Smoked Beer Appreciation Thread (2023)

What is your meaning of "toss-up" here?

Cheers!

 

Thread is slipping in a (loosely defined) 'Rauchbier Appreciation Month': This is Year 3: Art History got an early start per an unfinished - smoked - festbier....

 

Fire Starter - Right Brain

It’s labeled as a Chipotle Porter, and on the back identifies smoke.

VERY WELL DONE. The base Porter is strong with rich robust malt, Black coffee and baker’s chocolate. The pepper and the smoke, while obvious, are accents that complement the Porter. By no means a gimmick. The head slowly compresses, to a thick, dense blanket, leaving swaths of thick lace. The beer is very dark brown, until put to a light, when it glows dark ruby red. The aroma is rich, allowing the roasted malt, chocolate, and coffee to shine in a spotlight of pepper, while the smoke adds mystery. Mild sweetness yields to modest bitterness. Again, it’s about how the smoke and pepper can enhance the Porter. Pleasant light burn. abv of 6.2% is present through muted. Long mild finish allows it all to gracefully mellow.

 

Just grabbed my first “smoked beer” in years today. Went to Emancipation Brewery in Fairbury,Illinois and got the crowler of a beer they brew called “Cold Smoke Helles Lager) I’ll let you know how it is when I have it tomorrow or Sunday. Do you gues remember the Smoked Lager Samuel Adams brewed in a variety pack some years ago? It was not half bad.

 

Spent some time in Bamberg this past May. Appreciated Rauchbier before going but still was perplexed by it. Fell in love with Schlenkerla after visiting. Drinking smoke beer in the cobblestone streets outside of the brewery on a beautiful spring evening was honestly a life changing experience for me.

My brewery made it’s first “rauchbier” last fall. Was a Helles where we used 10% smoked malt in the recipe. I really enjoyed the beer. Took us forever to get through it but the customers that understood what it was really enjoyed it. It never felt authentic however. Knowing that the real example of the style is not produced this way always weighed on me.

After visiting Schlenkerla I knew we had to at least attempt to replicate their method even though the malt we have access to might not be produced in quite the same way as they produce theirs…

Excited to release our Rauch Marzen in a few weeks that’s made with 80+ percent smoked malt and then the Rauch Helles that’s made with the yeast used to produce the Marzen but no smoked malt. We’re still a month away but just in tasting the young sample the Helles produced the more traditional way is quite a bit different than the one that used only 10% smoked malt.

 

Enjoying a fantastic Dunkel Rauchbier from Treehouse,”Behind the Times “! Absolutely fantastic!

 

cheers!

 

I went to a local brewery's anniversary party last night (Territorial Brewing which is a German-inspired brewery) and they brought out of their cellar for sale some 2017 bottles of their Grousefather which was created from their rauchbier, Grandpa's Pipe, by adding vanilla and wild yeast and put into the barrel. Unfortunately the smoke and vanilla have mostly faded, although I detect small amounts in the aftertaste. But it's a very good wild ale now with a tart, oaky barnyard character.

 

Well, the party was a huge success. And the beer was a hit too. I was far too timid with the home smoked malt with the apple chips, although it did work. Sadly, it is all gone now.

 

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35844/265234/
Definite beech smoke up front. Not as intense as the Schlenkerla version but the same flavour. Much more smokey and drier than Smoked Honey, the other smoked beer by Royal City Brewing.

 

I only have one smoked beer in my possession, so I just keep posting it: Treehouse, “Behind the Times “ Dunkel Rauchbier!

 

Quite a tasty helles, but the smoke is very mild.



In fact, as a fan of Wayfinder, I'm going to call this a disappointing and uncharacteristic lack of smoke.

 

I had a very nice smoked helles at Brauerei Hölzlein in Litzendorf Germany in September. The brewery describes it as having a "kiss of smoke", the smoke was light and the base beer was very good.

Schlenkerla Helles has smoke aroma added by repitching yeast from the Märzen, so it has just a kiss of smoke too.

 

Yeah, but those brewers have the sense not to name those beers "Throne of Ashes."
@vurt