Smoked Beer Appreciation Thread (2023)

Not at all. It genuinely was a different experience for me. I'm really glad I did take a chance on the bottles afterwards, too.

For the alder schwartzbier I'm looking for bottles, too.

 

Wayfinder Beer of Portland, OR, just announced a new smoked beer for the end of September:

THRONE OF ASHES - SMOKED HELLES
Meticulously smoked malts create a soft, delicate, smoldering foundation that's balanced by the malty sweetness of a traditional helles lager.

 

Anyone else tried BFM's La BATS Amber Ale brewed with smoked tea leaves? I greatly enjoyed that beer and its inspired me to try Aecht Schlenkerla rauchbier, i currently have it in my fridge. i hear its WAY smokier so we'll see how that goes

 

I had the BFM once and thought it was quite unique, but yeah, all of the Schlenkerla’s are smokier. Which one do you have in your fridge?

 

Please post back with pictures and impressions. This should be a spectacular trip.

 

I have the marzen, I still haven't tried it yet. Did you like Schlenkerla more than BFM?

 

Don't ignore Spezial.

At Schlenkerla you can walk in and get the Märzen from the barrel on gravity dispense at the window on the left. Walk farther back and the 2 new beers are from CO2 dispense on the right window.

Klosterbräu also has a smoke beer to try if you have time.

Spent 16 days in Bamberg in September.

Edit
The Heller-Trum brewery is up the hill to the east.

 

I'm up in Traverse City. The marzen I brewed was very close to Aecht Schlenkerla in a back to back with a friend. It turned out great, so next time I'm gonna go for the Urbock. It's about time to brew it here as fall sets in.

 

I LOVE brimstone. It's a completely different beast that a peated scotch.

 

I've smoked malt a few times. It's fairly simple. I lay some window screen on the smoke trays and pour malt on it, get a couple of racks going, then spritz them with distilled water. Don't use tap because of the chloramines in most city water. I smoked low ~200F or so with hickory. I thought an hour would be enough but ended up smoking for about 3 hours. Then I put the malt in a paperbag and let it sit for a few days to mellow before I brewed with it. Turned out excellent.

 

Definitely. BFM I've only had once, but Schlenkerla I return to regularly

 

Two words: Bamberg onion.

Thank me later.

Do they have a Viking Cruise down the Regnitz?

 

Yes they do. I've had to make my way through the throng off the boat standing in front of the entrance to Schlenkerla. The guide and Viking logo umbrellas were a giveaway.

The Main Donau Kanal makes the trip from Budapest to Amsterdam possible. You can see the river cruise boats on the right arm of the Regnitz sometimes while walking over the bridges.

 

John,

My wife and I vacationed in Prague for two weeks in 2019. It is indeed a wonderful place to visit with lots of great sightseeing. There is a great YouTube channel called Honest Guide which can give you lots of ideas of things to see and do and practical tips on lots of things.

I took note that your wife is not a beer drinker but there are lots of pubs with great food. During our two week visit we never had a bad meal and often times we ate at pubs for lunch/dinner.

I wrote an article about our beer experiences:

https://www.morebeer.com/articles/Czech_Beers

Na Zdravi

P.S. I have never done a river cruise. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts about your Budapest to Amsterdam trip.

 

Please do.

Cheers!