100 Barrel Series #25 - Rauchfetzen
Harpoon Brewery & Beer Hall

 

 

 

 

 

poured from a 22oz bomber into a glass. taken from notes.

a: pours a shade darker than amber, crystal clear. fluffy white head settles into a very thin lacing.

s: malt-forward aroma with notes of smoke. pleasant.

t: sweet malty flavor at first, then the smoke hits. smoked malt does not overpower the rest of the flavor. grassy hops are very mulled but slightly noticeable. finishes slightly dry.

m: smooth mouthfeel.

excellent beer. i wish they would make a year-round rauchbier.

Pours brown, semi-cloudy. Small creamy white head. Decent retention and lacing.

Aroma of malts, light hops, light smoke, something sweet. Hard to place the aroma.

Taste is malt driven. Some caramel, lightly burnt wood and some hops. Very nice.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and cleansing.

Overall, a very drinkable beer. Very good BBQ beer.

This brew is a sandy brown color, cloudy with a slight off-white head and decent lacing. The aroma is a beautiful mellow sweet malt with smoky edges with yeasty candy apple caramel. Really nice and pretty unique. The mouth meets piney malt with clove hints and gentle smoke. It's deep and mellow with hop bite in a medium bodied brew with smooth carbonation and plenty drinkable. Good stuff.

Reviewed from notes.

Served in a tulip glass. Pours a pretty light color for the style--just a moderate golden color with a light head and a touch of lacing. The nose is pretty nice without going too far in one direction. Typical of the style, this is smoky and meaty and reminds me a bit of a summer barbeque. Taste is just a bit too one dimensional to justify moving up the score much, though I will say it's pretty decent. it doesn't have much beyond light smoke, though. Feel is nice and the smokey meat takes over. Drinks fairly well, but I prefer the German versions of the style.

Harpoon Rauchfetzen 100 Barrel Series #25 was a copper color with a light beige head showing good retention; and some floating particles.

The aroma is not nearly as smoky as the only other rauch that I've had, but there is a subtle smokiness. This nose was a little maltier though.

The taste is fairly malt sweet, it dominates anyway, smoke was muted and there was little sense of saltiness.

The mouth feel was medium bodied with appropriately low carbonation.

Drinkability was very good, tasty with low ABV and a decent price.

After only two different rauchbiers sampled, it has become one of my favorite styles.

22 oz. bottle. OG 15.5 degrees Plato, brewed with Munich, pilsner and beech-smoked malt, hopped to 33 IBUs with Hallertau and Brewer's Gold. Packaged 10/31/08, sampled November '08. Pours a crystal-clear amber, with lots of carbonation and an inch of fluffy white head that leaves decent lacing. In the nose it's sweet Bamberg malt, some graininess and a light metallic twang. Similar flavor, with a bit of hops, Harpoon house yeast, some spicy/peppery notes, and a touch too much bitterness for the style. It is pretty light on the palate, with medium carbonation and a bone-dry finish. Compared to a classic rauchbier, this one simply falls flat. The house yeast just isn't clean enough for this beer, as it is competing with the smoke flavor for dominance when it should just step aside completely. It's also a bit too strong for the style - I can taste fruity and isopropyl notes from some higher alcohols. While not a true rauchbier, it's really not that bad, but it probably needs a few months to develop into a decent smoked ale.

From Notes. 6/9/09

Bomber to dimpled .5 liter masskrug.

This is my first American rauchbier. It is a fairly solid example, but it doesn't really hold up to the classics of Germany. The freshness definitely played in its favor.

I think the beer's greatest weakness was that it wasn't smoky enough for a smoked beer.

Appearance: a golden brown, about a finger and a half head, streams of carbonation from the yeast
Smell: kind of like pops cereal or rice crispys, its got that rice scent. Smokey in the back.

Taste: Tastes like straight-up beef jerky, kind of interesting in a beer. It's a smokey bbq like flavor almost has like dry cheese, there are a lot of flavors in there.

Mouthfeel: tingles the tongue, soft aftertaste that lingers, smooth and malty

Drinkability: well this beer is interesting, I'm new to Rauchfetzen's, it's a complex beer for sure. I'm not sure what to think really I don't think I would drink this that often, its an occasional beer, but it would be interesting to try while eating beef jerky or steak.

Appearance: Poured from a 22oz bomber into a tasting glass, light golden/orange color, with a head that doesn't have much retention or legs.

Smell: Smells like a box of pops, it has a sweet grainy scent with a tiny bit of malt, i mean the cereal is sugar and corn so why not. The smoke picks up after aeration and leaves a tiny trace of malt.

Taste: The smokiness is there, not overpoweringly so and combines nice with the german hops. Never had a rauch beer but from the title I would expect this is the intent to have some smoke. Almost has a smoked flavor like a stick of beef jerky or a pig ear. Its not terrible but somewhat surprising. It doesn't taste like roasted malts but rather spicy and smokey like a campfire. A barbecue in a bottle really with a hint of almost barbecue sauce mixed with the smokey meat and cheese.

