Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen

Bottle. Dark brown pour with minimal head. Smoke totally dominates the aroma and taste. Slight sweetness as well. Worth trying but would not buy.

I tried this beer’s Urbock cousin last year, and thought it was the worst crap I have ever had. However, I drank it without food on a cool afternoon, so I decided to try again. This time, I had the Marzen with grilled brats on a hot summer’s eve, complete with spicy mustard and kraut. If I’m ever going to like it, now’s the time, I figured. Unfortunately, the intense smoky aspect totally dominated the aroma, flavor and finish, to the point where I was alternating bites of Brat with sips of beer, just to get it down. I have somewhat enjoyed beers with a smoky tint (Great Lakes Engine 20 comes to mind), but the smoke is much too dominant in this Aecht Schlenkerla line for me. I REALLY tried on this one, but it can best be summed up like this: Set a pile of old clothes on fire, extinguish it with a bucket of water and drink the runoff.

Bottle. Smoked sausages (salami), burnt wood, not a beer smell and not like a single malt. A dark red clear body, off-white creamy head, good lacing and mostly lasting. The flavor is bitter-salty (salami again) with a average duration. Medium body, oily and dry texture with a soft carbonation. Really something unique you have to get used to, but then it starts to get interesting...

bottled. Nice creamy compact head. Very sparkling on the tongue. Persistent smoked and sweet end.

Pours a hazed blackish brown hue with no head or lacing. Smells are burnt wood and earth. The tastes are in-your-face, yet incredibly enigmatic. This beer made me feel I was eating liquid Bar-B-Que with campfire ashes mixed in. Apparent carbonation fills the mouth out with good intentions. This is great to try to spice things up in the middle of a drinking session with other more typical brews. Gotta try this with steak next time.

Beer pours a very dark crimson but looks almost brown if not held up to light. Little head with slight lacing. Hard to pull much out of the nose besides the enormous smoke aroma. You can get some meaty, earthy aromas in the background. Just tried the Ur-Bock last week and this Marzen is much bigger and bolder both in smell and taste. This Marzen is much more complex in the mouth altough I liked the nose of the ur-bock more. Big smokey grilled meet flavors, with great carbonation. Very smooth and esay going for such a different brew. You can get some slight flavors in the background of burnt caramel, and gamey flavors. I could drink 1 or 2 of these beasts but would probably want something else after that not sure though. Guess I’m gonna have to try:) And if you do get some make sure you buy an extra bottle to cook with. The lady friend is making some BBQ sauce as we speak with it that’s awesome!!!

pours deep copper with minimal head. aroma is strong of smoke (breakfast sausage and bacon) and touches of caramel sweetness. taste is very smoke with a nice malt presence behind. this beer isnt subtle and is very smoky which is quite nice.

Pours a dark amber with a small, quickly disappearing white head. Tastes of yummy breakfast and beef jerky. Aroma follows suit. I also get a slight oakiness to the beer. The beer sticks with me surprisingly well considering the mouthfeel is a little thin.