Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Urbock

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

Bottle: Dark brown pour with a white head. Aroma, smoky, bacon bits, some roasted notes. Flavor, molasses up front, lots of smoke right behind it. Pretty good though, it’s just love it or hate it with these things.

(bottle) Aroma of smoked sausage. Smooth balance of malt and hops. Pours a very dark brown and the aroma is the most dominant characteristic. I really enjoyed it.

Pours a brown amber color with medium head. Very strong smoke and bacon smell. Smells like a country fried breakfast. You get alot of the same in the taste and i’m sure this one isnt for everybody, but I like it. Its a little sweet in the finish if you can get past the smoke.

Pours a clear, deep, garnet with an off-white, decent-sized, fizzy creany head that lasts quite a while and leaves tight lacing. Nose is offputting; smells of salty beef, summer sausage, and with nice underlying notes of rauch and peat with faint bock malts. Flavor is better, rauch, caramel, smoked meat, mesquite, and some salt. Finishes quickly with smoked meat and salt with an underlying light chocolate and toasted bread. Palate is nice, medium, soft to lively, and a mouthfeel that is creamy yet viscous. My first true rauch, and overall not really too big of a fan. I’ve had other smoked beers that I really liked (Stone Smoked Porter, Fort Collins Rauchator Dopplebock), but this one had too much meaty, salty notes to really enjoy alone.

Pours a very dark brown with a dense one finger head. The foam settles very slowly to thin cap that leaves behind a nice sheeting of lace. Smell; there’s a definite woody, smoky aroma going on, but not quite as strong as the marzen. I’m not really able to pick out any other aromas out of this one, but I’m not really all that surprised. Even so it smells pretty good. Taste; those smoked flavors are definitely the frst to hit you as expected, but there’s also some sweet caramel malts, with a little bit of caramel as well. Finishes a touch bitter, with some nice, but not overwhelming smoked meat flavors, with some hints of rye bread. This seems a bit more balanced than the marzen was, and a beer will have to buy again. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with a mild carbonation, and a much better drinkability than I was expecting. I have been putting this one of for a while in fear of how it would taste. Turns out, it’s pretty darn good. I think I will have to get more of this during the summer time while I’m grilling meat.

Pours a majestic dark brown with red hues and a nice light tan head, dense, but thinning. Big rich malt is here playing second fiddle to the strong assertive smoke. Not as big bad and nasty with the smoke (and I mean that in the best way possible) as the Marzen, but just as delicious. Woody and hickory smoke particularly comes out over the slightly caramel malts and light floral/peppery hops. Very nice full creamy mouthfeel, healthy viscosity. In the flavor, the malt is much more forward than one would guess. It holds it’s own against that less than bacon-esque smoke flavor. A little salty, light charcoal and toast come out in this beer. A sweet and salty finish, with some smoke coming back along with the toast in the lingering aftertaste. This is a very nice beer indeed, not as smokey, but every bit as good as the Marzen.

Pours a deep dark clear copper-red, with 2" of light tan foam. The suds recede quickly to a thin cap and ring. It starts out with nice lacing, but tapers off to just a minimal trace. Good smoky malty aroma. Full smoky flavor up front - with some nice seet caramel behind it. The caramel fades, however, to just smoke until the finish. There is a bit of spicy hops in the finish, and a sweet smoky finish. Medium bodied, gentle carbonation.

Dark but clear caramel color, nice frothy head with good retention. Smells like a combination of cocktail smokies, a chemical fire, and malty goodness. Nicely carbonated, and to my surprise, as much beer flavor as smoke flavor; much more of a hop finish and smoke flavor dissipates quickly.