Rauchbier
Bayern Brewing, Inc. / Edelweiss Bistro

 

this is money, nice and smoke forward and rich, balanced with some deeper grain sweetness, but incredibly drinkable as well, this is good enough to have come from one of the german legends of the style, and frankly has to rank among the best beers i have ever had from these guys, which is really saying something since so many of them are fire. a deeper clear chestnut color from the tap with a tall light tan head rising and airy and lasting. the nose is slow campfire smoke, cherrywood and hickory bbq essence too, some raisin and other dried fruitiness here, port wine, nuttiness, familiar bready german yeast, just a little bitterness too. the flavor is all of this, the smoke is bold but never harsh, and the finish is impressively clean. i love the malt depth here even beyond the smoke, organic cocoa, hazelnut, iodine, molasses and maple, really dynamic and good, autumnal to me, but i would drink this anytime, and it reminds be of the very best examples of the style. this really rewards the patient drinker too as it opens up amazingly well with a little bit of temperature, smooth as can be in texture too, and overall about as good as this sort of thing gets, especially for an american brewery, just fantastic. definitely my favorite beer i had during my visit to this special place, highly recommended!

Underappreciated style done very well by Bayern. Wish it is available more often.