Gute Nacht Geneva: Good Night Bamberg by Art History Brewing

I braved the Thanksgiving blizzard for this beer.

Roosevelt Road was an absolute disaster with every snowflake threatening to obstruct my view and my poor tires with barely any helpful tread for gription were due to replaced the following week. It was like Mad Max in slow motion with cars fishtailing everywhere and the owners of SUVs steadfastly declining to slow down for the conditions.

But like your friendly letter carrier, neither snow nor jagoffs driving Subarus would stay me in my search for a particular beer - more on that another time. And while the weather outside was frightful, Sal's Beverage Emporium, er, World was delightful. I perused the local beer shelves after a trip to Binny's and the brewery of the highly sought after and temporarily anonymous beer both proved unsuccessful.

"IPA. IPA. IPA. Bamberg. IPA. Barrel...Wait a minute!"

Now that got my attention.

The beer was Good Night Bamberg by Art History Brewing in the western burb of Geneva. The label described it as a "Franconia Style Smoked Dark Lager". As you can imagine, it was an instant buy for this Rauchbier addict.

While I have heard of Art History, I cannot recall ever having tasted their beer previously. Surely I've seen their brews many a time at Binny's yet I am unsure why I had never sampled their liquid until now. My best guess is that I'd mostly seen IPAs and turned my nose up at them. Upon seeing something more to my liking such as a Helles, I moved on because why would I buy their Helles when Dovetail's and Goldfinger's are just down the aisle and I know they have been lovingly decocted to drive me to Maillard gluttony?

And so I was confronted with my first Art History beer. How did I make out?

This was another in a long line of beers lately  that produced a tan head. I got a fairly good amount of foam and it hung around for an average amount of time. When the folks at Art History called it a dark lager they were not kidding. This is one of the most positively Stygian brews I've had in a long time. My desk lamp struggled to get any photons through that nearly impenetrable gloom. I had to tilt my glass at just the right azimuth to discern its deep, dark brown color. It seemed to be clear as I spied quite a number of bubbles at one angle.

The aroma was mainly smoke, luscious smoke. But there was also a bit of plum as well as a hint of spicy grass.

Those bubbles I spied were a portent of a nice, firm fizziness. The smoke flavor took pride of place and was undergirded by some biscuit, a tad of milk chocolate, and a smidge of stone fruit. Spicy hops kept everything in check. The medium-light body allowed for just the barest hint of sweetness.

On the finish, only a subtle sweetness and a gentle smokiness remained as the spicy-herbal hops kicked in. But this is not a particularly hoppy beer which meant there was just enough bitterness to balance the malt and add a modicum of dryness at the end.

I guess I'll have to give Art History another try because this was a very tasty beer. It had a good dose of fizz and the smoke was muscular but not deadly. Perhaps a bit more biscuit flavor next go round. At 4.9% this was not a potent brew but the smoke and the dark malt flavors had real autumnal vibes and made it a nice early fall treat - the canned on date was 10/8/2025.

Junk food pairing: Good Night Bamberg pairs well with another Chicago area favorite, Jays Hot Stuff potato chips. That smoky paprika taste just complements the dark & smoky flavors of the beer perfectly.

My refrigerator is full of beer

While down in Chicago's western suburbs last week, I went a bit overboard in my beer buying. I had a list of brews to seek out with Goldfinger's winter seasonal at the top of the list. It is a rye lager and I just could not resist. My stop at Binny's yielded nothing but I would not be denied. So I drove to the brewery one evening but they too were out. Thankfully I found some at Sal's Beverage Emporium or whatever it's called.

While Goldfinger was out of rye lager - not even a drop to be had on tap - they did have another brew suitable for winter, Bałtycki. Why yes it is a Baltic porter. 

I also found Rauchbier, my first ever brew from Art History, I do believe.

Old Irving Brewing is a new favorite of mine. While they brew IPAs that hold no interest for me, they do other styles more appealing to my tastes and do them well. I also think it helps that they are in a neighborhood near where I grew up.

