On Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Weizen

Last week I reviewed Aecht Schlenkerla Marzen, a smoked beer from Bamberg where smoked beers are a specialty. Today I'm reviewing another Aecht Schlenkerla beer, this time a wheat beer. That's right, April is going to be smoked beer month. Why? Well... why not? Smoked beers are wonderful and I don't think they get the credit they deserve among all the other specialty beers out there.

The world doesn't need another whiskey-barrel aged, sour, one-day-only, double imperial Russian stout. But a nice smoked beer provides excitement and differentiation without being in your face. I can only hope more craft breweries experament with smoke outside of the super strong realm and give a refreshing taste of smoke to complement all those summer burgers on the grill.

When poured krystal style the beer shows a dark amber color beneath a thick head of foam. Adding the yeast turns the color to a murky brown that isn’t quite as pretty, but well worth it in the end.

Spicy yeast phenols volly back and forth with smoke in an aromatic game of tennis that becomes more exciting the longer it lasts. Ultimately it’s the yeast that comes away with the win.

The smoke doesn’t make much of an appearance in the flavor, but in the same vein, traditional heffeweisen flavors are muted by the smoke that is there. Bready wheat malt and some clove anchor the flavor.

Dry and light, this is as refreshing as I’ve ever seen in a smoked beer. However, smoked beer lovers may find the smoke underwhelming, while heffeweisen lovers could find the smoke bothersome. This one never quite comes to a cohesive statement, but the individual elements are there.

On Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen

Aecht Schlenkerla is a classic German brewer that can trace it's lineage back to 1405 in Bamberg, a northern Bavarian town. It's here that the techniques used since before the discovery of the New World still survive. Sure, they use electric pumps, pitched yeast, and giant temperature controlled fermenters, but Aecht Schlenkerla still smokes its own malt in open fire kilns and ages it's beer in oak casks just like all beer was made up until the industrial revolution.

What this means is when you open one of Aecht Schlenkerla's Rauchbiers, you're opening a taste of history. Richard Wagner, Richard Strauss, Carl Orff, and Johann Pachelbel all lived in Bavaria and may have drank very similar beers while composing their most famous works. That connection with history doesn't come easy. It only happens through the careful adhearance to strict tradition through multiple generations. Aecht Schlenkerla survived The Reformation, near constant civil war, Napoleonic invasion, economic industrialization, two world wars, and reunification. Any of which could have prompted the owners to change their ways or close shop all together. And the simple fact that they did not, is reason enough to celebrate this fine beer.

Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen pours a dark golden brown with a white head that settles fairly quickly. Moderate lacing hangs to the glass. Oak smoke aroma backed by caramel and toasted bread notes.

Smoke and burnt sugar (you know, past caramel) start off the taste. Some roasty tones play backup. Non-smoked oak is also apparent in the flavor. Vanilla, marshmallow, toast. Add some chocolate malt and you’ve got a smore.

The palate is on the thick side with some lingering stickyness that doesn’t present as sweet so much as just thick or sticky.

The smoke is well balanced and complements the beer quite well. I hope the history and flavors of this wonderful brewery are kept alive for another 600 years.

On Southern Tier IPA

I like labels. I've talked about their affect on me before with my post of Milten Gaither's label design for Brooklyn Sorachi Ace.  Labels say a lot about the beer you're about to spend your hard earned money on. Good labels - and packaging, in general - should tell you everything you need to know about the product. I'm not talking just about the name, or the description, or the logo on the front. The colour and the shape*. The texture, the size, and even the smell all play a roll in telling you what's inside. 

 So what does Southern Tier's packaging say about their IPA? Their labels tell me they are very particular about their products. There is nothing on the label that doesn't belong. The simple color scheme makes the 6 packs easy to find on the shelf. Just look for the sea of green (IPA, 2xIPA) or purple (porter) and you're on your way. Southern Tier is very pragmatic and efficient. Nothing is wasted. Everything in it's right place**. If there is a hop addition or a malt used, it has a reason. Nothing is just for the hell of it. The packaging has an organic look. Not to say that their beers are organic in the eyes of the USDA, but they portray an image of care for the environment in a down to earth, practical way. The consistency from beer to beer and from case to bottle to tap tell me that Southern Tier is detail oriented and I can expect that attention to detail to extend to their recipes.

