Automated rauchbier?

It's easy to add smoke to a beer, just add some smoked grain. But to make a Schlenkerla-quality rauchbier expect to pay the price. I brew this style twice a year and It's a l o n g brewday followed by a l o n g lagering. And it ain't cheap/easy to find high quality rauch malt. Lowering the ABV will not drop the price much. Not sure I understand the automated part of your question . . . pretty much all decent homebrew goes through the same process.

Not meaning to be snobby, but this isn't a good entry level brew . . . if you know what a double decoction is you'll understand, if not you should understand even more. Rauchbier at Total Wine for $6/500ml is about the easiest way to go. Good tastes are sometimes expensive.

 

There are a number of automated brewing systems available but they are a bit pricy.

The cheapest PicoBrew system is $700 - $800.

https://www.picobrew.com/

I would suggest that you produce a smoked ale (vs. lager) since brewing ales is quicker/simpler.

Cheers.

P.S. I have no personal experience with automated brewing systems so I am unable to make any recommendations here.

 

I find a cheap alternative is to dump some paulaner in my bbq grill.

 

The Pico Brew system that I linked is all grain. Did you go to the website?

Is $700 - $800 in your budget?

Cheers!

 

The ingredient that provides the smokey flavor is Rauchmalz (smoked malt):

https://www.weyermann.de/eng/produkte.asp?idkat=232&umenue=yes&idmenue=0&sprache=2

Just include this smoked malt as part (or all) of your grain bill in the Pico Brew system.

Easy peasy.

The hard part is breaking open the piggy bank to pay for the Pico Brew system.

Cheers!

 

You can also order online: https://www.weyermann.de/eng/produkte.asp?idkat=232&umenue=yes&idmenue=0&sprache=2

MoreBeer ships from the borough of Ambridge, PA, 15 miles outside Pittsburgh.

Cheers!

 

Add a zero to your figures and that's exactly how I feel when I visit a *****house.

I'll be the realist here: no, you will not get Schlenkerla quality in an automated brew. You might want to search Google for "Pico Brew reviews".

 

Nobody should start homebrewing to save money, it just doesn't work that way.

 

Why not buy a keg of schlenkerla marzen? cant be $5/pint if you buy a full keg. (assuming its available)

 

While you won't have the complexity of a Rauchbier, a Grodziskie is a great sessionable beer and the cost to make this beer is substantially less because of the low gravity. https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/how-to-brew/gratzer-revitalizing-a-polish-ale/

 

While I generally prefer to shop at my local homebrew store, for smoked malt I prefer to order from the bigger national online stores who go through bags of this stuff more frequently. You really want fresh malt to make sure you get maximum flavor. Schlenkerla smokes their own, so you can't get exactly the malt they use, but fresh Weyermann malt is very good.

I did a Grodziskie with 100% Weyermann oak smoked wheat malt. It was tasty. Need to brew that one again.

Have you looked at the Schlenkerla 5L mini kegs? I see them at the liquor store occasionally. They would probably be slightly cheaper than buying the .5 liter bottles.

 

I've definitely seen these in liquor stores in Massachusetts:
http://www.binnys.com/beer/Schlenkerla_Marzen_821517.html

 

The importer of Schlenkerla is B. United. They import kegs in two sizes; the 7.9 gallon is the closest to a sixtel:

“Keg 1 * 7.9 gal.

Keg 1 * 13.2 gal.”

http://www.bunitedint.com/information/brands/description/87/

Maybe contact B. United and they can inform you of the Beer Distributor near you that has kegs available to you?

Cheers!

 

I'll go out on a limb and say that you can probably make yourself a decent smoked beer with an automated system like the picobrew. I don't see why you couldn't