Ottos Rauchbier

Formerly brewed at Ottos Pub & Brewery
Style: Smoked
State College, Pennsylvania USA

Draft at the brewpub. I beg to differ with those that found little smoke here. If Scherlenka is a 9, then this is a 6 or so. Medium copper pour, with minimal off-white head. The aroma is caramel malty and smoky. Not as intense as some, but the smoky aroma is there. The flavor is smoked caramel malt with mild hops and slight brown sugary fruit. I enjoyed this one a lot.

On tap, at brewpub, 3/13/07. Pours a reddish amber under a small covering of beige head. Moderately smoky aroma, with touches of meatiness. Lightly hoppy with some fruity notes. The flavor is moderately smoky, less than the classics, but still evident throughout. The smoke has a nice campfire like quality to it. Solid malt base, with just a light sweetness on the finish. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, a little sticky, with moderate fizzy carbonation. A pretty nice Rauch, better than the average brewpub effort. I personally found the level of smokiness to be pretty sufficient, though some of the other raters found it too light or missing completely. I love me some smoke beers, and this certainly could have been kicked up a notch with more smoke, but I still thought it was good.

Draft at the brewery. I enjoyed not too overpowering smokiness that this rauchbier exhibited. The beer was clear, dark brown ale that went well with dinner. Not very complex, and had a low hop profile. Overall slightly above average.

On tap at brewery. Only has a mild smoky aroma, which gets a little stronger as it warms but it’s not as prominent as in classic German examples, like Aecht. Light sweet malt with mild spicy hops. Clear dark brown with thin off-white head. Medium bodied with medium carbonation. Good dry malt lager taste with mild smoky notes throughout. Medium bitter finish with a dry smoky bitter after. Not quite as strong as an Aecht, for example, but a good baby step for those wanting to try a smoked beer without being overcome.

Draft at the brewery. Clear dark burnt amber color. LIght and sweet nose containing spices, light cedar wood, perhaps some nuts, some sweet apple-like malt flavors, not really any smoke in this beer at all. Doesn’t show up anywhere. Doesn’t make it a bad beer but I guess it does make it a bad rauchbier. Kinda weak on the palate, reminds me of their veinna, how it didn’t taste bad and had no technical flaws but it just felt uninspired and plain.

Mildly smoked, there are plenty of other malty flavors here to make this more universally drinkable than some other smoke beers I’ve tried. Appealingly dark, the flavor is sweet up front with some dark fruit, the smoke flavor noticeable but really only providing back-up.