Lastly, I grabbed a 4-pack of this Polish-style pilsner from Revolution in concert with Moor’s Brewing whom I'd never heard of until I saw this beer. A leftover from the summer, it was a mere $5.97.

Smoke? Rye?

I will be doing a thorough investigation of this beer.

A pilgrimage to Jack's Abby

On my recent trip to the Boston area I was able to get to Framingham and stop in at Jack's Abby, Massachusetts' premier all lager brewery.

They distributed here in Madison very briefly and I was left with no choice but to head east when their beers disappeared from store shelves. I saw only some of their core beers here, brews available year-round. It seemed to me that, in order to stand out, they should have featured some of their unique, limited run concoctions. But what do I know?

I cozied up to the bar, retrieved a beer menu, and was delighted to find not one but two rauchbiers! The first one that I tried was Fire in the Ham.

While not endowed with catchiest of names, it was excellent and just what I needed after my flights and hiking around Walden Pond for a few hours. This seemed to be their take on Schlenkerla's rauch Helles. It was pale and had that classic beechwood smoke taste with a nice, soft breadiness too. The lovely maltiness was balanced with just the right amount of Nobley hops.

The second one I had tried last year in Boston and was eager for more - Smoke & Dagger. This stuff is a dark lager with a dash of smoke. It tasted extra smooth this time, almost as if it were on nitro. A generous roasty taste was aided and abetted by a smoky accent. Delicious. 

While it would be really nice to have Jack's Abby's brews here in Madison, I rather like having to go to their homeland to enjoy them. It makes them special and gives me yet another thing to look forward to on my annual trips to Boston.

Rauchbier + Call of Chtulhu = a frighteningly great time

Last night it was Call of Cthulhu brought to you by Schlenkerla.

I shall be running The Mirror Collection at Gamehole Con and this was an initial run through. Overall, it went well, though I learned a couple things about plot progression for next time. And the rauchbier was excellent.

Longtable

Earlier this week I had dinner with friends at Longtable Beer Cafe. It had been a while since I'd been there.

I began with a can of McFleshman's English Pale in preparation for flying across the ocean and enjoying pints of cellar temperature ales.

It was quite tasty with herbal-floral notes from the hops instead of tasting like Hawaiian Punch.

The brisket salad was good.

The brisket was tasty but needed more smokiness. More jalapeno would have been nice too.

My second brew was a fine rauchbier. 

The beer cheddar soup was good too. Tasted from scratch instead of from Cisco.

One of my companions had a German-style pils from Working Draft, Hindsight. I love the stuff and his discerning palate enjoyed it. 

Tasty food & beer plus bonus points for having Schlenkerla rauchbier on offer and additional bonus points for having not 1, not 2, but 3 flavors of Schlenkerla. Plus the company was great.

Rauchbier Notification

I discovered last night that Longtable Beer Cafe carries 3 varieties of Schlenkera. Mmm...

The Rauch: Rauchbier by Dovetail

It's a shame that the Steve's Liquor out on Junction Road is on the far west side instead of the more fashionable east side where I live. This is because that store is a reliable source of the elixir that is rauchbier. They always have Schlenkerla's Helles available, if nothing else, and are happy to stock rauchbiers from whomever may distribute them to Madison and not just Schlenkerla. Last year I recall going in and finding they had a rather nice selection of Schlenkerla's smoky brews.

On a more recent stop, I found some of Dovetail's Rauchbier which only has to make the trip from Chicago and not across the ocean from Bamberg. (Though I didn't see the Fastenbier on my this visit. But, it's not too late as it's still Lent.) I tasted it several years ago when I took a trek out to Ravenswood and stopped in at the brewery. Sadly, I had never seen it on a Madison shelf until now and had somehow always missed it on my various stops at Binny's.

It has been the Mr. Snuffleupagus of brews. The Dovetail website declares it's Rauchbier season and the Binny's website says, "Oh yeah, we've got some." Yet it's nowhere to be seen when I am wandering the aisles. It's as if another rauchhead always buys that last 4-pack just before I walk in the door so I just miss it by mere seconds.

And thusly I was thrilled to see it here in Madison.

