Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen

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

Bottled from West Lake View Liquors. Thanks for always carrying stuff no one else will! Pours a dark brown with a white head. Aroma of smoke, campfire smoke with a meatiness ... like a ham with a little oak as well. Roasted flavors smoke tar meat. A pig on a spit over the open fire. That’s exactly what this is. And I love it. Finishes with a roasted charred meat flavor.

Bottle. Pours a dark amber to brown body with a one and a half finger ashy head, head is creamy white som bobbles in it. Aroma is smoke and smoked meat. Smokey taste and som last. The smoke is very intense and woody almost like an forestfire. The aftertaste is reminds me of how your clothes smell after you have been at an bonefire. Some bitternes in the aftertaste. Palate is mouthtfilling thick and creamy.

Srtong smoky aroma with a hint of cereals and leather. Dark brown appearance with a weak foam. Flavor is also very smoky, still it isnt so strong as you could imagine. Balanced, good aftertaste. Great rauchbier, strong character but still not so challenging taste.

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.