Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Urbock

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

500 ml bottle. Clear, reddish amber body with a big, dense, beige head. Aroma is totally dominated by smoke but also a hint of caramel. Flavor dominated by smoke, campfire sausages, skin from mackerel, bacon, and also some sweet malt and hops. There is some kind of complexity here well hidden behind a wall off smoke. Interesting but not exactly my thing.

Keg at the GBBF 2009. Not as dark as the bottle version which is inky black. Outstanding aroma of fireside smokiness, hay and a touch of a meaty quality. Lovely, rich umami flavours, touching on smoked beef jerky (in a good way). There’s some caramel and licorice as well. Absolutely fantastic.

Cask@GBBF, 2009. Dark brown/almost black looking beer. The aroma is very smokey and mildly malty, and the flavour is smokey, mildly bitter and malty. Overall a nice smokey beer.

I’ve been waiting a while to try this one, thanks Hessen Haus! Pours a dark almost ruby color with a nice fluffy head. Aroma is bacon, campfire, some sweet roasty malt, and a bit of nuttiness. But of course, it mostly smells smoky. The flavor is very smoky with some bacon and a little bit of salt; there is a nice roasty malt sweetness here as well. Obviously with something like this it’s a little one dimensional, but what it lacks in complexity it more than makes up for in quality, this tastes absolutely wonderful.

dark brown/black pour with light head. smokey rich dark malt and some mustiness. Fantastic smoke flavor, not as abrasive as some, works well with the hearty sweet malt.

deep brown pour with a small, light tan colored head. Aroma is very smoky, with notes of bacon, wood, caramel, and roasty qualities. Flavor holds much of the same, but isn’t as aggressive as the aroma; the flavor slowly develops, and the full complexity of the smoked style hits its zenith right near the finish. The palate is fairly smooth, but a bit thin- would like it to be a bit denser. Still a really nice brew.

50 cl bottle at hotel in Copenhagen, June 2009. Brown color, big beige head. Aroma is extremely smoked, also «cellar/old». Flavor is very fine balance beteween smoke, and caramel malt. Ok bitterness.

Bottle. Wow, I opened this and the smoky aroma poured out of the bottle. Poured a deep dark brown with a big foamy light brown head. Aroma is mostly smoke with some wood and ham. Flavor is, well… smoke, the heavy sweet malt base is there but the smoky roasty flavor adds a slight bitterness. This is about the smokiest beer I’ve had that I really enjoyed, as the beer warmed over time and my palate got used to the flavor the real enjoyment started.