Bottle, imported a couple months ago, drunk on 10/19/07
Large, blossoming, dark-beige head settles out and slowly recedes to cover, leaving light lacing. Clarity is high, leaving the sediment behind. Body is a deep chestnut with darker chocolate notes.
Sweet and malty in the nose, with notes of raisins and bananas that give way to a light roastiness, dotted with pepper-like phenols. The poignant fruity notes up front (the raisins, some plums and such) really improve the complexity and balance well the sweeter caramel-toffee malts. Some doughy/bready yeast on the end cuts the aroma short somewhat, only leaving sparse roast and bananas to linger. No alcohol is noted, nor any flaws. Medium-high strength of aroma.
Sweet, but tapering off quickly, is the maltiness, with breadiness asserting itself over the soft toffee/caramel sweetness. Add in the moderate to light amounts of roast and it comes out lightly chocolatey. Carbonation is medium in strength, and not quite as tight as I would like, leaving a little looseness on the palate. Creamy banana notes are smooth and not overdone, thanks to this fine yeast that must be culled from weihenstephaner stock. With warming, plums and raisins add light vinousness, which is tremendously complementary to the sweet toffee and chocolate notes. More like a hefe weizen in body and texture (though obviously somewhat sweeter), but it improves drinkability. No flaws or alcohol noted.