, he brews the signature dark beer of his dynasty - “King Ludwig”, the secret of which was kept by his ancestors for five centuries. Prince Luitpold produces light lagers under the brands Kaltenberg Pils and Kaltenberg Hell. It also works with four varieties

Dunkel is a German dark lager. In fact, any German dark beer is called dunkel, however, in Russia this word is understood exclusively as German dark beer. As a rule, dark beer should not be understood as tar and ink-black beer (like ), but dark reddish beer, brown beer, which in Russia is simply called dark.

The vast majority of dunkel is brewed in Munich, after which it is distributed throughout Bavaria. As a rule, the strength of Dunkel is around 4.5-6%, that is, the beer is weaker than Doppelblocks (one of the strongest in Germany).

If you ask for a Dunkel in Germany, they will pour you the most popular dark beer, a beer that is simply poured for everyone. Let us repeat that Dunkel beer is not a brand or brand, but exclusively a type of beer. The most common name for dark beer is dunkel in the area around Düsseldorf, where altbeer (German dark beer) is most often referred to as dunkel.

Dunhel is something of a classic German beer. Light beer is called Hell, and dark beer is called Dunkel, or dunkles. During production, various flavorings, as well as foreign malts, can be added to German dunkel.

In some cases, dark varieties of wheat may be used in production, for example, for Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse Dunkel beer. As a rule, dunkel, brewed from dark varieties of wheat, has more sweetness than the classic version, and may also have fruity undertones.

Tasting characteristics and reviews

The classic German dunkel is a dark beer with a bright malt flavor. There is practically no bitterness, it is very easy to drink even by children. The aftertaste is spicy, light, malty.

• Aktienbrauerei Kaufbeuren Dunkel
• Andechser Dunkel
• Augustiner Dunkel
• Ayinger Altbairisch Dunkel
• Erdinger Dunkel
• Franconia Brewing Company German Dunkel
• Hacker-Pschorr Münchner Dunkel
• Hofbräu München Dunkel
• König Ludwig Dunkel
• Lowenbräu Dunkel
• Paulaner Original Münchner Dunkel
• Spaten Munich Dunkel
• Warsteiner Premium Dunkel
• Weihenstephaner Tradition Bayrisch Dunkel
• Weltenburg Abbey Weltenburger Kloster Barock Dunkel

History of the word Dunkel

The word "Dunkel" is quite old. It appeared immediately after the introduction of the beer purity law (“Reinheitsgebot”) in Germany in 1516. The law prohibited the use of raw materials other than water, malt and hops in the production of beer. Due to the fact that technologically light lager was difficult to brew (all malt was roasted before fermentation), the first beer that complied with the Reinheitsgebot law was dark. It was this that received the name “Dunkel”, i.e. "dark".

The high popularity of the dunkel was due to the fact that it was very cheap and, therefore, accessible to the widest segments of the population and consumers. Despite the fact that by the end of the 19th century light lagers appeared, and the popularity of dark beers in Germany declined, the demand for dark German dunkel is still high both in Germany itself and far beyond its borders.