Triumph Rauchweizen

Brewed by Triumph Brewing Company
Style: Smoked
Princeton, New Jersey USA

30.07.06 Tap at New Hope, also brought growler home, also had the Princeton version 14.07.06 from a growler courtesy of egajdzis at BCTC. These two versions are only similar, but each one was freaking fantastic. I didn’t take notes on the Princeton version, knowing that I’d be having it again shortly in New Hope, but not realizing it would be a quite different beer. Whatever, I loved them equally and will stand by my score as an amalgam of the two with notes on the NH version only.

The beer is a hazed dark amber color with small and fading tan head. Aromas immediately waft and I’m rapt by the woodsmoked siren’s song. The wonderful honey, clove, and banana notes do nothing to contradict the mission of the smoked malts, in fact enhancing the overall picture of the beer in such a beautiful way as I’ve never before experienced. Caramelized fruits abound on the palate as if lightly charred on a campfire stone. The interplay of hefeweizen tartness with the natural acidity of the smoked malt is a wonderful dance. I will say that the Princedton version leaned more heavily on the hefe yeast esters, while this New Hope concoction if more firmly rooted in its Bamberg soil. The finish is predictably long as the sweet and smoke tickle the palate forever. Even driving home I can still taste this beer and enjoy retronasal wafts of burnt beechwood. Why, I beg, has this style of beer not been better explored!?

I really enjoyed this type of beer. Poured hazy yellow with fluffy white head. Aroma of a BBQ. A smoky flavor throughout with some fruit hints. Very different and very good.

12 oz handbottle, via Dickinsonbeer. Pours a cloudy dark copper to orance colored body under a one finger foamy white head with great retention. Aroma is just beautiful. Images of smoky campfires, sausages, and bacon appear in my head. Behind that, spicy wheat, fruity esters, and yeast peek out. Flavor is well balanced between the smoke and fruity esters from the yeast. More of a subdued smoke versus some of the German classics, but way beyond the usual American brewpub’s efforts. Finishes fairly dry. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with a very soft well rounded almost creamy texture. Pinpoint soft moderate carbonation is just perfect. Overall, this was a pretty frickin awesome beer.

Poured a cloudy golden color with a medium sized, off white head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of banana, caramel malts, clove and nuts, with subtle hints of smoked wood in the background. Taste was refreshing like a nice German hefe, with banana, light clove and citrus fruits, with a really nice, smokey meat taste coming through strong.

Princeton - Looks like banana puree in a glass with a head. Grain and smoke up front in the nose, hints of clove. Medium to heavy bodied, wheat malts hit you as hard as the smoke, but lighter than other smoked beers. Superb balance of smoke to malt, then the banana comes through in the finish. Yet another reason to go to Triumph!

Much thanks to egajdzis for this fine growler of nectar... Appears a cloudy haze of light gold with a small white cap that slowly fades out. Tons of streaked lacing is left around the glass. Smell is of crisp wheat, banana, clove, bubblegum, and subtle smokiness. Taste is of the same aromas. Really delicious stuff and a fine hybrid mix that I’ve never come accross before...I’m glad I did now though. Mouthfeel is light bodied, creamy, sweet up front.

Ohhh man!! I gotta get me more of this!!! This was at the Brewery and it was quite a treat. Nice and smokey!

Growler at Heavweight. Cloudy and golden in color with a nice sized off white head. Malty fruity and smokey nose. Banana and clove notes. Flavor is smokey and very nice. Crisp and refreshing tasing tFinish is spicey. Full bodied. Well balanced. Very nice.