Baron Rauchbier

Brewed by Baron Brewing & Lunar Brewing
Style: Smoked
Seattle, Washington USA

courtesy of guhaver. Pours cloudy golden. Aroma had a good yeasty nose, faint presence of smoke, grainy. Taste, smoke although it remained just too weak, light fruits. Decent beer, just not enough smoke in there to be really enjoyed.

Bottle: Pours hazy orange with a dense white head that lasts. Aroma is lightly smoky. Some smoked ham becomes consumed by off-lager notes of hydrogen sulfide and fart notes. Light, thin body. Flavor is a bit salty and sulfuric with a light smoky peated malt presence in the background. A light sour dough note comes through, with almost a wheat-like tartness (though I know there’s probably no wheat in the mash) Lacking body and smoke, and also seems a bit off.

A nice rauchbier that defies logic. The aroma is near nothing. Could pick up a hint of smoke but not very strong. Pour was a nice gold with a 1 finger off white head. Taste was a lot better than the aroma- nothing in the front but a strong beef jerky smokiness in the aftertaste. The aftertaste makes this beer great and it would be in the 4s if the aroma were as smokey as the flavor. Nice carbonation.

Draught, Falling Rock. Head is fully diminishing. Body is medium amber. Aroma is moderately malty (grain, cereal), with notes of smoke, vegetables, and peach. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, lightly to moderately bitter, unclean. Medium body, watery texture, lively/soft carbonation. A truly sad brewery that is consistently poor in quality, but we’re all secretly rooting for anyway (we simply can’t have enough German-style beers IMHO).

On tap at Falling Rock, GABF 2008. Mostly cloudy, honey amber colored pour with a quickly dissipating head of off white. Grainy, husky, smoked malt notes with hints of corn and a light, raisiny munich character. Medium light bodied, softly carbonated mouthfeel with a thin, flabby texture. Faint smoke flavors up fron on the palate with some thin, doughy malt. Light, crusty bread crust with a substantial amount of vegetal flab in the finish.

20080510 From growler at Pauls 1st Hoboken gathering. Not sure who to thank for this one, but I liked it. Pale amber color with thin head. Aroma is only lightly smoky with doughy malts. Light, sweet palate. Mineral flavors compliment emerging smoke and light tartness. Clean, pretty well executed smoked beer.

This golden ale poured with nice off-white head, eliciting a sour smoky aroma. There is a thin caramel malt base that is not sufficient to support the smoky texture of a rauchbier. There is also a sourness that is completely out ao character for this style. I love rauchbier as a style, but this one left me wanting.

Pours a full bronze-amber glass with suitable head. Appealing smoky aroma, hits precisely the right pitch. Flavor profile benefits from a sturdy malt backbone off which the smoked woody flavors create a wonderful complexity. This paired excellently with a hearty chili though would surely be a go to beer for any grill-out. Easily the most enjoyable rauchbier I have sampled to date.