If you haven’t made to Munich, Germany and had the opportunity to visit the Hofbräuhaus
I highly recommend it. I went 20 years ago and still remember the pleasant intoxicating experience. It was a large tavern style building and the beer was flowing, flowing, flowing. Hofbräu apparently means “beer of the court”, which is to say something along the lines of beer made by the government of Germany. This beer has a storied history going back some 500 years. Not very many beers can say that, but then again the Germans take beer seriously.

Hofbräu Dunkel is a dark bottom fermented beer which is brewed according to the German purity law( so you know its good). The beer itself has a pleasant flavor with lots of malty flavor and mild carbonization. Its has a good head on it that is not too big. The smell is quite pleasant, without a hint of bitterness. What I like about this beer is that it is not too heavy. It has a tad bit of a bitter aftertaste that hits your tongue just right and a good amount of malty flavoring with a splash of caramel for good measure. I absolutely recommend this beer to anyone who is looking to step up a notch or two above a Sam Adams type beer. It will definitely leave you wanting more.

4.5 out of 5 burps.

This lager beer is a bit off the mark from other Dark beers I have tasted. It is deceptive. You expect something heavy and laden with flavor, but all you get a mild dull flavored beer. While it is a dark beer it is not rich and does not have the heavy malt flavors that most dark beers have.  It has very little sweetmess to it and no fruit flavors. It is essentially just bitter hops and roasted malt.  My understanding is this is one of the most popular beer imports here in the U.S. That doesn’t say a lot about our taste. I would rate it 2 out of 5 burps.