Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen

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

Earthy smoke aroma, after the upfront smoke this Rauchbier thins out with a smooth malt base. Definitely a unique classic Euro beer. I don’t think the label has changed in at least twenty years. Browsing over these ratings it looks like you either love it or hate in.

Caramel brown, small off white head. Caramel, wood smoke aroma, little meat and earth. Tangy smoke flavor, delicate malt. Smoke seems a little heavy-handed on it’s own, but with sausage it’s just the thing.

Bottle. Pours a dark brown with a creamy beige head. Huge gorgeous campfire smoke. Cleanest most pure smoke I’ve smelled on a beer. Smooth, creamy, and malty with a nice smoke coming through over light caramel. Finishes up with even more gorgeous smoke that lingers around. The smoke in here is amazing. Doesn’t overpower, but it’s always present and infuses all aspects of the beer.

Imperial Pint Bottle: This beer pours an almost clear, brown color. There was about no head to it, although it was a little carbonated. The aroma was smokey, even bordering on the aroma of smoked fish. Nothing else seems to be able to get through. The taste is smokey also. A bit of maltiness in the background. This just doesn’t get it for me.

Dark reddish brown with a foamy white head. Aroma is very smoked. Flavor is dominated of smoke, roasted malt and hops. Good balance of the malt and smoke in the finish.

Bottle: Deep red/brown clear colur, with a thin head. Aroma of tar, smoked, bacon. Flavor is almost the same,werry comlex, and smoky. Thin to medium body, medium to long smokey finish. This is not my type of beer.

Bought this recently and got a very different impression from a bottle I brought back from Germany. I enjoyed the one straight from the source (no surprise there). Wonder if this hadn’t been well kept or my tastes have changed so quickly. The good impression was one that I wouldn’t enjoy all the time, but was akin to BBQ in a bottle. A nice, but strong mix of smoked flavor playing off the malt sweetness. This latter bottle gave an overly smoky flavor with something fishy that I couldn’t quite put my finger on .... kept trying to find before I just gave up and headed for the drain. ______________________________ Retooling what seems a really unfair rating as the times I had this brought VERY divergent feelings. - the drain pour above, and one where my nose lingered above the glass and the ultra-smoked flavor was a delight, definitely dominating, but still playing with the malt and sweetness.

oh hell yes. dark ruby in the light, black in the glass with a tall creamy white head. campfire aroma, instantly nostalgic with happy thoughts. Heavy smoked alder charcoal, singular but awesome. smoky tasty lingering and spot on.