Fastenbier
Art History Brewing

 

 

 

 

 

Deep orange with ruby highlights, a finger of tan head and enough carbonation to keep a thin foam layer supplied and a tiny bit of lacing.
Smoky but with a doused fire component that maybe strikes a pleasant chord of breaking camp.
Nicely balanced smokiness with brown sugar to get a bacon finish - slight deduction for the beech as opposed to alder smoked.
Medium body compliments the style.
Very good, local for me and a touch of history to boot.

 

Canned on 02-15-23, notes taken 03-04-23. Poured from a tall can into a short Becher. Label says to keep refrigerated below 37°? Rather chilly.

L -- Clear, deep copper-walnut with a tall, sudsy, off-white head that settles slowly.

S -- Smoky malts with light phenols back. No straight up malts discernible.

T -- Smoky malts up front with some light herbal, bitter hops back that linger through the finish and aftertaste. There's a touch of lightly sweet malts in the finish, but it's overpowered by smoky phenols and herbal hops. Some tart, dark fruit characters become present in the aftertaste with warming -- these don't play well with the phenols and bitter hops.

F -- Mouthfeel is soft to dry with a light-medium body.

O -- This isn't a bad drinker for the initiated, but if it's a first sample of a Rauchbier, the one-trick-pony of mostly Rauchmalz character might turn you off Rauchbier for good. Not one of which I'd have two in a sitting.

 

 

poured from a 16oz can into a new glarus dimpled mug. pours a dark brown with almost three fingers of sandy brown foam. light smoke, dark bread, cherry wood, cherries and rye toast on the nose and taste. very subtle smoke on this one and even less as it warms up a bit. medium-full mouthfeel with a slightly smoky, almost oaky finish. this was interesting. i haven’t had a lot of smoked beers but this one was way more subtle on the smoke and much easier drinking than the ones i’ve tried. i liked this quite a bit.

Pours a crystal clear, dark amber color. Lightly effervescent. Two to three finger tan head forms on the beer and lingers for a moment before dissipating. A thin residual layer of foam remains on the top of the beer along with some stick lacing on the glass. The aroma has notes of smoked malts, campfire smoke, a touch of bread, with a lightly spicy, floral hop character.

Taste follows the nose with notes of smoked malts, some rustic bread, a bit of campfire smoke and a noticeable hoppy bitterness on the back end that brings with it some spicy, floral notes. The smoked malts are excellently balanced - not dominating the profile to the detriment of the other flavors. Feel is light to medium bodied. Smooth with moderate carbonation. Semi-dry finish.

Overall an outstanding smoked beer from Art History. They brew some excellent lagers and this one is no exception. A must try for fans of smoked beers.

A wonderful Rauchbier that I need to drink again soon, side-by-side with, say, Schlenkerla's Fastenbier. Just to be sure that Art History's offering is as masterful as it seems.

Art History starts with a beautiful dark amber, exquisite in the setting sun. (I also give points here for an impressive label, as many are from Art History.) Smell and Tastes are, of course, smoked; but what is key is that they are so integrated. No surprises, no strong finish. Balanced. In my mouth, medium and fine. I had a bowl of popcorn to see how the Fastenbier's smoke complements the hot oil of popcorn. A good guess and the right choice.

While I've only had three from Art History, they were all German darks and were multi-repeats... my form of high praise. Prost !

4/13/22 Had a second copy on the last day of Lent and enjoyed it with Indian food; the eggplant had been seared/smoked, so was a good pairing. The lager calmed the spices. Counting @ UnTappd.

 

Canned 3/2/22; drank 3/6/22 @ the Yarchives.

See-through orange/brown appearance.

A rough pour yielded a big khaki head; a thick curtain of tree-rung lace.

Smoke & faint acorn notes in the nose.

Medium mouthfeel.

Acorn & smoke flavors up front; faint citrus notes on the finish.

Smoke forward, but not overpoweringly so; simple & effective. I'd have another!!

Had on tap. A Lenten dark smoked lager, haven't had one of these in a year or two, but this one might be the best. Medium brown cloudy body with a tan collar and spotted lacing. Smell and taste are clones: characteristic smoke with meat, char, and earth melds into toast and caramel malt but never loses intensity in taste where nose is begins to taper a bit. Taste gets a slight bump because of how beautifully it lingers on the palate, incredible. Feel is obviously smoky and malty, but also has bready and earthy tones too, sneaky complex, especially as it warms. Wow