Smoke Signal Rauchbier
Oregon Trail Brewery

Waxed top bottle:

Pours hazed brown with a towering off-white head.

The smell is of lightly smoked meat and molasses.

The taste is of smoked meat and molasses. Some fruitiness in the back balances it out and adds depth. The yeast strain comes through a bit. Balanced smoked sweetness in the finish. 7.3% abv well-covered. Medium-to-full bodied.

A nice interpretation of a rauchbier. Pair with the obvious - smoked meats.

Thanks to jcwattsrugger for bringing this one back from his trip to the Pacific NW!

Picked up a bottle from Corvallis Brewing Supply right downtown. I've been brewing some smoked beers lately and wanted to see how this one stood up.

According to the label 7.3% ABV and brewed with "... traditional German Bamberg Smoked Malt...this well-balanced ale is unique in flavor and aroma."

Appearance: Deep amber with an off white head that fades. Very clear.

Smell: Med-strong smoked malt, beech wood smoked by Weyermann of Bamberg most likely, low esters, low-no hop aroma.

Taste: Full bodied, sweet malt, crystal, smoke, then sweet, then smoke. Bit sweet in the finish, hop flavor low.

Drinkablility: High gravity leads to a beer that is a 'C' on drinkability. A bit cloying but the malt stands up well to the smoked malt.

Aside from a Rogue ale, this is the only rauchbier I’ve seen brewed in the state of Oregon. The style has never become too popular for reasons that are attributable to conservative taste preferences and the peculiar qualities of this traditional Bavarian specialty. Some smoke beers can be hard to handle; they are an acquired taste that few acquire.

But Oregon Trail’s Smoke Signal is more accessible than most. It is a smoked amber color, top-fermented, and is brewed with genuine Bamberg malts to achieve a smoky and well-seasoned palate. But Smoke Signal resists being too “sausage-like” as some rauchbiers are. Thus, while the flavor is complex, it is neither cumbersome nor alienating, making it drinkable to the casual beer enthusiast who may wish to explore the style further. It tastes like a beer, not a salami.

This is a rotational offering for Oregon Trail, and a fairly gutsy choice for a brewery that brews only seven beers and bottles none. It is one of the better rauchbiers I’ve tasted.