Smoked Beers

There's actually both- the traditional style Rauchbier, as well as the broader catch-all category Smoke Beers. Unlike how they handled the black lagers categorization, I believe that they got this one correct.

 

Schlenkerla beers are listed as different beer styles but
Rauchbier is really the style that they all are.
If I wanted a Weizen and someone brought me the Schlenkerla Weizen I'd be thoroughly pissed and would reject it. Likewise if I wanted a Märzen, or Bock etc.

Now if I asked for something in the Rauchbier style I'd be happy with any of those. They are all slight variations within the Rauchbier style too me whether it's slightly more bready, sweet, or smokey it's a subtle difference compared to the completely dominant smoke.

That said.

A lot of American smoked beers I feel a bit differently. In a lot of the American versions I've had the smoke is much more subtle. If someone uses 5% smoked malt to add a layer to a beer then I think of it as a variation of the base beer style.

But someone like Schlenkerla is definitely producing Rauchbiers with a couple of varying characteristics.

 

Alaskan Smoked Porter has won numerous medals at the GABF within the Smoke Beer category. That is one example for a beer different from a German brewed Rauchbier.

Cheers!

 

This was my bad, I initially thought that there was JUST the category of "Smoke beer".

They also have more specific styles such as "Smoked porter" and "Rauchbier". @JackHorzempa Alaskan Smoked Porter goes under the "Smoked porter" category here on BA.

I personally think they should add Grodziskie as well.

 

I'd estimate that roughly half of the beers HammerHeart produces, maybe more, use smoked malts, some only lightly but certainly some heavily, and HammerHeart has released well over 100 beers. Smoke beers definitely are what they're known for. They do sell some bottles in liquor stores in Minnesota, and they should be easy to trade for if you're interested.

I agree that smoke is the dominant characteristic of most Schlenkerla beers in practice and that many American smoke beers are only lightly smoked due to using a small proportion of smoked malts. I think that part of the reason that smoke tends to dominate the flavors in heavily smoked beers is that most consumers aren't used to drinking smoke beers, so the subtleties of the underlying flavors get lost under the novelty of the uncommon element. If smoke beers were much more commonly consumed, I think the smoke would be less overwhelming and the base style differences would be more obvious. I certainly have strong preferences within Schlenkerla's lineup (I'm an Urbock fan first and foremost), so clearly I'm responding to other elements as well.

 

Nationwide is a bit tough: really narrows this down. Nonetheless, maybe there’s potential here

 

I interpreted the OP to mean other examples from across the United States, not just New England. The intention is confused by the OP's location being listed as Liechtenstein.

 

Ah, I now better understand why you said what you did in post #15.

Cheers!

 

I was going to recommend HammerHeart as well, they are phenomenal. Easily one of the best breweries out there IMHO, yet they are relatively unknown.

 

Schlenkerla's beers are great and in the last few years most of their line up has made its way to shelves here (currently their Kräusen is making a revisit) and I the differences are definitely there, with the Märzen being the smokiest, the Fastenbier being noticably hop aromatic, and the Urbock being the most malt forward (the Eiche to me tastes similar to the Märzen only beefed up, despite the oak vs beechwood). The Kräusen really combines the Helles and Märzen in a great way, with the underlying maltiness of the Helles, with the smoke and added fullness from the Märzen kräusen, and a perfectly balanced bitterness. Just a superb beer, and at a low 4.5% abv too, you'd think you were drinking an Export beer. I will say though that the carbonation is lively, it shows why kräusening was originally used for increasing the foaming properties of a beer.

 

I'd say so, look at the head on that beer!

Looks like an "Oktoberfest short pour".

 

Jester King has their smoked altbier, that gets some distro

Kissmeyer and Hill Farmstead have their occasional release: Holger Danske, where Kissmeyer smokes the malts over “Beech wood.” Of course, there’s Yazoo Sue with Cherrywood smoked malts


Yet, probably nothing as focused as HammerHeart in the US

 

O.E.

 

I LOVE smoked beer, that being said BBC put out a Smoked Blonde that was god awful as a beverage. Great for cooking with though, god damn, or making other beer smokey (I made a black and tan-ish blend with it and Old Rasputin and it was great). I hope to see more of them come out. Maybe we can finally get that Smore's pastry IPA with marshmallow graham cracker and smoke that we've all been waiting for...hahaha

 

I taste differences between different Pale Ales. Some are more malt forward, some are more hoppy, etc... But they are all in the same style with differences to appeal to different preferences. The same is with beers in the Rauchbier style. There are brand variations that appeal to different drinkers but they are all variations within the Rauchbier style.

I've been to Bamberg multiple times now. I drank nothing but Schlenkerla when I was there. I didn't really see anything else or know to look for anything else other them Spezial which I just heard of as the less smoky Rauchbier brewer.

For what it's worth my favorite was the Märzen and my wife's favorite was the Weizen.

 

For smoky tasting beers without smoked malt I love beers with chipotle.

Well I love anything with chipotle really but I guess I'm just saying that beer is not an exception.

I can't think of any chipotle beers with regular production other than one Rogue one I had many years ago.

 

For Rauchbier, I'm firmly in the Spezial camp. Their beers are less smoky and a little drier so the smoke comes across as actual smoke rather than a BBQ-sauce type of note. Schlenkerla's Kausen also has that type of flavor.

For smoked porters, I like the one from O'Fallon even more than Alaskan's. They pulled out of CO and that's the one beer I miss the most that we lost.

 

Yeah, I don't think anybody else around Bamberg produces rauchbiers other than Schlenkerla or Spezial, although, if they do, it is most likely Hertl. Check @www.die-bierothek.de or their physical location at Untere Koningstrasse 1. They were producing bourbon-barrel aged brews when I was last there.

 

Greifenklau makes one as a Spring seasonal. Goeller is the only other mainstream one that I've heard of. They're not too far from Bamberg, but still about a 20-minute drive/train.