Aecht Schlenkerla Fastenbier

On tap at Crunchy’s, East Lansing. $10.75/pint, unmarked. Ouch. Anyway...clearish orange-brown body, thin off-white to buff head. Toasty nose with burnt caramel notes and smoked peat. Body of fair complexity, with toast and caramel notes quickly pounded into submission by bold smoked peat. Bitter finish. One of the most quaffable smoked beers I’ve sampled. Solid beer, but not mind-blowing.

On tap at Ashley’s - Ann Arbor, MI. Aroma is strong right off the bat. Good complex Maple smoke, burning leaves and pine woods. Complex. Pours an interesting mid-brown, amber with a soft soap of off-white above. Flavor bursts as an immediately interesting complex smoke flavor, with Aspen bark, light ash and Beechwood. Wow! This is a fantastic smoke flavor. Spicy, complex and developing some unique earthy character. Just awesome. I can keep going with the flavors, from burning Balsam to Campfire to wood shop. It morphs and lingers for a long, long time. One of the most nuanced and delicious uses of smoke I can image. The toothy, chewy sugars back it up, but stay real dry and crisp. Clean and light, give the excellent smoke character plenty of opportunity to shine. This is tremendous!

pours cloudy orange, nice lacing of the head. aroma of smoke & mixed spices. flavor is spicy underarms. the finish is the same spiciness. if you like spicy underarms, this is the beer for you.

F-me. Hand-bottled from cask. A bit of a hiss as I sprang the pop-top. Superb sign. Poured with a bold, thick head. I’ve been waiting too long to try this. Rich amber color. Rocky white head has decided to hang around. Initial whiff is big with big woodsy aromas. I can smell the glowing embers of a slightly extinguished fire, bacon crisping in a cast-iron skillet. My mouth waters for this smoky sensation. Slightly oily on the palate yet smooth and quenching. Still tingling with hints of carbonation. Underpinning of sweetness with passionate snips of bittering hops. As with too few things in life, this has been well worth the wait. Many thanks to redlight!

On tap at Three Floyds Brewpub and served in a 1/2 litre Schlenkerla glass. This beer poured a cloudy mahogany with a two-finger thick head of slowly fading tan foam. Some nice lacing was left around the glass. The aroma of the beer was made up of campfire and smoked breakfast ham. Not overpowering, but very inticing. The flavor followed suit with heavy smoke, bacon and ham notes, but not in an overdone fasion. The mouthfeel was medium-bodied and super smooth. A heavily smoked brew that remains highly sessionable. Top notch!