The aroma starts with pine resin and earthiness. Like a walk through a redwood forest. Burnt orange color with a dense head that lingers.

Bitterness is well balanced with a touch of caramel (and honey?) sweetness. Pine and earthy flavors cary through from the aroma. Some minerals appear in the tail. Moderately long finish that isn’t overly sweet or bitter.

The balance stays throughout, never tipping from one side or the other, like a skilled tightrope walker. The medium body feels thick from the hops. I’ll be licking the insides of my mouth for a while.

Overall quite an enjoyable beer whose strength lies in its balance.

*good album, btw.

**good song, btw.

On Crispin Stagger Lee

Today I take a break from beer and give myself something a bit different to try: Cider. While there are similarities in the production, purpose, and - to some extent - history of these two beverages, cider and beer are very different drinks that test the beer drinker's palate. Accustomed to face contorting double IPAs, stupefying Russian imperial stouts, and sour Belgian's that make Warheads taste like water, the beer drinker may find it difficult to appreciate the subtleties of a fine cider. Cider is a rapidly growing segment of the craft beer world (can craft really claim cider to it's cause?). For 2011 the cider market has grown supermarket sales faster than any of the top 15 beverage alcohol segments with 27.5% growth. This compares to craft beer at 15.1%. True, cider is much smaller (about 20 times smaller) than craft, but it's growth is outstanding.

Premium cider brands such as Crispin have led the charge. Crispin alone saw over 200% sales growth in 2011 and brewers such as Boston Beer have joined the party. The man responsible for some of Goose Island's iconic brands, Greg Hall, has also gotten into the cider game and has planted cider apples in Michigan for his new venture, Virtue Cider. All this means more good cider for good beer lovers. So, in the spirit of broadening my horizons and trying something different, today I review Crispin's Stagger Lee: a blended hard cider aged in rye whiskey barrels.

Stagger Lee pours a cloudy yellow/orange with little head. Legs fall from the glass like wet paint.

The aroma starts with sweet apples. Whiskey is in the background but present. Clove esters. Maybe some banana esters as well, but hard to tell.

With the taste, whiskey, again in the background. Apple juice. The good kind. None of that apple drink mix. This is juicer fresh apple taste. I was hoping for more complexity and depth of character. The whiskey goes very well with the apples and this cider makes for a backwoods colonial history lesson. The whiskey comes out more as it warms; both in the flavor and aromatics.

Highly effervescent and full bodied. Residual sugars linger on the palate.

Overall, the cider/whiskey combo is delicious and I would like to try some of their other barrel aged offerings, but cider is still a bit on the sweet side for my tastes. I look forward to the budding cider industry. There is much to learn about this cousin to my favorite barley based beverage.

On Finch's Secret Stache Stout

Finch's Beer Company, based out of Chicago, has been open for less than a year and they have already extended distribution to Wisconsin and Indiana. Helped by their accessible Golden Wing (golden ale) and Cut Throat (pale ale) flagships, they are seeing quick success that must be demanded of their (relatively) large brewing capacity. Though the distribution extends wide, I did not expect any but the two core beers to be distributed outside their home market of Chicago. So I was pleasantly surprised to see Secret Stache Stout at my local Woodman's grocery store in Rockford.  And as I've said before, I like stouts.  So another stout on the market is good news for me.

The bottle represents a departure from their canned mainstays, and the artwork is quite interesting. A finch handing a beer to another bird that is being weighed down by a ridiculously large mustache. The reverse label shows an unlocked padlock sugesting that this may be the beginning of a limited edition series of specially branded brews.

Pouring a very violent pour produced almost no head. What there was was the color of medium toast. "soap bubbles" linger on the sides.

Not much going on aroma wise. Some general roast character and a hint of vanilla.

The taste is of espresso and vanilla. A bit of oak (probably from the vanilla, not actual oak) and alcohol linger in the finish. Medium-thick body and a lot of residual sweetness. This one is built like tank, but at 5.3% you can enjoy all 650ml without waking up the next day wondering what happened.

The low carbonation is perfect for the style. This would do well on nitro.

Overall, a mixed bag. I wish there were more aroma and a touch less sweetness, but the flavor and carbonation are spot on. Not bad for a bomber priced under $5. This is the best I’ve seen from Finch’s thus far.