Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen

Brewed by Brauerei Heller
Style: Smoked
Bamberg, Bayern, Germany

Deep , beautiful mahogany pour. Thin layer of beige lasts a while. Full, intriguing aroma of hickory, charred brown sugar ham, pine smoke. The schlenkerla signature is pure and distinctive. Initial taste of crisp hops and well-mannered smoke. A bit of vinegar, bitter chocolate, and thoroughly blackened roast. Hint of lysol and strange fruitiness. Pristine balance, though. Finishes dirty and dry with a touch of tartness. Smooth and overly mild palate. Lulls a bit at the end. The munich sweetness is fairly marginal, but it’s solid.

Pours a light brown color with a small light tan head. That patented Schlenkerla big smoky bacon aroma is quite massive in the nose. I always find it tough to pull out other notes in smoke beers because thats really all I get. The taste is quite smoky as well, but big on the rich maltiness as well. Almost leaves a roasty flavor in the aftertaste. The finish was sharp and crisp with a campfire smokiness feeling to it. This has some decent balance to it. Nice smoked beer. These guys know what they’re doing.

Bottle: Massive smoke aroma. Malt on the palate but overpowered by huge smoky bacon flavours. An acquired taste undoubtedly, but one worth acquiring!

Pour: amber, deep red hues. Head: creamy offwhite. Aroma: meaty, strong smoke, charred. Flavor: meaty and smokey, very earthy and burnt. Palate: smooth. Finish: smokey roasty.

Bottle, 50 cl. Yesterday @ ratebeer meeting, Kulminator. Amber brown color, with a beige head. Aroma smoked, spicy. Medium body. Taste = malts, smoked, a bit sweetness. Not too bad.

From 50 cL bottle. Pours amber brown with a lacing light brown head. Meady and smoked aroma. Bacon flavoured and quite smoked. Damn this is good.

Bottle. For starters, please note that overpowering smoked meat smells are not my favorite. And this beer is overpoweringly full of smoked meat aroma. Immediate smells of beef jerky - very unique. Rich dark amber brown with a nice foamy head. Can taste the smokiness as well. Leaves a dry smoke flavor on the tongue. Flavor isn’t nearly as overpowering as the smell - hints of sweet malt to it. Taste is actually quite nice. I may not love this beer - but it sure does have character!

#300 - from City Beer Store in S.F. Poured a rich dark brown in a weizen glass with a nice light tan head. Good lacing too. Smell was very reminiscent of salted and peppered beef jerky and smoked bbq, and although it was very obvious, it wasn’t as extremely overpowering or offensive as I feared. I found it extremely enticing and the taste was not a letdown either. The base of the beer itself was smooth, perfectly malty and sweet with a touch of lingering smokiness and light bitterness in the finish. It was very full flavored, not overdone and perfectly crisp from the carbonation, and I was shocked at how drinkable this stuff was. I expected this to be a letdown b/c I was quite excited to try it, but I was very pleasantly surprised. Very good, and I can’t wait to try the other 2 varieties.