BJCP styles sorted by history: Wheat Beer - Dunkles Weissbier
Hello! We're continuing our study of BJCP beer styles. If you recall, we started exploring the "Wheat Beer" category, which includes wheat-based beers. This category consists of "Weissbier," "Dunkles Weissbier," "Weizenbock," "Witbier," and "American Wheat Beer." We already discussed "Weissbier" in this POST, and today, we'll talk about its darker sister, the "Dunkles Weissbier." The word "Dunkles" in German literally means "dark," so it's as simple as that—a dark "Weissbier." Without going into much detail, most beers in the past were darker. This was due to the malting process used at the time, which often imparted color to the grains and, consequently, to the final product—the beer. In this sense, the "Dunkles Weissbier" can be thought of as the older sibling of the "Weissbier." When the popularity of "Weissbier" began to rise (around the 1960s), this darker style became more associated with older generations, who remained loyal to the tradition of darker beers.
When grains acquire color, they often develop notes of toasted or baked bread crust, and even caramel, which are also present in this style. But when we talk about "Weissbier," we always consider the use of "weizen" yeast, which contributes a fruity banana profile with a touch of spicy clove. Thus, "Dunkles Weissbier" beers exhibit banana and clove characteristics but with a richer and more complex malt profile, making them perhaps a bit less light and refreshing compared to "Weissbier." For this session, I had the opportunity to evaluate two beers: "Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dunkel" and "Ayinger Urweisse." Due to the reach of the "Weihenstephaner" brand, I remember having this beer several times before. In fact, I recently drank it by mistake during a WSET course activity. The "dunkel" (which also means "dark" in German) in the name led me to think it was a "Munich Dunkel," a completely different style that doesn’t even use wheat in its recipe. Anyway, beginner's mistakes taught me to differentiate some German styles right away. But let's get to the main point—the beer evaluations.
Starting with the “Weihenstephaner”, this beer displayed a dark amber color, with a creamy, almost white head that had good formation but medium retention. It also showed a certain haziness, although less noticeable due to its darker color. The BJCP describes this style as having a light copper to dark mahogany brown color, so it fits perfectly. Furthermore, the BJCP notes that haziness is common due to the yeast and wheat in the recipe. The only issue with the appearance was the head, which is described as long-lasting, and in this sample, it wasn’t quite as durable. On the nose, the beer presented malt upfront with sweeter caramel notes and a medium-intensity dried plum character. Banana fruitiness was less pronounced, appearing in the background. The BJCP describes the style as having banana esters and clove phenolics balanced with malt. Therefore, this sample showed style deviations. Aging might be a factor here, as the malt dominated the aroma, potentially indicating oxidation.
The flavor closely mirrored the aroma, with malt sweetness taking center stage and banana fruitiness appearing only in the background. There was also a caramel aftertaste, which made the finish somewhat cloying. According to the BJCP, while malt intensity can overshadow clove detection, the beer should still be balanced (banana, clove, malt) and have a drier finish. That wasn’t the case here. For mouthfeel, the beer had a medium body, consistent with the style. High carbonation delivered some effervescence on the tongue, and it had a pleasant creaminess. These aspects were within the style's guidelines. However, the overall impression of this beer was slightly disappointing. It lacked a certain vitality in the yeast character, which is essential for balancing the style. I tasted this beer in early December, with just over a month left before its expiration date. It makes sense that it had already lost much of the yeast’s freshness, evolving into sweeter caramel notes typical of oxidation. Additionally, there was a significant amount of sediment (yeast) at the bottom of the bottle that didn’t fully reintegrate into the beer, even with some agitation, as is customary when serving a wheat beer.
Moving on to the "Ayinger," we can see from the photo that its color is slightly lighter—something like an intense golden or dark yellow, perhaps even a bit below the BJCP's recommended range. However, the head was tall, creamy, and long-lasting, as the style requires. For aroma, the fruity banana esters and spicy clove phenolics highlighted the yeast character at a medium intensity. A slight malt sweetness brought notes of caramel and dried fruits in the background, harmonizing well with the yeast profile. This reflects the BJCP's style description quite accurately. There was no noticeable hop character, which is an optional feature for this style. In the mouth, the expression of banana esters was slightly more intense than the clove phenolics. The complexity of malt sweetness in the background played well with the banana fruitiness, evoking dried fruits like plums or raisins and providing great balance to the beer. The bitterness was very low, and the finish was dry and well-defined, again aligning closely with the BJCP description.
For mouthfeel, the beer exhibited a light to medium body and, naturally, high carbonation. This is a hallmark of the style, delivering effervescence and freshness on the palate, which enhances drinkability and the beer's overall lightness. This sample left an exuberant overall impression. Perhaps Ayinger chose to be less bold in malt complexity (less color, lower intensity of aroma and flavor), but it was absolutely worth it. The yeast delivered all the vitality needed for balance in this style, with malt providing a supporting base for it to shine. It's important to remember that beers shouldn’t comply with BJCP guidelines. Especially with historical styles like this, the beers existed long before the BJCP was created. BJCP merely aims to describe the most common characteristics of these styles. Therefore, a color slightly below the BJCP's description means little when the presentation of aroma, flavor, and mouthfeel is so faithful to the style.
Comparing it to the "Weihenstephaner," the freshness of the two samples is impossible to ignore. One thing I appreciate about Ayinger is that they print the bottling date on the label. In this case, the beer I drank had been bottled in July of this year. Thus, it had been stored for about five months—not exactly fresh, but still far from its May 2025 expiration date. By contrast, the "Weihenstephaner" was likely bottled almost a year ago, which could explain the loss of many attributes. I'll soon write a post about how the expiration date often says little about a beer’s vitality, and how drinking beer in a geographically closer context can be advantageous.
This concludes our session evaluating "Dunkles Weissbier." The "Weihenstephaner" was clearly affected by aging but was still far from a bad beer. Meanwhile, Ayinger delivered a sensory profile very close to the BJCP style guide and an remarkable drinking experience. The best part? After finishing the evaluation, I discovered that the German Cup quarterfinals were happening, so I enjoyed the rest of these bottles while watching an excellent match between Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen. Football is undoubtedly one of my favorite excuses to drink beer, but in this case, it was the other way around. With German classics in the glass and on the screen, it was a fantastic evening. I’ll publish the continuation of these studies on the "Weizenbock" style as soon as I can. Take care, and cheers!
