Schlenkerla Marzen - Smoked Beer

Product Information

After the really good beer had run down our throats and the hearty meal had been consumed, we were able to talk to Stephan Michel. Smoked beer will never regain its widespread dominance in the brewing world. Let’s face it, smoky flavors aren’t for everyone. That said, the dedicated smoked beer enthusiasts will ensure it’s always available. As homebrewers, we can keep the tradition alive while pushing the boundaries of flavor and style.

Still, we have a few of our own favorites. So, if you’re curious to try the smoke, here are some of the best you’ll get on the market. Yazoo Brewing Company Stuart Forster travels to the Franconia region of northern Bavaria to taste Schlenkerla Rauchbier, smoke beer in Bamberg, Germany. The most important lesson at this stage is you don’t need to take a potentially aggressive phenolic flavor—that is, smoke—and work into a riotous flavor monster of a beer. The biggest issue I see is the availability of fresh smoked malt and, with that, repeatability,” says Florian Kuplent, cofounder and brewmaster at Urban Chestnut in St. Louis. “The smoke character diminishes over time, and it’s not always obvious how old the malt is.”

I just spent nearly two hours travelling north to Bamberg on a train from Munich. They know how to brew decent beer in Bavaria’s state capital too. But I want to sample Schlenkerla Rauchbier in the historic tavern that bears the brewery’s name. Sign for the Altstadt tavern serving Schlenkerla Rauchbier in Bamberg, Germany. As I’ve learned over the past few minutes, having a beer can sometimes provide insights into a city’s heritage. You take another whiff because, well, this is just weird. I mean, we know it’s a smoked beer, so we should be expecting smoky aromas right? But wow! You weren’t expecting to feel like you are sitting right next to a blazing campfire getting hit in the face with a waft of smoke! An ornate, wrought iron sign hangs over the street outside of the tavern. Once inside I’m impressed by how busy it is for a midweek afternoon. I take a seat by a heavy wooden table under the Gothic vaulted ceiling and enjoy the convivial ambience of people conversing.

Yes, and then I had to try a fruity soft wheat beer-like drink and a sour beer with a dash of syrup that reminded me very much of our Berliner Weiße. Other rich meat dishes, such as roasts, stews, jambalaya, and oysters; as well as foods high in umami, like mushrooms, tomatoes, anchovies, olives, soy sauce, and potatoes will light up your taste buds when paired with a good rauchbier. Cheese:Great American Beer festival Winner, Gold, 2016; and World Beer Cup Winner, Bronze, 2016. Availability: Unknown. The oldest record of the Schlenkerla brewery dates from 1678, but it’s likely it was founded even before then.

Rotbier (i.e. red lager) used to be common in Franconia. The city of Nuremberg in particular was known for its Rotbier. Since its production was extremely laborious, Rotbier was replaced in the 19th century by Braunbier (i.e. brown lager) which was produced using modern, simpler brewing methods. It was not until 1997 that the beer style was revived. The well-balanced beers of German are exceptional food beers. Dark malts play perfectly with roasted meats, and the spicy and floral hops known as Noble hops accentuate seasoning and add life to any meal.Otto– Otto from Schilling Beer Company is a Bamberg-style Smoked Märzen, made in homage to the home of smoked beer and to one of Europe’s most beloved styles. Otto shows the versatility of smoke applied well as an ingredient; this is a Märzen through and through with a darker body highlighted with deep red tones and characterized by caramelized malt. The smoke is soft and gentle. Unexpected given how harsh smoke can be.

Reverse sear if you prefer a char on the outside: I love this smoked brat recipe as is, but if you prefer light charring, you can remove them from the smoker a little early and finish them on a hot grill or ina cast-iron skillet with a little olive oil. A key part of that consideration is knowing what kind of flavor—quality and intensity—you’ll get from malts smoked over different woods. Schlenkerla and Spezial use beech-smoked malt, for example, but here I must bear bad tidings: Those are incredibly difficult beers to imitate because both breweries have their own in-house maltings heated by wood-fired ovens, then a decoction brewing process that works perfectly with their homemade malts. (For more details, see “Exploring the Most Brewery-Rich Region in the World,” beerand brewing.com.) So, maybe you won’t walk down exactly the same path as Schlenkerla and Spezial—but you still need to make some important choices about woods the same way you would hops and yeast. It’s extremely refreshing and drinkable like a Pilsner, but with a layer of unique smoked complexity. Final Volume Wood smoked malt was relegated to traditional breweries and specialty beers. Today, several maltsters make specialty smoked malt, and some breweries even produce their own. The largest smoked malt producing maltster is Weyermann, in Bamberg, Germany. Types of Smoked Malt

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Fun Fact: Seldmayr was so forward thinking that it’s reported that the first ever “modern refrigerator” was actually used at the Spaten Brewery. So next time you open up your fridge at Yeast was later added to satisfy the semantics of it all even though traditionally, yeast was still used, but since it naturally fermented, that is why it wasn’t on the official list) While chatting to Matthias I learn that the brewing techniques employed by Schlenkerla are essentially unchanged from those of six generations ago when his forefathers entered the brewing industry. Beechwood cut from Franconian forests is used during the malting process to give Schlenkerla smoke beer its characteristic smoky flavour. Brewers Association 2013 Beer Style Guidelines" (PDF). Brewers Association. 28 February 2013. p.14 . Retrieved 26 February 2015.