Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Urbock

Brewed by Brauerei Heller
Style: Smoked
Bamberg, Bayern, Germany

Smokey malt chocolate aroma. Clear dark brown colour with good head and lacing. Bitter malt smokey burnt flavour. Smooth palate.

500ml Bottle $3.69 Binny’s Orland Schlenkerla’s Urbock pours mahogany with explosions of tiny carbonation bubbles rushing to the surface. A two finger dirty white head formed on the pour and eventually fell to a respectable crown leaving patchy lacing on it’s way down. While their Marzen has more of a smokey bacon aroma. The Urbock reminds more of strong campfire smoke.There is some nutty and caramel maltines once I get past the smoke. There seems to be a bit too much smoke in here and it’s blanketing the other aromas. The maltiness is much more pronounced in the flavor than the nose suggested. A bready nuttiness and caramel maltiness end up being a nice compliment to the smoke. The smokiness while still large and in charge is much more subdued than in the aroma. Medium bodied with a silky smoothness. The carboantion creates a velvety texture on the swallow and the smoke lingers for awhile leaving the feel of a thin film on your tongue. For a beer with this amount of smokiness this is incredibly easy drinking. Next time I’ll pair this with something smoked from the grill. As this beer warms the malts begin to shine. In my opinion, they were a little heavy handed with the smoked malts but it was a good beer none-the-less. The marzen is still my favorite from Aecht Schlenkerla 2/22/08

Moderate smoky aroma with a light amount of sweetness. Dark amber color with a small tan head. Slightly sweet and tangy start that gets smoky in the finish.

Well, I didnt hit any of the oak for m the barels on this one but the strong aroma of smoked cheese and hints of salami sure were inviting. Pours a nice dark brown with a bit of tintr around the edges. To be honest, this was not around long and the bitter sweetness of the brew is what stood out from the other three that I ahave tasted. A perfect match wfor my lunch ham sandwich. As predicted the smokyness overshadows all aspects but its the little sweet smacks that come oand make this brew stnd alone. Smooth and filling.

Bottle. Pours fairly dark, a cola color, though some light shines through a ruby layer near the narrower bottom of the snifter. A small white head remains on top. Loads of smoked meat, bacon, oak, and a nice sweet, bready tone make up the aroma. A sip is like a blast to the mouth with smoke, this really is more intense than their marzen. I gotta say, I like this one even better. The mesh of raw smoky (think smoldering campfire) flavor, meat, bacon, sweet fruits, caramel, and more is delightful. The finish is actually even better, all the aspects culminate in a lingering, distinctly (hate to use the word again but. . .) smoky package.
[July 29, 2008]
Bottle from McSrooge’s. Pours a dark muddy dried-blood color with just a small head. Aroma = smoke. I’m tired of breweries pussyfooting around the use of awesome smoked malt. Schlenkerla is obviously unafraid. This beer is among the meatiest, smokiest I’ve ever sampled. The aroma is filled with crispy bacon, sausage, ash tray, cigars, campfire. The flavor is more strong, assertive, solid smoke. Oaken flavors come across in a bittersweet, wooden quality. Somehow even though this is hugely smoky, other flavors are detected in the back and meld flawlessly with all the meat and fire. This stuff is delicious. It is both rewarding and disappointing at the same time that perhaps the best and most robust smoked beer I’ve ever had is constantly right in front of my face.
[August 11, 2008]
Bottle. I’m sick and tired of "smoked" beers pussyfooting around being smoked. This is serious. Real, genuine bacon qualities are imparted in this brew. I even get hints of bacon fat. Tobacco, campfire, smoke, meat. Yes, this is a tru rauchbier. Hail.
[August 26, 2008]
Bottle in a side by side with Schlenkerla Marzen. While I found these two beers to be quite similar, the urbock has a slightly rounder flavor with a tad more sweetness. Though as genuinely smoky as it is, it leans more towards meat than its sister beer. The mouthfeel here is slightly heavier which works quite well. Though I discovered some subtle nuances between these two tremendous rauchbiers, I wasn’t really able to choose a favorite. Major kudos to this brewery for understanding the true potential of smoke in a beer. They continue to establish dominance in this style.

Bottle, my girlfriend bought on bevmo after reading about in this cooking blog called hot knives and turns out I hadn’t rated yet. Pours dark amber with 1 finger tan head. Nose is very much a bacony, sharp smoked meaty nose. Taste is nicely smoked and pretty damn intense, crazy beer. Really pretty strong, almost too meaty.

Bouteille 500ml. De couleur brune rouge foncée et claire. Nez de malt fumée (bacon, saucisse, feu de bois), légèrement rôti et aux notes terreuses ainsi que léger de houblon herbeux et avec des notes de caramel. Ronde-moyenne en bouche avec un pétillement moyen et une texture riche et crémeuse. Goût de malt fumé (bois fumé - présent toute la gorgée) accompagné de petites notes de tabac et de fruits (zest d’agrumes) lors de l’entrée en bouche auquel se rajoute rapidement quelques variantes au goût de fumée (saucisses rôties, bacon, jerky), un léger goût de malt rôti et terreux (voire même des notes brûlées) ainsi que des petites notes de caramel toffee puis en finale l’on retrouve une moyenne amertume assez asséchante de houblon herbeux ainsi qu’un léger goût de noix. Post-goût long et sec, moyennement amer de houblon herbeux, de rôti (notes brûlées), de fumée avec de faibles notes fruitées (zest d’agrumes).

I’ve had a number of Schlenkerla beers before, and this one had a similar salty smoked-sausage flavor that was not unsurprising. Still, this brewery is unique in the world of beer as I know it, nothing else I’ve had tastes quite like this beer does. Appearance was a copper-red although it was a bit flat. Aroma was an astringent liquid smoke astringency, and was more of a burning flavor intensity than it was a savory smell. Flavor was coppery and spicy and actually a bit less smoky flavor than I expected. Mouthfeel was a bit flat. I got this bottle from Discount Liquor in Milwaukee.