Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen

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

Dark brown appearance with a trace of red; average head, good lacing. Intense, woodsy aroma that hinted of pepperoni. Smooth, roasted malt taste with mild bitterness. Medium-to-full bodied mouthfeel, moderate carbonation, and a long lasting, balanced finish.

Light to dark maple color. Fantastic smokey, mesquite barbeque aroma. Slightly thin watery body but still flavorfull. Bold malt flavor, comes through a little bitter. Aftertaste is dry and pleasant. An interesting beer, would be great with some pork dishes.

The intense woody smoke flavor and aroma is great. This is a truly interesting beer not for the novice. The malty smoke flavor and aroma are not something I could drink much of, but when I do I really enjoy it. This beer would accompany cheese and anything spicy well.

A tad smokier than their Urbock, and much smokier than the Weizen. Color is a very dark red, nearly black. The aroma is bacon. Seriously, it just smells like bacon, and little else. Hints of ham or other meats maybe, but not much of the usual malt/hop aromas of non-smoked beers. The flavor is also very meaty. I enjoyed the flavor, but the problem is that there isn't much of a hop presence, or even maltiness, to balance the smoke... so it really just tastes like smoke in a bottle. If you're in the mood for a beer like this it's great, but if you're not it's a bit too intense. I prefer the Urbock.

Bottle from The Offie, Leicester. This is so special it really should be my 200th beer, but hey ho! that's the way it goes. Big charcoal aroma. Dark chestnut colour, with a quickly receding head, which leaves a patchy residue on top, and spidery lacing. Huge initial meat flavour, but with the odd speck of sugar. Malt and watery taste at the end, once the bar-b-q flavour has subsided some. This is like a meal - I wouldn't be able to drink much of it in a single session, but it is a delicious speciality, and still surpisingly crisp, due to it's thinnish mouthfeel. Nice lingering taste too.

Tasted this on alongside the Rauchbier Urbock. The marzen was less intense but still an amazing beer. Brown with a nice lacy head. Of course, the nose and taste are smoke, but there is more.

Poured a rich reddish-copper (almost like crystal cola) in the glass. A 2 finger tan fine pored head sprang up but reduced to a surface clinging 2cm cap that laced on the glass. Not overly carbonated. overriding aroma is of smoke...some some grainy-bready malt under the good food processing type smoke.. like birch or hardwood, reminiscent of smoke house meats. The first gulp the smoke overpowers your senses..all go blotto on the smoke signals...but after you have a sip or two or you finish a couple of pieces of cheese or oysters, the smoke power wanes and you get the mellow character of this delicate marzen...and it is delicate... with lots of subtle complexity (well made) you just don’t get there on the first couple of gulps because it’s cloaked by the smoke. All in all this is a toughie of a beer to slot...great beer but too damn strong on smoke to be useful for anything else than a drink with similar strong tasting foods to off set them....like Jalapeno-infused anything or a strong tasting fish meal or mutton....I really liked this beer but I would never drink it on its own in a session with out food ....I had smoke taste up my nostrils and on the palate the next day...thought I slept through a fire in the complex’....go easy on this brew...to be taken with food of a similar strength only!!

Bottle. Poured a dark brown color with a large creamy cascading off-white head that was mostly lasting and good lacing. Heavy roasted malt smoke aroma. Medium body with a smooth texture. Heavy smoke and light bitter flavor with the same long finish. Great spicy food or cigar brew.