The Rauchbier has bottle conditioned for three weeks now. I thought it was time to open a bottle and take some notes.
Appearance: Coppery amber colored, clear, white head
Aroma: Bready with some smoky, smoked meat notes. A little malt sweetness
Taste: The smokiness doesn’t really hit until somewhere in the middle, between it hitting your lips and the aftertaste. At first, it’s a clean lager – medium mouthfeel, some maltiness, then the bacon-y taste comes in. Finishes dry and clean with a balanced smoky aftertaste.
Overall Impressions: I really don’t know what to make of this beer. I get the “sitting around the campfire” feeling that Jamil Zainasheff writes about in his book. I have had one Rauchbier before and it’s comparable, but I wonder if it has enough smokiness and if the other elements (primarily the maltiness) are where they should be.
I’ll be entering this beer into a competition, so we shall see what the beer judges say.
Here are some photos. I got a white background to show off the color.
Mike
I think we should do a side by side tasting of this with bacon wrapped scallops.
chris
I’ve been experimenting with smoked malt beers. All i can say is pour yourself a glass and drink it with expensive thin sliced ham such as parma, serrano or speck. Total revelation and now added to my small number of regular brews to brew.
Señor Brew™
+1 on the white background.
I’ve only had a smoked porter before, the smokiness was very subtle. I probably should try a true rauchbier, if I like it, maybe I’ll brew one.