Great Basin Smoke Creek Rauchbier

Brewed by Great Basin Brewing Company
Style: Smoked
Sparks, Nevada USA

Serve in Dimpled mug, Lager glass, Stein

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Numerous samples at 2008 GABF: Burnished peach with golden hues. Dense but fragmented white foam. Attractive nose of minerals, "gamy" smoke, charred wood, and lightly caramelized malt. Soft carbonation. Opens with a lovely tangy bite of anise-spiked rauchmalt and tinge of bready malt. Tasty flash of minerals cuts beautifully cuts the sweetness and accentuates the more-delicate bread notes. Merely a trace of fruitiness, which stops shy of becoming slick and detrimentally affecting the body’s obligatory snappiness. Body holds a misty dryness which is enhanced by textured hay which contributes ample depth. Finishes floral-hoppy and polished with lasting notes of smoked bread and hay dust. Not a hugely smoky example, but smoky enough. And at a mere 5.1% ABV, I am very heartened. Solid.

GABF 2009: dark golden/amber with thin halo of suds. Subtle tart and smokey nose. Smokey flavors on a nice medium bodied beer. Nicely balanced and enjoyable though nothing special.

Sampled GABF 2008
The beer has a nice, frothy, tan colored head that sits on top of a brilliantly clear, amber-hued, brown colored beer. The aroma is very smoky, with an intense Beech-wood derived smoke character that is just beefy and thick. Not much else is noticeable underneath the smoke aromatics, though there is some structured, caramelized malt character here in the background.

This has a nice mix of sweet, chewy, caramelized malt flavors and savory smoke. This has quite a bit of caramel character in it as well as a nice grain-like note in the finish that gets a bit toasty. This beer is quite rich bodied and viscous, the beer coats the palate quite well. The savory smoke flavors keep both the body and the sweetness well in check though as the beer is neither too heavy or too sweet. This is pretty tasty, but it is not quite as complex as I might wish for; I could wish for more of the complex, malty Bock flavors to be noticeable, but I think the smoke would have to be dialed back a bit for that to happen and I am certainly enjoying the smokiness of this brew.

Draft @ Great Basin. Pours a clear, amber-wooden color; light tan head with patchy lacing. Very solid, pleasantly smoked aroma: roasted meat, campfire, and peppery spiciness; a touch of sugar; just a bit hollow at the core, but generally nice. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: solid carbonation; chewy, smoked meat, charred malts, and spiciness, with a caramel and sugary maltiness underneath, solidifying things. Very nice smoked character. Medium finish: sugar, light caramel, and dried fruits, with a small amount of lingering smoke.

Mostly clear/10% opaque hazed copper brown body. Sweaty and syrupy nose of fresh smoked wood, a bit on the sweet side with a touch of maple syrup and caramel. Full and resinous on the palate, chewy and fresh and vinous... the smoke character is mild to medium but is integrated really well with the maple and vienna and caramel malt. Rich and flavorful while being quiet and mild at the same time. Good stuff.

On tap @ the brewpub, 9/20/08. Clear copper with a one finger off-white head, fading to a thick film before long. lots of smoky campfire in the aroma, with a little caramel in the background. Flavor is much the same with more sweet caramel malts. There was a hint of sour tang at the beginning and finished slightly earthy, bitterness peaking around a 2. Light to medium body with low carbonation. Pretty good smoked beer, albeit one-dimensional. If you liked smoked beers, this will be fine. If you don’t, this example just further proves that you won’t like smoked beers.

On-Tap at the Brewery Sparks NV, Pours out a dark amber topped with a off white head. Aroma of light smoke. Tast of smoke meat and some nuts. not a bad smoke.

GABF ’07. Pours sparkling amber with a small, fizzy, off-white head, diminishing with fair lacing. Aroma is average malt (toasted grain, nutty), average hops (herbs, grass), average yeast (dough) with notes of smoke. Light bodied, thin texture, soft carbonation, and a bitter finish. Average duration, light sweetness, moderate acidity and bitterness.

This poured a dark amber color and had a lightly smokey flavor. Nicely done, with some bacon like flavor in it.

GABF 2006: Amber color with an off-white head. Great smokey balance of smoke, duh, and malt. The flavor had even more smoke than the aroma but the caramel malty notes stoof their ground. I thought it was big on the smoke but balanced.