My recollection of having drunk it several years back does not extend beyond "Ooh! This stuff is amber and tasty." so there was this sense of tasting it for the first time all over again.

The big tan head of loose foam that topped my pour lasted a goodly amount of time so you are able to see it in my photograph. The beer was clear and had a deep amber hue. Lots of bubbles were to be seen inside. Oh mama, did I smell the smoke! Others seem to describe every rauchbier they encounter as smelling and tasting like bacon. Yet no one seems to describe smoked beef brisket as smelling or tasting like bacon. Who among us thinks smoked cheddar has any bacon-like qualities? Does anyone add smoked paprika to their food thinking it will add the aroma and flavor of bacon?

It's just this beer piety that most people accept and generally ends further attempts to really dig into what the malt is laying down for your palate.

Here the smokiness is distinctly unbaconlike and more akin to smoked Swiss cheese. There was also plum in the aroma as well as a herbal hoppiness.

This stuff had a really nice fizziness and a big dose of rauch caressed my tongue into a smoky bliss. I also tasted a bit of caramel, though this was not a particularly sweet brew, some mild stone fruit, and a bit of bread. Oh, and those herbal hops added a nice bit of balance.

The smokiness lingered on the finish a bit before a wave of hops came in to provide what I thought was a moderate bitterness and slightly more dryness. This is not a particularly hoppy beer but there was enough to balance all those malt flavors and I liked how they came in and washed the smoke away.

Sehr schön! The smoky taste was the star of the show here with a clean, sharp flavor not dulled by sweetness. My hypothesis is that sweetness makes for a heavier taste that mimics fat in some way and gives rise to comparisons to bacon. Without the sweetness, the smoke flavor is cleaner and more woody and leans towards the fuliginous.

And thus ends my hypothesizing for today.

But, in truth, I loved all the malty flavors, especially that bit of bread. I wouldn't have minded a little more hoppiness but, as it is, they offered balance and a nice herbal-spicy flavor. The bitterness was nice on the finish too. Just a great mix of flavors.

Junk food pairing: Bleu cheese is the perfect pairing for your Rauchbier and I recommend grabbing a bag of Buffalo Blue Cheese Combos. The spicy heat complements the hops while the creamy, earthy taste of the cheese brings out new, albeit subtle, dimensions to the smoke.

Smoky treats

I found some tasty, smoky brews at Steve's on Junction Road over the weekend.

Describe in single words only the good things that come into your mind about Rauchbier: Smoked Helles by Pipeworks Brewing

Rauchbier? Let me tell you about Rauchbier.

Christmas came early at Binny's last month as I walked out into the chilly Downers Grove air with not one but two Rauchbiers. (And a rye lager. And a couple intriguing Polish brews.) I felt what I imagine a new father feels like after his first child is born - all giddy and elated. But, instead of the pride of having sired offspring, I felt the satisfaction that I would be able to enjoy the autumn nights with a luscious, smoky companion.

Sadly, the first Rauchbier that I tasted from my stash was a disappointment - just too much fizz. So I looked to Pipeworks to rectify the situation. Their Oaked Smoked Helles Lager had proven to be excellent and I felt that the (presumably) beech wood version would be as well.

It's funny to me how my perception of Pipeworks has changed over the years. When I first became aware of them I sought out their fruited Berliner Weisses. And then they seemed to go all unicorn IPA on me. I was once at a party with a bunch of brewers from a local brewery - the grunt type of brewer, not the brewmasters who get all the glory - who were a fair bit younger than me. Pipeworks came up and they all bent over backwards to praise, if not worship, their unicorn IPAs. It was as if the hops used in their beers were unique to the brewery and no other had the Precious. I couldn't help but think "What the hell is wrong with kids these days?"

But now Pipeworks has this Pastrami on Rye beer that is infused with rye goodness and seasoned with spices not normally found in beer. It's like a gruit and a Jewish deli made the beast with two backs and had a delectably toothsome child. Then this fall I discovered that they have not one but two different Rauchbiers, each brewed with a malt that was smoked with different variety of wood. Pipeworks deserves tons of credit for escaping the gimmick trap that holds many a craft brewery tied to a routine of brewing barely distinguishable IPAs. I no longer think of unicorns when I think of Pipeworks which is a testament to their willingness to brew with ingredients I prefer over fruity hops and their ability to make quality beers.

