KC Bier Company - Dunkel

This Munich-style dunkel presents an attractive ruddy brown hue as it rests in our glass, topped by a cap of light brown foam. In the aroma, beautiful malty notes give us impressions of brown bread, toasted grain, lightly roasted nuts, and fresh hay, overlaid by a hint of spicy, lightly woody hops. Look for toasted crusty bread to come forth front and center on the palate, atop some deep-down caramelization, a touch of brown sugar, and flashes of dried fruits evoking fig and raisin that pop through here and there, as well. A touch of residual sweetness is balanced by just a hint of hop bitterness, while a light, spicy hop flavor offers a bit of contrast to the beer’s malty backbone. Dunkels are a malt-forward style, and KC Bier has once again shown they know how to extract great depth of flavor from their decoction-mashed German malts. For food pairings, you can’t go wrong with grilled, roasted, or barbecued meats and vegetables. Sweet and spicy pulled pork is a natural, as are various sausages. Pork belly or Reuben sandwiches are on the list, as is a thick charbroiled burger with bacon and aged cheddar. Roasted Brussels sprouts or a snack of smoked nutty cheeses sound good too. Prost!

In the 1800s, German immigrants brought their brewing traditions to America, and pale lagers soon became dominant in the U.S., much as in Europe at that time, as well. Sadly, industrialized “macro-brewing” led to the cheapening of those styles, turning those lagers into a shadow of what real German beer is actually like. When the American craft beer renaissance began in earnest in the 1980s, brewers focused on styles less familiar to American audiences, typically British and Belgian ale styles, while authentic German beers, typically lagers, were often ignored.

KC Bier’s founder, Steve Holle, set out to change that. The great-grandson of German immigrants, he developed an appreciation for German beer from his father and from time spent studying in Hamburg. He became a highly experienced homebrewer, a beer writer with numerous articles and books to his name, and a GABF beer judge. His brewing education includes studies at Munich’s Doemens Brewing Academy.

In 2014, Holle opened KC Bier with his friend and Bavarian native, Jürgen Hager, as well as Karlton Graham, a German-trained Kansas City homebrewer whose education includes Chicago’s famed Siebel Institute and a stint at Doemens. KC Bier’s motto is “We put the i back in bier,” and their focus on and success with traditional German-style “bier” certainly attests to this. The brewery crafts an array of German specialties using malts from a 160-year-old family-owned company in Bavaria; yeast from the famed Andechs monastery & brewery in Bavaria, which has been brewing for over 500 years; and hops grown on a 600-year-old farm in Bavaria’s Hallertau Valley. For more info about the brewery and their Bierhalle and Biergarten, visit kcbier.com.