Munich Dunkel

Tier B · BJCP 8A · Lager, fermented cold

ABV

4.5-5.6%

IBU

18-28

SRM

17-28

Serve

45-50F

Glass

Half litre mug

Identify

Deep copper to dark brown, and clear. Tilt it against a light and the thin edge turns red or garnet. A creamy head, light tan rather than white. The smell is toasted bread crust with a hint of chocolate and nuts, and no burnt or coffee note. Soft and rounded, medium to medium full, with no heat and no rough edge. The malt is rich without being sugary. The finish is medium dry and leaves nothing gripping the back of your tongue.

Place

Munich, Bavaria, 1830s. The city's everyday beer for most of the nineteenth century

Cause

Munich malt is ordinary barley dried in a warmer, wetter kiln than pale malt. The extra heat and moisture let the sugars inside the grain brown before it dries, the same browning that happens to the crust of a loaf. Use enough of it and you get a brown beer that tastes of bread. That is the difference between browning and burning.

Confused with

Schwarzbier, which is usually darker still and carries a real roast edge. Marzen, which is amber and about a percent stronger. Dunkles Bock, which is heavier and warms you.

Numbers

A Munich Dunkel is a brown lager that tastes of bread crust and drinks like an everyday beer. Dunkel is simply the German word for dark. Everything surprising about this beer follows from the fact that the darkness costs it nothing. Tilt the glass in front of a light and look at the thin edge.

Will you like it, Order and Try

The crust of a good loaf, or dark rye bread. That flavour is the main event in the glass. A square of milk chocolate, rather than dark chocolate. Gentle cocoa, not bitter cocoa. Roasted hazelnuts or almonds. Browned and nutty is exactly what Munich malt does. Anything you have avoided because it looked too dark.

Pair, Judge, Myth and Remember

What does not work: hot chilli, fresh salad, and delicate white fish. The chilli fights the malt, and the other two disappear underneath it. Clear deep brown with a creamy tan head that holds. Toasted bread crust on the nose, with a hint of chocolate and nothing burnt. Soft and rounded in the mouth, then a medium dry finish.