United Nations of Beer

Dragon's Breath Dark Hefeweizen

by Bret
(Las Vegas, NV)

Dragon's Breath Dark Hefeweizen (6.0% ABV)
Bayern Brewing, Missoula, MT, USA
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Here is another of the beers that I have enjoyed from the Montana microbreweries around the Flathead lake area. This one is being called a Dark Hefeweizen by the brewer because of its dark malt coloration.

I was immediately intrigued by this beer because I have never seen a dark Heff before and really wanted this to be a great beer, it was.

The aroma has a light scent of dark roasted malt and the traditional wheat aroma of a heff. This beer has no real scents of hop bitterness or earthiness to be mentioned. There is a mildly attractive yeasty sweetness and fruitiness to be detected, but I couldn’t place the aroma or fruit scent, it just smells kind of citrus like.

The appearance is very untraditional, muddy brown in color with some haze and cloudiness, this is a Heff so it is unfiltered and wheaty. There is a mild carbonation which creates a thin cream colored head that vanishes quickly and leaves no traces on the glass as the beer is consumed. The flavor is very balanced and smooth, like a good Hefeweizen should be. It has a mild malt bitterness with some roasted aftertaste and a nice wheat essence that gives it a Heff appeal.

There is a very little hop taste and no real fruit aftertaste like a traditional Hefeweizen. Don’t go adding fruit to this one, it’s fine all by itself.

The mouthfeel is very smooth and tickles the palate with moderate carbonation and tantalizes the tastebuds with some wheat and good malt characters. The moderate carbonation and medium body which make this a very drinkable beer.

Overall, this is a great beer, not your typical Hefeweizen with all the fruity yeast stuff going on but just enough to say "Hey, I am a Heff", but more malty, well balanced and bad ass than a Blue Moon or traditional Heff. I liked this one a lot and would suggest a trip to this brew pub to anyone in the Missoula area.