For once my photograph is more or less in focus and does a decent job of portraying the foam situation as my pour produced a smallish head that was just off-white. These bubbles were positively kinetic like soda and they burst fairly quickly. On the other hand, my camera's rather poor white balancing makes the beer look a deeper gold than it truly was. The brew was clear and I spied a goodly number of bubbles inside. As expected, a smoky aroma wafted up from my glass and set the olfactory part of my brain all aglow. After it had settled down, I caught a hint of bread as well as some grassy hop scents.

A medium-light body was adorned with a firm, but not overwhelming, fizziness.

Whew!

I mean, was there ever any doubt?

Upon my first sip, waves of ambrosial smokiness caressed my tongue. They weren't tsunamis nor were they mild spilling waves. They hit that nice Goldilocks mid-point. (Though, truth be told, I wouldn't have minded if it had been even smokier.) A bit of bread joined the fray along with grassy hops. On the finish, all the malty goodness slowly faded - smoke tends to leave my palette more slowly than sweetness - letting the hops come to the fore with a more spicy flavor. This, along with the fizz, made for a moderate dryness with slightly less bitterness.

Pipeworks really came through here. Although less bready/Maillardy than Schlenkerla's Helles, this and its oaken sister are excellent Rauchbiers. Luscious smoke and the fizz/hop combo provide balance and a nice, dry finish. Fine brews indeed.

Junk food pairing: As with the oaked smoked stuff, this smoked Helles pairs well with potato chips, especially the All Dressed or Cheese & Onion varieties.

I held the beer so tightly in my hands: Rauchbier by Goldfinger Brewing Co. & Maplewood Brewery

"Is that the brewery that makes Pulaski Pils?" I asked myself when seeing "Maplewood Brewery and Distillery" on a can of this beer. Truth be known I've never had Pulaski Pils but I am surprised at this considering I grew up in Chicago a block from Pulaski Road and had a Polish grandmother. Casimir Pulaski Day meant a day off from school and time to go cause low level mayhem in the alleys. Driving into Lincolnwood always prompts a bit of derision towards the northern burb. I mean, Crawford Avenue?

While Maplewood distributes here in Madison, I've never had any of their brews. And so their logo prompted a bit of interest but no trepidation due to a beer of theirs that I didn't take to. Let's taste what you've got. Unlike Maplewood, Goldfinger does not distribute here in Madison but I have been to their taproom. The beers I had there were excellent. I think they do decoction mashes and they proudly advertise that their beers are lagered in horizontal lagering tanks, though I don't know what the orientation of the tanks does to the beer. Whatever brewing voodoo they do, I am all for it as the beers of theirs I have known and poured into my maw were overflowing with Maillard goodness. And they came in mugs with a generous head, as is proper, letting my nose have a thrill instead of being all sullen and jealous of my tongue.

Even if I was unfamiliar with Goldfinger and had, perhaps, a less than stellar experience with a Maplewood beer, I still would have bought their Rauchbier collaboration because Rauchbier is just like manna from heaven and hope springs eternal. I don't recall the can indicating what style it was, a smoked Märzen, for example. Nor do I remember if the can indicated what time of wood was used to the smoke the malt. I always presume it's beech wood unless told otherwise.

My cans indicated they were filled on 24 October and I bought them Thanksgiving weekend.

My pour would have made the barkeeps at Goldfinger proud as my glass was topped with a few fingers of off-white foam. (Pre-photo, that is.) It was loose and frothy and lasted what I think of as an average amount of time. The brew was copper colored and clear with a goodly number of bubbles to be seen inside. A sweetly scented smokiness hit my nose first followed by dash of cherry and a faint bit of grassy hops. Ooh la la!

A medium-light body held a lovely smoke taste which was accompanied by a slight malty sweetness. The hops took on spicy notes in addition to the more green ones from the aroma. And there was lots of fizz which cast an astringent shadow over the beer. For the finish, the fizz ganged up with the hops and washed away the maltiness leaving a really nice dryness with the perfect level of bitterness.

