Upland Rauchbier

Brewed by Upland Brewing Company
Style: Smoked
Bloomington, Indiana USA

On tap at the brewpub. Pours dark but clear brown with just a bit of an off white head. The smoke character was actually pretty ashy throughout. Plenty of a Munich type malt backbone. Pretty easy to drink. Quite tasty actually.

On tap at Upland. Poured a dark amber with an off-white head. Aroma was very smokey, kind of like cured meat and a fireplace on a winter evening. Flavor is very smoking but it does not overwhelm as there is an underlying sweet malt note. A nice surprise.

Draught at Upland. Creamy, pitted, light brown head. Murky, reddish-brown body. Aroma is of light campfire smoke and coals...not as heavy as I had anticipated. Flavor contains more campfire with a touch of smoky meat and some underlying sweet crystal malt. Medium-full bodied, pleasant, lively carbonation. Somewhat sticky, but with a nice, balancing bitterness. Fairly dry finish. Overall very well done. Highly drinkable and repeatable.

Rating no. 2100 (surprise!). Draught during their Oktoberfest event (complete with German-sprinkled menus). This is the realization of Tom Wallbank’s UpCup (Pro-Am) winning Rauchbier recipe, and it’s a beaut! Hazy scarlet/brown body with a creamy beige head. Nose is medium-smoky, more campfire than ham. Harsher/sharper than the Bambergers I know, but we can ascribe that to character. Taste is heavy, meaty smoke (not ham). Nice chewy malt, crystal is a little strong and harsh, though. Dry. Full body, nice and sessionable. Would love to see this become a yearly release, even if that entails hand-smoking all the malt.