Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen

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

Bottle. Clear, deep ruby red/dark brown. Smokey bacon aroma. Smokey, meaty flavour. Medium to full bodied, nice mouthfeel. I like this so much, I’m almost stunned (in the ’I was expecting to find it appalling, after my last go of a smoked beer 10 years ago’ sense).

Pours deep red with a mid-sized off-white head. Big smoky aroma. The smoke flavor is more subtle than that of the Schlenkerla Urbock, but the base beer is better. Toasted malts and caramel pave the way for a fairly strong smoke finish. An excellent Marzen with an excellent smoky twist.

Bottle - pours a dark brown body with a tannish head. Aroma is smoke, and lots of it! Smells like bacon or a sausage. There’s really no other way to put it. Flavors are malty sweet, and really smokey. They’ve balanced the malt profile here perfectly though with the smoke flavor its just delicious.

On tap at The Rake, London. I really like smoked beers, this is one of the best. Dark brown in colour with small head. Smoky aroma, smoke/bacon taste, almost like sucking on a bonfire (not that I have tried doing that). Surprisingly easy to drink. Had this many times in the bottle.

Pours a deep chestnut brown into the glass, with a generous eggshell-tan head that reduces to a thin cap, leaving medium-soapy lace. The nose is very much of smoked peat, jerk spices, Slim-Jims and bacon. The flavors are reminiscent of their Urbock, with bacon, peat, smoked processed beef sticks, malt, dry-spice pork rub, with lots of smoke to go around. Very nice. The mouthfeel is perfectly medium-round, with well-integrated subtle carbonation, and a nice body with exquisite effervescence (i.e. aftereffects, residual aftertaste, etc.). This is almost as nice as the Urbock, lacking slightly in complexities of the big brother. I just love this take on the Märzen, Urbock and Weizen styles by Brauerel Heller brewers. They are a class act, and produce superb smokebiers. Prost!

I really appreciate this unique brew. A friend said it reminded them of beef jerkey. I can agree. Very heavy with the smoke flavor to the point where it really does become a bit too overpowering to anything else in the beer. Yet, somehow it works well.

Bottle at Aufsturz, march 07. Deep, shinny copper color with golden hues and a tight beige head. Aroma is of bacon, barbacue, but not over the top. Tastes of smoked ham, a bit astringent and some toasted malts at the end. Solid, balanced and catchy smoked character. MF is medium, although the smoke factor affects drinkability from my point of view. Interesting and evidently well crafted, but not something I would drink everyday.

500mL Bottle. Rich clear orange brown pour, with ultra-clean head of off-white. Distant campfire and wood stove smoke aroma; musky. Good dense malt blast. Some hickory tinged barbeque as well. Flavor pretty much continues the aroma, with more savory pig fat smoked flavor, developing at the back end. Sweetened with brown sugar. Interesting. Drinkable, but fairly static and smoke overwhelmed. Revisit. 3.9.2008. Much more balanced and delicate than I remember. Dry and focus on some barbeque sugars. Malt comes through a little. Lager softness. Not really all that overwhelmed. At this point in my career, I could handle more smoke. A damn good beer.