Smoked Beers

HammerHeart in Lino Lakes, Minnesota is, I believe, the most smoked-malts-oriented brewery in the Upper Midwest, with a large proportion of its beers using smoked malts to varying degrees. It does produce some Bamberg-style rauchbiers, but it uses smoked malts in a variety of nontraditional styles as well. I rank it among the top ten breweries in the state.

 

Uhmmmm....not sure who is doing smoked beers in Liechtenstein and I didn't know Jack's Abby and Oxbow distro-ed to Europe. That's cool that they are, good for them and that you're able to get their beers there.

 

Alaskan Smoked Porter is a standout.

 

Against the grain in Louisville does some but I'm not sure how many they distribute.

 

Notch has a smoked lager on tap right now. It's good too.

 

Everything I've had by them has been great!

One of my desert island beers.

 

Live Oak in Austin, TX has some of the best smoked beers I've had outside of Bamberg.

They replaced their IPA with a Grodziskie in their year round lineup. The Grodziskie is a smoked wheat beer at ~3% ABV.

I loved their smoked Schwarzbier.

They also make a smoky Oktoberfest among others.

 

I just want to add in re: Against the Grain, their Bo and Like BBA stout uses smoked malts and is my favorite new beer of the year last year. I've seen it out here on the west coast so I know they distribute it.

 

Sly Fox Brewing produces smoked beers on a rotating basis. Draft only to the best of my knowledge:

· Smoked Baltic Porter

· Rauch Bier

Cheers!

 

Not

Not sure if serious......


But, if so, you don't think people travel or trade?

 

Up here, Godspeed does a great job with smoke.

 

Moonlight out of Santa Rosa periodically brews a smoked beer or two. They’re delicious—the last one I had was a smoked lager—and I only wish I saw more of them on a semi/regular basis.

 

I just finished a bottle of this:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/31326/223914/

 

I just clicked on that and noticed there's a style on here simply labeled, "Smoke beer".

Really?

 

By your statement of "Really?", does that mean you do not think there should be a beer style of "Smoke beer'?

The Brewers Association has a style of "Smoke Beer" in their style guidelines. Below are the medal winners from last year's GABF:

“Category 34: Smoke Beer - 50 Entries

Gold: St. Chuck’s Smoke, Rogue Ales Issaquah Brewhouse, Issaquah, WA

Silver: Pro-Pro Porter, Wormtown Brewery, Worcester, MA

Bronze: Raucher, Wolverine State Brewing Co., Ann Arbor, MI”

Cheers!

 

Once a month or so I dive in for a classic smoked beer (Aecht) or an Alaskan Smoked.
When in Chicago, it's Dovetail's Rauchbier or their awesome Grodziskie that wins my heart.
Smoke 'em if you got 'em!

 

I wish more local brewers around here would make Grodziskie. There was a one off a few months ago that was great. Such a refreshing and gentle beer style. The smoke doesn’t overpower. Love it.

 

I agree with the implication of "Really?" "Smoke beer" isn't a true style; smoked malts (or in some cases smoked hops) can be used in any style. The most renowned smoke beer brewery, Schlenkerla, famously makes smoked versions of a variety of traditional German styles and labels them clearly as being in those specific styles. Smoke is just a flavor attribute, albeit in some cases an overwhelming one. "Smoke" probably better fits as a tag or a secondary "style," with the whatever the underlying style in which the beer has been brewed belonging as the primary style for core classification purposes.

 

This is an obvious answer, of course, but classic Aecht Schlenkerla probably has the widest distribution of smoke/rauch beer in the US. You can't go wrong... Schlenkerla has spent several hundred years perfecting their techniques.

You'll find other US brewers dabbling in smoke beers with a one or two in their line-up, but none specialize in it... with the possible exception of HammerHeart mentioned above, which I hadn't heard of till now. I'll be on the look-out for them.