Beer Name : Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier
Manufacturer : Schlenkerla
Origin : United Kingdom
Company founded in : 1678
Beer Type : Rauchbier (Lager)
SRM : 40
Abv : 6.3%
IBU : 25
History
First mentioned in 1405 and now run by the 6th Generation of Trum family, it is the fountain of Original Schlenkerla Smokebeer (in German language it’s called “Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier”). Schlenkerla is a historic brewpub in Bamberg, Franconia, Germany renowned for its smoked Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier.
“schlenkern” is an expression for not walking straight, i.e. – Walking just like a Drunk person. It is said that one of the former brewers had a funny way of walking due to an accident or maybe due to the beer, and hence he was called the “Schlenkerla” – the little dangler.
The basic process by German tribes in Roman times days was similar to the one today – apart from the technical instruments. Green malt always had to be dried, “kilned” as brewers call it. In the past, besides the usage of sun rays which was quite difficult in Middle and Northern Europe, The only one way of kilning was by drying the grain over an open fire. Thus it was unavoidable that smoke penetrated the malt and gave it a smoky flavor. Technical developments over the centuries made almost all of the old smoke kilns to vanish. Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier has preserved the old craft tradition of smoking the malt in Bamberg till today. Therefore you are, in effect of having a little piece of beer history with every sip and possible extinction of rauchbier.
About the Beer
Pours a dense, dark, crystal clear, mahogany-red-brown, and forms an inch tan head. It is bottom fermented smokebeer. The nose suggests sweet, smoky like extinguished campfires! The smoke directly translates to the taste of the beer at the very beginning of the first sip. From start to finish, the smoke dominates the drink with just a touch of the caramel brown malt making a brief appearance in the middle-end of the drink. This is the got to go for beer if you want a big smoke bomb. The classic example of the style “Rauchbier” and no other beer that I’ve tried has A more powerful smoke. Overall I was not a fan of the taste AS the smoke forces it to be a little too one dimensional. It lingers too long and does not appeal to me. A very interesting beer indeed and must be tried once atleast for the experience!
My Own Rating:
Aroma : 7/10
Appearance : 7/10
Taste : 7/10
Palate : 6/10
Overall : 7/10
