Wildfire Rauchbier
Penobscot Bay Brewery

Excellent blanket lacing from the never ending small head. Dark amber color. Clear.

Very good smoky aroma -- not too much, but enough to let you know this is a Rauchbier.

The body is thin. The darker malt starts the taste followed quickly by the smoky and drying mouthfeel. The carbonation is muted. The finish is all smoke bringing a lengthy aftertaste.

Pint can - no date, but I know it has several months on it - poured into a tulip pint at 50F.

Pours an incredibly dark mahogany, with some red highlights, and three fingers of light tan foamy head, that recedes at a moderate pace, leaving substantial lacing, and a thick collar behind.

On the nose, smoky, savory malt dominates, but it's a very subdued aroma. Wood smoke, lots of caramel, toffee, molasses, some cocoa, and this meaty smoked ham. Yes, it has some smoky character, but it also has some wonderful roasted malt going on. As it opens up, there's even a faint hint if dark fruit/raisin coming up.

On the palate, you're greeted with a sweet roasted malt body. Brown sugar, toffee, burned caramel, and some dried fruit. Not all that different from a real dark, sweet Oktoberfestbier. Not even all that different from a dry stout. It's not that sweet, but there's a thin thread of sweetness running through it. Halfway through, on thr mid palate, it turns bright, fruity, and foral, with those figgy dried fruits surfacing, some cleaner grain, and then a surprisingly bright spikey citrus note. Then, it brings you into the finish, drying out super fast, and bringing this wonderful, ashy, smoky, charcoal dryness, that builds and builds, until eventually finishing completely dry, and ever-so-slightly bitter, in a dry ashen way. The smoke on the palate isn't as meaty as it presents itself on the nose. It's a cleaner, ashier, woodier smoke. This smoky finish lingers for ages.

Mouthfeel: despite all sensory experiences suggesting otherwise, this beer is surprisingly light on it toes, dare I say even a touch thin. There's a little bit of weight as it kicks off, but it lightens up fast, taking on a more traditional lager feel. The effervescence is quite plentiful, further assisting in the perceived lightness of it all. It evolves on the palate, starting off with a touch of sweet malt, and gets progressively lighter and drier the further in you go. No major flaws. Some more heft would be welcomed though.

Overall, I actually quite like this. It's well behaved and almost inviting, even, with a deceptively friendly facade, but then as you get into it, it proves to have some remarkable character, while retaining a simplistic element. It's not offensive, but it has enough grit to make you think about it. I would absolutely recommend this to someone looking to switch things up a little bit.

 

 

Taste is of smoke, roasted malt, and some bark like bitterness towards the end. The bitterness seems a bit out of place with what I typically associate with the style, but is interesting. Above average but there are several others in the style I would go to first.

 

 

Poured into a straight lipped ale glass: color is brown, dense looking; head is great looking, nice tan color presenting at least 1/2 inch thick with nice lingering quality.

Aroma is also very good, especially as it warms up: malt flavors are present with touch of caramel and some light sweetness, but it is nicely dominated by a full smoke presence, assuming this is the the beech smoked malt, but its presence is dominate which i prefer.

Taste is good: definitely a good smoke presence and a nice malt backbone. Malt is pretty neutral, touch of toast, but enough sweetness to balance the harsher smoke. The smoke tastes like the more neutral beech wood smoke.

Mouthfeel is very good for a smoked beer: nice carbonation, good crispness, and subtle bitterness from the smoke. Dryness starts to set in on the tongue but only slightly.

Overall, at first taste this beer seemed subdued, but as the ale warmed the flavor greatly expanded... great smoke presence and good malt balance. The malt flavors are neutralized by the smoke but the flavors compliment. Another very nice Maine beer.

 

 

From the 650 ml. bottle. Sampled on March 13, 2014.

The pour is a handsome looking chestnut-amber color with this ridiculously explosive tan head. That could be the way I poured it or it may be overly carbonated.

Smoked cheddar on the nose at first along with toasted malts and toffee that has a sort of buttery or vegetable oil feel to it. That kind of weakens the experience.

The body is about medium with a slight acidic quality to it. Despite the tremendous head the carbonation stays together well on my tongue.

The taste is a lot like Smoked Cheddar cheese. The smokiness does not meld as well with the malts but instead it has a kind of buttery flavor and a lightly mild bitterness at the end. Smoked beers are high on my style list and this one has some good points but not quite to the level I would have hoped.

Poured into a Dogfish Head pint glass. Pours a dark mahogany brown with a one finger off-white head with good retention and lacing. Light aroma of caramel malt and campfire smoke. Flavor of charred malt, light caramel malt, smokehouse, faint dark fruit that is hard to detect under the smokiness. Light bodied with peppery active carbonation. An interesting rauchbier, but has a fairly light malt bill and little flavor other than the smokiness. The smoke is nice and tastes natural, but could use some other interesting flavors to support it in the background. The carbonation in this bottle was a little overachieving and distracted from the light flavors. Glad I tried it, but probably would not repeat.

22oz bottle.

Pours dark amber with an inch of beige, tight head. A quarter inch skim coat and tattered lacing for the duration.

Aromatics lead off with malty smoke and a hint of chocolate. Slightly nutty with caramel and mild smoke.

Medium bodied with a creamy mouthfeel.

Malt and light roast start the palate. Hints of nut-studded chocolate and smoke follow through.

Finishes with some light smoke and sweet malt.

A light-duty smoked beer with very mild smoke.

 

 

$6.99/22oz. bottle

A: deep rich copper color, full thick head that kept it all the way to the bottom of the glass
S: rich chocolate malt with pronounced smoke
T: rich chocolate malt, well-balanced with smokiness and hops, not over the top with hop bitterness
M: rich and malty mouthfeel

Poured from the bottle into a shaker pint glass. Happy Holidays!

A classic red copper amber and clear, belows with a real large tan head, thin bubbled and slowly settling. Cream clump action on the head, leaves a great top on the head. Classic looking Rauch, very nice.

Nose is nice and light smoke. Beechwood like fireplace ember sensations, meaty, subtle, hints of jerky and sausage. Solid.

Palate hits a little subtle unfortunately. Not much of a thick malt backbone to this, but small smoke with hints of even hop presence in the aftertaste. Feel has a good depth without a syrup like coating. There's a bit of noticeable caramel sweetness which I don't normally find on other producers of this style.

Overall though, this is a pretty darn good example of the style. Can't think of too many other American made Rauchs that are this good or close to the German textbook greatness producers (Schlenkerla). I could have this anytime, worth drinking again.

 

Smoky, smoky, smoky. Beautiful dark color and woodsmoke aroma. This is an intense beer. It tastes like your clothes smell after a campfire. That's part good, and part bad. For uniqueness I give it a 5, but for drinkability, I give it a 2. I split a bomber with 2 other people, and that was plenty to get the full flavor of this old German style beer. It's a beer I will be talking about for awhile, but I don't know how often I will drink it...

Reviewed from notes.

A- Dark brown with some red in the light. Foamy light charred tan head forms with decent retention, only a bit of foam after it dies down. A few rare spots of lace.

S- Mostly dark fruit and the smoked malt playing off of each other. Cherry, smoked malt and campfire/grilled meat comes to mind.

T- Fairly simple here too. Smoked malt is the main flavor with some dark cherry and general cereal grains. Some spice and nutty brown malt feel.

MF- Lighter body with a fairly watery overall feel. Carbonation is moderate but the body lacks a fulfilling consistency overall.

Solid delivery of smoked malt flavors but lacks depth. The mouthfeel leaves me asking for more.