I suspect that the more than generous amount of carbonic acid here dulled my tongue because it became progressively harder to taste the malt and hops - a bit like when you overindulge in some potent salt & vinegar potato chips. They were basically smothered by all that fizz. This was a liquid palimpsest with the carbonation at the fore but the Rauchbier still barely visible beneath. And so, while the first few gulps were very tasty, the smoky satisfaction dissipated all too quickly.

Bummer.

Junk food pairing: I paired by Rauchbier with a bag of Herr's Jalapeno Poppers Flavored Cheese Curls. They have a rich cheesy flavor and just enough heat to make you feel it. Plus the jalapeno complements the smokiness well.

The maples want more Citra and the oaks ignore their pleas: Oaked Smoked Helles Lager by Pipeworks Brewing Co.

I recently found myself trapped in the indecision of the massive beer selection at a Binny's outpost in western Chicagoland. I really didn't need to bring home a lot of beer as I would be the only one drinking the stuff and I was clutching a couple of packs already. But I just couldn't let the prospect of more Rauchbier pass me by. On the shelf before me was Pipeworks' Smoked Helles as well as their Oaked Smoked Helles. Which to choose?

If memory serves, I checked each for dates on the bottom of a can but I cannot recall what I found. The date on the Oaked Smoked cans were smudged but they were dated this year and the month appeared to be August. They cost the same or very nearly so thusly price was not at issue. In the end, as you can see above, I went with the latter. Oak smoked Rauchbiers are just less common and I don't think I've encountered one of the Helles variety before so I fell on the side of rarity. But look at that poor oak! Talk about trouble with the trees. No doubt it was the work of a malicious maple.

I generally hold Pipeworks in high regard. They brew more than IPAs and I am surprised that I never reviewed their Pastrami on Rye: Manny's Deli Edition beer which was very tasty.** (Indeed, it appears I haven't reviewed any of their beers since 2013. How odd.) To my mind, that they brew zwei types of smoked Helles speaks to their eclectic/good tastes and makes them a cause worth supporting, even if only one 4-pack at a time.

A cap of loose, white foam sat atop the aureate elixir. Unfortunately, the head was off like a prom dress leaving a glass of lightly golden goodness that was perfectly clear. A stray bubble was to be seen inside here and there. Upon sniffing, smoke came first followed by a bit of honeyed sweetness. There was just a hint of grassy hops to be had underneath it all.

My first sip revealed a medium-light body with only a modicum of fizz. The promised oaked smoke took pride of place but there was also a little breadiness and a hint of sweetness, just like the aroma. Similarly, a mild grassy hoppiness was to be had as well. The luscious smokiness lingered on the finish as the hops took on a herbal tinge to allow for a bit of bitterness and dryness.

Sweetness was minimal allowing me to drown in oaked smoke gluttony. Although I would have liked a tad more fizziness, this stuff went down easily. And at 5% A.B.V., this wasn't a problem. I am not sure if the restrained hop flavor was intentional or if my 4-pack was reaching senescence. (The 4-pack was not refrigerated.)

While part of me notes that this brew lacks the full-breaded flavor of Schlenkerla's smoked Helles, in truth, this is a very fine beer regardless. The smokey taste is excellent and there's just enough of everything else to round out the overall flavor. A wonderful smokey midsummer brew became a true autumnal treat.

Junk food pairing: Oaked Smoked Helles Lager will pair well with just about any potato chip but I recommend either All Dressed or Cheese & Onion varieties.

**Madisonians should note that Delta Beer Lab has a rye beer called Make Rye Not War that is a "collaboration" with Stalzy's Deli. Or has the name on it, anyway. This brew is once again available.

Rauchbier is like the sin of the flesh; the more you have the more you want: Bamberger Rauchbier by Klosterbräu Bamberg

This may be my first taste of a German Rauchbier that isn't from Schlenkerla. A true red letter day!

