"The downfall of being a great
beer lover and enthusiast is a tendency to hoard. Nobody I know is as guilty of
this as I. As such, I've come to realise in recent months that I really need to
start working through my already sizeable bottle stock before purchasing
anything else this year, if for no other reason than to try the beers I’ve
spent my money on whilst they’re still at their best. Added to this is the
realisation over the last few months – based on certain depressive life
situations – that life is too short not to drink the great beers I have
available to me. I also need to find new encouragement and inspiration to write
again. I have never wanted this to be a beer review blog (with the exception of
Advent) but all the above factors have led me to begin a series of “Stock
Clearance” posts where I drink beers within my hoard that really need drinking
for reasons that will be explained."
"I shall further clarify that my
beer hoard started to grow around the turn of year between 2011 and 2012. To
that point, most of my enjoyment of beer was spent within the confines of the
pub or on a Saturday night in when the beer to be drunk in the evening was
bought in the morning of the same day. The only beers that entered into
“storage” were a bottle of Brewdog’s Abstrakt: 02 (that I think was eventually
drunk sometime in 2012) and a Fuller’s Vintage 2008, purchased in 2009 and that
is still in my hoard to this day."
The beer chosen for this first
post is Marble Brewery’s Dunkel 8.2%. There is a simple reason for choosing
this one; it is one of the longest surviving members of my current stash. Just
weeks prior to purchasing this beer, I had learnt through 57 Thomas Street in
Manchester that Marble had begun brewing their own Weizen and Dunkel. I was
excited, due to my love of those styles, and purchased the Weizen that
particular day which I had enjoyed but not found memorable.
In February 2012 I had a dentist
appointment in Mossley – my dentist since the day I was born. It was on that
particular call that I revisited Mossley Organics & Fine Foods afterwards
that just happens to be around the corner. I went on another’s recommendations
who claimed the beer selection had much improved over recent months and showed
it by waving a bottle of Jaipur in my face. It happened to be my first of many
visits; the shop even inspired a blog post last Summer.
I was surprised and overwhelmed
by this small food shop’s broad selection of beers including Thornbridge,
Buxton, Red Willow… and Marble. I remember buying 8 bottles that day and returning
almost weekly for the rest of the year. It was on that Dentist-trip day that I
purchased Marble’s Dunkel. I recall the other 7 bottles acquired that day were
drunk within weeks – 4 of which were from Red Willow and created one of my
first ever blogposts. Somehow though, as the months wore on, a time when I
“fancied” a Dunkel never occurred.
The fact this beer was never
drunk shows some of my changing tastebuds. There was a time, prior to the beer
hoard days, when I was known predominantly as a lover of dark beers to my
peers. When it came to German beers, Dunkels were often associated with me. My
major treat as a student was the odd supermarket purchase of an ErdingerDunkel. In recent years I have become swept away by the obsession for pale and
tongue-numbingly hoppy beers. Yet still, if I were picking styles that I would
like to explore and experiment with if I were a brewer, I would always choose
the often overlooked Rauchbiers, Dark Milds, Scotch Ales and Dunkels as
favourite styles. Yet even I find my craving for such beers is often
overwhelmed by a need for a hit of hoppiness.
This beer, as well as the Weizen,
seemed to be permanently available in the shop whilst they frequently ran
through their stocks of Manchester Bitter and Tawny No. 5. I found this to be
the case in many other shops, pubs and
bars too, where I would often see the Weizen and Dunkel within the
reduced sections. It seems as if there just wasn’t much demand for these beer
styles because the new wave drinker isn’t looking for such. I seem to be as
guilty as any though and hope that this beer proves that I was wrong to hoard
it for so long.
Marble Dunkel 8.2%
Pouring a little more ruby red
than expected, but as flat as its age would show, everything that dominates
this beer is banana; banana to the point where other description is scarcely
necessary. The aroma has a dominant banana bread base with a sickly sweet
yeastness still dominated by banana. The taste is pure banana with the hint of
synthetic banana found in pic'n'mix foam bananas. Luckily I LOVE everything
banana flavoured. The similarities to Well's famous Banana Bread Beer are
inevitable, though it is still a shyness away from a Belgian Banana flavoured
beer. It is not at all as I expected and feel further explanation is required.
It’s much lighter than I recall dunkels and much less carbonated, despite it’s
full body. It’s chewy and the ease of malts seems to have led to a surprise
hoppiness for the style that foams into the tropical fruit sensation of banana.
This is so bananary, you begin to question how you describe hefeweizens. Banana.
After writing my own tasting
notes, I looked up some of the RateBeer reviews of this Dunkel and video blogs.
I was surprised to find that none of them mentioned the flavour so dominant to
the taste I describe. Many seemed to find the beer very hoppy, which is perhaps
what has faded and developed into this synthetic banana taste over the years.
This isn’t a criticism; I’m really pleasantly surprised and find that I love
this beer. Though I know this to be completely different to the Dunkels I’m
used to, it has inspired me to rediscover a style I have forgotten and replaced
in recent years.
Marble Dunkel may have proven too
good to hoard for this long, but it has also proven well worth the wait.
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