Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen

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

surprised me by being smokey in more of a salmon than an ashtray or whisky kind of way. clean, smooth, rich, and easy to drink. also surprised me by having a nice fresh bitterness. it was pretty funny to see groups of old grandmas walk into pubs in bamberg and order a round of half litres of the stuff.

Wow. The aroma is very strong right out of the bottle. Smells of smoked bacon/ham/sausage. Has a similar taste, with a zesty feel of carbonation on the toungue. Aftertaste is smokey, bitter, and slightly spicey. This beer goes great with food, or by itself for an unusual yet nice change.

I just think it’s phenomenal what they can do with malts and whatever else went into this beer. It’s insane. Like chewing on a meat lovers pizza (minus the cheese and crust). Very very smoked.. like summer sausage actually.

Mad props to KAggie97 for laying this one on me...my first Rauchbier. Pours a deep cola color with creamy head. Nose is big time smoked jerky/bacon and other lovely meats. Flavor is smoked meats again (big surprise) as well as some light malt notes. Lighter bodied than I expected, which actually made it very drinkable. Interestingly good.

From the bottle.

I’ve had this one sitting in my cellar for six months or so; I was inspired by Oakes’ latest column ( http://www.ratebeer.com/Beer-News/Article-621.htm ) to pull it out and give it a taste.

Pours an elegant clear caramel brown without much head. Smoked malt of course dominates the aroma, with a bit of dry-cleaner’s shop in there as well. The flavor is not as powerfully smoky as the aroma, at least on the front side of each sip. This gives the caramel malts a chance come through, rich and slightly sweet, before the smoke intermingles with mild bitter hops to provide the finish.

I’m relative newcomer to smoked beers; in some ways the smoked malts remind me of a strongly dry-hopped IPA in the mouth-drying finish. I can’t say that I’m to the point where I prefer the smoke to the hops, but this is interesting and enjoyable as well.

Thin small head. Smoky bacon aroma (breakfast beer?). Tastes like smoked ham. Smooth. Little hop aroma/flavor --but that is not really part of style. Dark amber colored. I like it. Will drink again.

Dark copper approaching cola color. Moderate, tight-bubbled off-white head. Huge nose of smoked bacon, tobacco, leather, earth. Notes of sweetness, reminiscent of baked brown sugar, behind the smoke. The flavor is full of smoke and bitter tobacco but with a delicate sugary sweetness, too. Moderate carbonation, clean, but with the lingering aftertaste of smoke and bitter hops. Dry in the end. I was quite impressed at the start with the rich complexity of aromas and flavors, but a little of this beer went a long way for me. Once I passed 12 ounces, I was thinking enough already. Still, the first 12 ounces were outstanding.

like liquid jerky and I mean that as a compliment. Probably wouldn’t want to have more than 1L of this at any one time because the flavor is a bit strong, but I felt it a great sitting beer.