Like BestMaid's pickle beer, this one was purchased in exurban Chicago. The clerk at the register was surely thinking I was a weirdo as I came before her with 2 packs of Rauchbier and one of pickle beer. Plus Malört and Underberg.

I don't recall having seen Klosterbräu's beer previously but I don't know if this means they started exporting to the States fairly recently or if they've been doing so for a while but the beer has finally made its way to the middle of the country after being available to coasties for some time. The bier came in cans and, according to Untappd, Klosterbräu Bamberg is a subsidiary of Privatbrauerei Kaiserdom, Bamberg's largest brewery. By large we're talking New Glarus size, not Miller. Perhaps the Damen und Herren at Kaiserdom are aiming for the American market. I only saw their Rauchbier which is, in my opinion, an odd choice if you are looking to gain market share in this country.

Can you imagine the management meetings about this?

Vee vant to penetrate zee American market.

Aber how do vee do so vizout an IPA?

Vee shall zend zem zee Rauchbier!

However a strange business plan they may have, to them I say willkommen!

Klosterbräu Bamberg dates back to 1533 although there is a mention of whatever it was called back in the Middle Ages from two centuries earlier. The can notes that the grand guaiacols, the fantastic phenols, and the scintillating syringols come from malt that is dried using the smoke from beech wood flames. Beech wood is traditional these days for Bamberger brewers but I'd bet their forebears used whatever hardwood they had at their disposal back in the day.

One thing the can didn't mention was what style of beer this is. Is it a Märzen? A bock? A Helles? Maybe it's just their own creation.

I was very eager to try this beer. How would it differ from Schenkerla's?

A big, firm tan head with staying power sat atop the liquid which was dark and opaque. Lifting my glass to a light and putting it at just the right angle revealed the beer to be a deep ruby-brown hue. It seemed to be clear. I mean, it's a German beer that's not a hefeweizen so surely it was clear. It looked like just the tonic for a chilly, overcast autumn evening. And so it smelled too. While the smokiness came first and was most prominent, it was a complex aroma with a bit of wood of the unburnt variety in addition to the usual fuliginous elements. There was also a hint of malty sweetness, mild stone fruit, and some spicy hoppiness struggling to be smelled.

The medium-light body was punctuated by a good, firm fizziness. Still, the luscious smoke flavor had a pleasing smoothness to it, at times. The smokiness was rather potent and tasted rather sprightly, as if it wasn't being dulled a bit by malty sweetness. Indeed, the beer had a clean smoke taste and was not the least bit sweet. The hops protested the grains vigorously and added a very nice spicy contrast. On the finish, the smoke lingered as the hops took on herbal notes that gained in strength to give firm doses of both bitterness and dryness. I also tasted bitter chocolate here once the smoke began to fade.

Sehr schön!

This is one fine bier. While it looks like the stuff in the pool that takes you to the Black Lodge, it has a fairly light body and is the very definition of easy drinking. It went down like water for me. I loved the smoke flavor and the way the other malts didn't get in the way of it so it had a sharper, "fresher" taste. Marvelous! It had a stronger hop flavor for me than any Schlenkerla beer I've had but I am unsure if this is because Klosterbräu uses more of the precious herb or if the Schlenkerla varieties I've tasted had their hoppy potency dulled by age. Also, I think Schlenkerla's brews tend to have more sweetness and bready flavors than this stuff.

I am unwilling to say that this is better than Schlenkerla or that Schlenkerla is better than this. However, Klosterbräu's Rauchbier is no shadow on a cave wall; this is definitely a Platonic ideal.

Junk food pairing: Klosterbräu's Bamberger Rauchbier pairs magnificently with Herr's Horseradish Cheddar Potato Chips. The folks at Herr's do not skimp on the horseradish which makes this perfect companion to the smokiness.

More autumnal scenes '24

We grew a pumpkin this year! It appears that the squirrels did some sampling.

I made an apple pie with fruit from Lapacek's, including a Wolf River apple. It spent a little too long in the oven - look at the Maillard reactions! - but it still tasted delicious.

Piper sleeping on my lap.

The first female monster cereal mascot. Perhaps the first lesbian one as well. Will the Sheridan Le Fanu estate sue?