Mouthfeel: Somewhat rough at the first taste but has a distinct lingering bitterness.

Drinkability: Surprisingly I think this would go great with a heavy red meat dish or even barbecue cuisine since it has such prevalent tastes.

Overall: Like the cereal aroma i'll have to play off the common slogan "gotta have my rauch". A surely welcomed unique taste in my book.

A. Pours from a 22oz bomber into a pint glass. Copper/orange in color with a lasting head and retention.

S. Bready and biscuity nose. Sweet malt is also noted.

T. Bitter hops on the forefront, falls back to a malty body with just a hint of smoke. As it warms this smoky aspect lingers longer. Piney hops are still apparent in the flavor. A hint of cured meat, this would pair perfectly with bbq style cuisine.

M. Medium bodied with a healthy carbonation. Smoked malt sticks with me as I drink away.

D. This Rauchbier tastes pretty good, drinks pretty good, but is not overly memorable. Would have liked a bigger smoke factor, but its still a good brew.

A - Poured a light copper bordering on deep gold. Head was smooth white with lots of tiny bubbles.

S - Hint of smoke, slightly sweet, tiny malt aroma.

T - This was a very underpowered yet very balanced Rauch beer. The taste wasn't of a bad liquid smoke (good thing). It wasn't overly smoky, but you definately knew it was there. There was some sweetness as in the aroma, and also a touch of spiciness (yeast?). Clean crisp aftertaste (a touch of smoke lingers, but not much and nothing too long)

M - Smooth & slick

D - Excellent! Definately the mellow balance of flavors and that kiss of smoke, make this go down well. Too well. Not overly filling, and very clean.

Overall very good. While I like my Rauch beers a little more smoky, this has great balance, and I'll be picking up alot more.

A - Sniftered. The body is a deep copper with a nice amount of bubbles rolling through it. The head is a creamy cap of foam, about 1 and a half fingers thick. Genuinely appetizing. Decent lacing.

S - A decent heap of smoked malts, german hops. Smell is much of a Rauch-light, almost. Understated, yet refined. Big yeast notes as it warms.

T - Well, it's interesting. It's got a very distinct smokiness, without bashing you over the head, and it has a very long aftertaste. While it's not liquid bacon, it definitely has it's moments of campfire and pig ear. Most of the smoked beers I've had were using roastier malts and this is a different change of pace. It comes off as a smoky pale ale. Definite spicy and herbal notes on the back end.

M - I'm pleased with the carbonation, as it's big, but doesn't seem overdone. The body as well is rather thin, but it works.

D - It's easy to get down, just not terribly exciting, or standout. I won't miss it when my glass is empty.

Notes: I'm not that into Rauchbiers to begin with, so you can discount this review to your liking. However, this beer, as a one-off, is quite worth a try. It's not necessarily my thing, but it very well might be yours.

For some reason it reminds me of a bad Kuhnhenn experiment.

This beer poured an orange body with a thick white head. There were some small chunks in the body as it poured out that looked like remittents of pellet hops.

Nose was very clean and malty with a very mild, but extremely distinct, mild smoked rauch malt smell. Just very faint hints of smoke, but equally present as the malt. A session rauch smell if you will.

Taste is light to medium bodied. At very you get some nice carmel and bready malts, but it's quickly followed by a nice subtle, yet very present meaty smokey flavor. Smoked gouda cheese, ham, very mild bacon fat, touches of BBQ sauce. I don't want to give the wrong impression, this is very much a mild session rauch. In no way is the aecht schlekerla over the top meat taste. Hops and bitterness are kept to a bare minimum only giving a mild touch of earth bitterness to balance against the smoked malt. In all honesty it's so perfectly balanced you barely notice anything, but if you took it away it'd leave a huge hole. Ends with a very simply lingering bitterness and subtle smoke.

Overall, a surprisingly good Rauch. Like I've mentioned it's not one of those over the top German ones we're used to. A nice American Session take on a German classic.

Out of a bomber bottle this beer was a hazy copper color with some tangerine highlights. The one-finger of off-white head retained well and left good lacing. The aroma was semi-sweet and fresh with floral hops, crystal malt and hints of apples. The flavors were interesting, light caramel malt and sweet malt followed by bitter and peppery/spicy hops. The spice was distinct and almost intrusive. The long finish had some lingering smoke notes. The mouthfeel was a bit rough, the body medium and the carbonation prickly which added to the spicy notes. Not bad, but weird.

The first time I'd ever had a rauchbier, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

A: The first thing I noticed was its viscosity-- the bubbles rise *very* slowly. Light orange in color. Thin layer of bright white foam which clings to the side of the glass. Hazy.

S: Vague, sweet malt. A whiff of smoky barbecue.

T: Intensely smoky. Lots of malt, with just enough hops to balance it out. The aftertaste really lingers.

M: Slightly carbonated. Bubbles tickle your tongue. The smoke leaves a nice heat in the back of the throat.

D: Delicious. Complex, yet goes down fairly easy.