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{{Short description|Dark German lager}}
{{about|German dark beers}}
{{refimprove|date=March 2013}}
[[File:Paulaner.jpg|thumb|Paulaner Dunkel]]
'''Dunkel''' ({{IPA|de|ˌdʊŋkl̩|lang|De-Dunkel.ogg}}), or '''Dunkles''' ({{IPA|de|ˈdʊŋkləs|lang|De-Dunkles.ogg}}), is a word used for several types of dark [[Beer in Germany|German]] [[lager]]. ''Dunkel'' is the [[German language|German]] word meaning "dark", and dunkel beers typically range in color from amber to dark reddish brown. They are characterized by their smooth, [[malt]]y flavor.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.germanbeerguide.co.uk/dunkel.html |title=German Beer Guide: Dunkel |access-date=2010-05-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100609015418/http://www.germanbeerguide.co.uk/dunkel.html |archive-date=2010-06-09 }}</ref> In informal terms, such as when ordering at a bar, "dunkel" is likely to mean whatever dark beer the bar has on tap, or sells most of; in much of north and western Germany, especially near [[Düsseldorf]], this may be [[Altbier]].

In [[Bavaria]], dunkel, along with [[helles]], is a traditional style brewed in [[Munich]] and popular throughout Bavaria. With [[alcohol (drug)|alcohol]] concentrations of 4.5% to 6.0% by volume, dunkels are weaker than [[doppelbock]]s, another traditional dark Bavarian beer. Dunkels are produced using Munich malts, which give the dunkel its color. Other malts or flavors may also be added.

Many dunkels have a distinctive malty flavor that comes from a special brewing technique called [[decoction mashing]]. Most commonly, dunkel beers are dark lagers, but the term is also used to refer to dark wheat beers such as Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse Dunkel. [[Dunkel weizen]] is another term used to refer to dark wheat beers, which are fruity and sweet with more dark, roasted malts than their lighter counterpart, the [[hefeweizen]].

==Munich dunkel==
Dunkels were the original style of the Bavarian villages and countryside, and it was the most common style at the time of the introduction of the [[Reinheitsgebot]] (1516). As such, it is the first "fully codified and regulated" beer. Its ABV is rarely higher than 5.5%, and it has low bitterness, a distinctive dark color, and a malty flavor. Dunkel is brewed using [[Saccharomyces pastorianus|lager yeasts]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Oliver|first=Garrett|title=The Oxford Companion to Beer|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oWQdjnVo2B0C&pg=PA311|year=2011|publisher=Oxford UP|isbn=978-0-19-991210-0|pages=310–12|chapter=Dunkel}}</ref>

Lighter-colored lagers were not common until the later part of the 19th century when technological advances made them easier to produce.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

==Franconian dunkel==
Dunkel is also widespread in parts of [[Franconia]], for example the [[Franconian Switzerland]], where it has been originally the most common beer type. The region has a lot of [[Microbrewery|microbreweries]], of which many still produce Dunkel.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bierland-oberfranken.de/bierige_pauschalreisen/fraenkische_schweiz__kulinarisches_brauereienerlebnis_144.html |title=www.bierland-oberfranken.de |access-date=2014-02-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219065219/http://www.bierland-oberfranken.de/bierige_pauschalreisen/fraenkische_schweiz__kulinarisches_brauereienerlebnis_144.html |archive-date=2014-02-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref> One Example is [[Weissenohe Abbey]] Brewery (''Weissenoher Klosterbrauerei'').{{cn|date=October 2024}}

==Examples==
* [[Aktienbrauerei Kaufbeuren]] Dunkel
* [[Andechser]] Dunkel
* [[Augustiner]] Dunkel
* [[Ayinger]] Altbairisch Dunkel
* [[Wychwood_Brewery#Dunkel Fester|Dunkel Fester]] A dunkel-style beer brewed in the [[UK]] by the [[Wychwood Brewery]]
* [[Erdinger]] Dunkel
* [[Franconia Brewing Company]] German Dunkel
* [[Hacker-Pschorr]] Münchner Dunkel
* [[Hofbräu München]] Dunkel
* [[König Ludwig Schlossbrauerei|König Ludwig]] Dunkel
* [[Löwenbräu]] Dunkel
* [[Paulaner]] Original Münchner Dunkel
* [[Spaten]] München Dunkel
* [[Warsteiner]] Premium Dunkel
* [[Weihenstephaner]] Tradition Bayrisch Dunkel
* [[Weltenburg Abbey]] Weltenburger Kloster Barock Dunkel

==See also==
* [[Doppelbock]]
* [[Beer in Germany|German beer]]
* [[Helles]]
* [[Schwarzbier]]

==References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061019152151/http://www.allaboutbeer.com/style/23.5-munichdunkel.html Munich Dunkel] – by K. Florian Klemp – ''All About Beer'' Magazine (Volume 23 Number 5 – November 2002)

{{Beer Styles}}

[[Category:German beer styles]]