Abraxxxas
Freigeist Bierkultur

Beer #2500, marking my 131st beer style of the 131 currently listed on BeerAdvocate.

The smokiness dominates the aroma and the taste. This style isn't for me.

 

Little did I know when I had this earlier in the year that it would become its own style on BA! I thought it was just a weird smoked berliner. So here goes the full review of my very first lichtenhainer! Somewhat murky yellow body with a white cap. Smoke, lemon, slight pear and apple vague tones, wheat, and lacto. Taste is much the same, wheat is delciate and soggy. Feels like a berliner and a grodziske combined: slightly tart, slightly smokey, lighter and thinner, but wheat is the softer backbone, but much more still as the carb is low. Don't have anything to compare within the style, so score may change once I have had more lichtenhainer, but it was an all-around good beer to me

RB transfer

Cloudy, golden color. Medium-sized, white head Aroma of smoked ham and wheat malt with a hint of yeasty fruitiness. Smoky and sweet taste, balanced by gentle lactic acidity. Refreshing and easy to drink.

 

 

16oz can. Poured out a clear, golden color with a very small, off-white head of foam. The short-lived head left no lacing. It smelled of tart lemon with smokiness and toasted caramel. Nice tart taste with a mild smokiness. Good toasted caramel and toffee backbone.

 

Look - nice light brown and looks thick with a white head
Smell - slight tart sweet pear smell with possibly some bright red cherry
Taste - not that tart with a slight grainy light fruit taste
Feel - medium lighter body with no real carb
Overall - interesting beer

 

Smoked Berliner Weisse done with a rauchbier touch from Germany via Bloomington, Indiana. That's a lot to digest. Admittedly, neither Berliner weisse or rauchbier are favorite styles of mine. This beer pours thin, very little head, and clear gold. Smoke and sour, while I appreciate the experimental aspect, just does not work as a combo. The sour is overdone, wince-worthy on some sips, and the smoke layer is equally thin.

 

So this is a pretty wild beer from back in 2014. A smoked berliner.

So this pours dark for a berliner weisse, more of an amber color than traditional yellow/gold. 1/2" white head. The aroma starts where it gets interesting. Sure, there is the smoke, and its light, neat and appropriate, but there is also more of a toasted caramel note that isn't familiar in a berliner at all, but its cool.

Taste is good, yeah, this really is a smoked berliner weisse, ample wheat character and tang to it. Its probably a 3 on the 10pt sour scale, but its entirely appropriate here. Has that controlled burn of hay and weeds on a farm vibe. The mouth feel is actually pretty light, and even though 6% is up there and prolly out of style guidelines for a berliner, it isn't problematic. This beer is a cool niche, and I would buy it more if I saw it more often (and if it was in a more cost friendly format, like 4/12oz bottles or whatnot. I do recommend, you probably haven't had a beer like this!

 

 

 

Look: Solid, transparent gold with an almost white head of soft bubble foam that disappears to a thin layer covering the surface of the beer.

Smell: Smokey like oak chips but not overly burnt, offset by some maltiness. There's also some tart notes that come through from time to time.

Taste: Smoke first, malt second, then the tongue fires up when the tartness comes through. Not "sour" or even super tart in the candy sense, just slightly acidic to work with the smokiness and wheaty malt backbone.

Feel: Very refreshing, smooth, present carbonation.

Overall: Very interesting historical beer style, I could see why people in the 1800s would have enjoyed this.