The audience for Schlenkerla

All I know is the Eiche is one of the best beers I have ever had.

 

You may want to also post your query in the Germany forum.

Cheers!

 

The audience is my belly

 

That sounds more like somebody's trendy hipster-ish attitude than the reality. Tourists may visit the brewery, see the historic building, take some pictures of the beer garden, force down one beer, and then leave. But they do that with De Halve Moon in Bruges, and Cantillon in Brussels, and tons of other great breweries in tourist-y cities. But the tourists are not going to go back home and start regularly purchasing Schlenkerla beers unless they really enjoy them, because those beers are just not for novice palates.

I probably can't speak to it as well as the locals, but I was there for a tapping festival, and me and my group of friends appeared to be the only non-German speaking people in the crowd as far as we could tell. And the beers were sold all over the place in 6-packs in markets/convenience stores that cater to locals, so somebody is buying them.

My personal opinion is they are the best rauchbiers in the world, and it's not even close. Spezial is enjoyable, but Spezial rauchbiers are simply not on the same level as Schlenkerla.

 

The beers are pretty inexpensive (about $2/per) if you buy them in Germany (according to the website). I would love that.

 

I tried my first rauchbier, this one, for the first time last night. I was very impressed. It was delicious. I bought it for $6.

 

I wouldn't expect our mass-market BMCs to prime the average American tourist for powerfully smoky and flavorful brew, but I'm no Shelton so what do I know?

 

I'm new here... who are the Shelton Brothers?

 

Shelton Bros are American beer importers.

 

This is a supermarket in Bamberg. You couldn't get further from the truth than thinking that the US is the major market for Schlenkerla bottles.



Schlenkerla does get a lot of tourists. There's a big difference between that and being for tourists. Spezial gets fewer simply because it is much smaller and slightly further away from the most touristy parts of town. Both are usually, for the most part, full of locals.

Yes, Spezial is more subtly smoked than Schlenkerla. I love them both. Anyone representing one of them and denying that the other is one of the finest beers on the planet is, well, just unprofessionally dissing the competition.

 

I think WhatANicePub said it better than I can...you will definitely find tourists there - the restaurant is listed in several of the Germany guidebooks that I have - but there are also definitely die-hard locals. I was there once on a particularly busy weekend and some local Old Timers invited us to join them at their table. They were exceedingly friendly and we had a great time talking about all things Bamberg. At one point one of them leaned over to me and confided that Mahr's was his favorite place (it must have been Ladies' Choice that night).

I could actually believe that the market in America is bigger/better for them, though. Smoked beer is considered a regional specialty, and in Germany such beers are hard to find outside of their region (particularly from independent breweries). Schlenkerla's Märzen is sold in two restaurants that I know of here in Heidelberg (both in the tourist region) and in only one beer store that I know of (usually less than two cases at any given point in time, nothing like the above photo). I have never seen any other Schlenkerla beers here. The good news is that they will deliver!

Hope this was helpful.

 

I wish they would date their bottles - other than that, I have always enjoyed their products.

 

I absolutely love their beers and I would love to be one of these tourists at the brewery. Hell, I'd even be a cheesy tourist probably taking a million pictures and posting them on Facebook or Instagram. In my opinion that place must be the Graceland of German brew.

 

I have seen the same Germans from Bamberg at both on the same day.

 

They're basically the Koch brothers of beer importers. This is not a compliment.

 

Schlenkerla, making touristy beer since 1678...

 

Shelton's gonna Shelton.

 

I thought they were the George Soros...

 

I can't wait to visit the brewery later this year because they are one of my favorite breweries in the world. If that makes me a tourist then I'll need to remember to bring my fannypack.