On Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Urbock

The third of my series of Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier's is the strongest of the series in both alcohol content and quality. While the smoke in the weizen played contrary to the heffeweisen character, the smoke in the urbock complements very nicely. Overall this beer is similar to the Marzen, but with a bit more umph and a bolder flavor.

The thick head is the consistency of an egg white foam and a light tan color. The beer itself is dark ruby with just a hint of light shining through the pint glass.

Banana bread and smoke on the nose. The aroma is quite pleasant.

Smoke forward on the palate with sweet caramel supporting. High carbonation thins an otherwise heavy body. The smoke plays an integral part and adds a depth of flavor to an already great beer.  I couldn't have asked for a better beer to close out Smoked Beer Month.

All three beers were conservative enough in the smoke for the experience to not be a liquid BBQ. And for that I am thankful. Overall, the trio makes a great introduction to smoked beer land.

On O'Fallon Smoked Porter

And now for something completely different. Well, not COMPLETELY different, but O'Fallon Smoked Porter is quite different than the classic German rauchbiers I've reviewed so far. Put just about anything in American hands and it gets turned to the extreme (5/3 Burger, anyone?). Sometimes it ends in indigestion, and sometimes it ends in pure deliciousness. Luckily, in the hands of Brian Owens - Head Brewer - O'fallon Smoked Porter falls in the later category.

Smoked porter starts in the aroma with smoked meats, molasses, honey, and alcohol in that order. Quite nice. The smoke is evident, but not at all overpowering as it would be easy to do with such a beer. More BBQ than campfire.

Jet black with a brown head it starts thick but settles to a thin brown hat on top of a black tower of beer.

O'Fallon Smoked Porter

The taste is much like the aroma. The smoke is very unique. Very BBQ like. I never thought I would use catsup in a beer description (at least in a good way) but there it is, catsup! 

Of course there are the traditional porter flavors of roast malts and some molasses. Again not overpowering with the smoke but present with a thick, stick to your mouth feel on the palate. 

Overall this beer is liquid pork ribs in a bottle but somehow it works. Quite a nice, unique, creative beer. Very appropriate for a St. Louis based brewery.

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.