Showing posts with label Dunkel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dunkel. Show all posts

Sunday, 15 April 2012

Thoughts on Duckstein

Time to post a few thoughts on Duckstein as it's now the third time I've sampled through their range.

Can't have been too bad considering how quickly the tasters evaporated!

These guys do a good range throughout but oddly it's the Pilsner that's probably the most accomplished of the lot, great taste in this, highly drinkable, a fine example of the style fresh off the vat. Dunkel goes down ok with malty character, and the Altbier sports nice peppery spice notes at the end. The other stalwart from the tasting range is a Hefeweizen that is traditional to the style, predominately banana and lemon, pretty drinkable.

The one seasonal drop this time was a Pale Ale - ie, the only non-German beer in the lineup, and interestingly it was pretty poor, falling well short both of other pale ales, and of the quality found in Duckstein's offerings. As a comparison I found their seasonal oktoberfest beer to be far superior in the past.

So if there's a lesson here it's stick to what you're good at. But all in all a reliable and faithful German brewery, more than respectable. Massive bloody roast pork meals they do there too.

Thursday, 26 January 2012

Kozel Dark

OK I bought this one because it was a dark beer in a 500ml bottle for a reasonable price, and it had a quite fetching goat on the label cradling a pint of said beer himself. What's not to like? Until you find out it's 3.8% and get a bit woozy.


Despite all that though, I've been pleasantly surprised. This pours with a pretty thin and airy head, but is nice and dark off the bat. The flavours are nicely balanced throughout and there's a bit of roasty dark maltiness with really light coffeeish tastes there also.

If I'm honest, there are better options for a light beer (LC Rogers, Eagle Bay Mild etc). But then, there are far worse and more watery dark beers at higher percentages also. I'm giving this a 6.5.