A creepy night at the bus stop.

At Gamehole Con with Don of Novus Ordo Seclorum. All hail the Great Cthulhu!

A pre-gaming walk at Turville Point Conservation Park.

Rauchbier!

If you gaze long enough into a Schwarzbier...: Aecht Schlenkerla Erle by Schlenkerla

Occasionally I surf on over to the Schlenkerla website, which seems to not have changed since the Geocities era. This is wholly appropriate since the brewery began during the Middle Ages and seems centuries away from ever brewing an IPA. As I am browsing, I fall into a dream where I am in Bamberg. After a little Wandern through the Franconian countryside, I find myself rather thirsty and so I traipse through the Altstadt in search of refreshment. Looking up at one point, I see the brewer's star beckoning me into Schlenkerla's historic tavern. There I order a Rauchbier or swei or alle. I drink with gusto and rivulets of fuliginous goodness run down my beard. I try to lap it up with my tongue but, not being Gene Simmons, it just won't reach. Locals give the foolish tourist their best side-eye glances and then...and then my oneiric bliss ends because reality intrudes and I have to get back to work or take out the trash.

Until the day comes when I find myself in Bamberg, it seems as if I will have to make do with Steve's Liquor over on Junction Road. When I finally got fed up with the Woodman's by my house having stopped carrying Schlenkerla altogether, I zipped over to the west side hoping that Steve's could feed my need for smoke. And so they did.

Not only did they have the Märzen (if you carry Schlenkerla, you serve their Märzen, if nothing else), but they had the fairly new Fastenbier as well. Yeah, it was introduced in 2005 but, if your brewery has been around since 1405, 19 years is barely yesterday. Even newer, though - basically fresh out of the kettle womb - was the Aecht Schlenkerla Erle, a Schwarzbier, which seems to have been introduced only last year.

Not only is Schlenkerla trying out a new bier style here, but they're also using a novel wood for smoking their malt - alder. If memory serves, alder is used to smoke the malt that Alaskan Brewing uses in their annual delight, Smoked Porter. Alaskan's brew is the only one I've had (that I know of) that uses alder smoked malt so my experience with the stuff is limited. I recall alder giving a slightly mellower, almost sweeter taste, than the workhorse beechwood that, as I understand it, Schlenkerla has been using for ages. As in centuries. Not really sweeter but a little less sharp, not that Schlenkerla's brews have anything approaching an acrid taste, mind you.

The deep, dark brown liquid had a reddish tint to it and was topped by a fine tan head that stuck around a little while. "Black beer" is apt here as I couldn't tell if the stuff was clear (no doubt it was) or had any bubbles inside zipping upwards. I held the glass close to my eyes to get a better look and instead had a weird, unsettling Nietzschean moment. The aroma must have been assembled by the Bambergian Jean-Baptiste Grenouille because it has all the scents that I desire in a beer. First was the alder-laced smoke which worked hand-in-hand with a plum-like sweetness. A delicious breadiness held fast against the piquant smoke and was joined by some spicy hops and tinge of roastiness.

My first sip revealed a light-medium body with a moderate dose of fizz. Considering I've only ever had one Schwarzbier from Deutschland, Köstritzer, this all seemed par for the course. The heavenly smoke flavor made its presence known immediately and with it came a slight sweetness which I think was a bit of malt and a bit of accent from the smoke. Spicy/peppery hops were easy to discern but a faint breadiness less so.

The finish was surprisingly complex with the smoke yielding room on my tongue for hoppy bitterness and a bit of dryness as well. The smokiness then faded leaving a roasty malt taste to ride it out until I took my next sip.

Sehr Schön!

With the fizz being on the low side, this was a smooth tasting brew. I found myself drawn to the smoke-roasty combo like a junkie to the needle. The hops were applied perfectly. They added a nice spicy taste that made a fine counterpoint to all of the malty flavors yet the herb never dared try to stop the Maillard-guaiacol juggernaut. And the aftertaste was just great, going through various phases like the moon.

Junk food pairing: Grab a bag of Gardetto's Deli-Style Mustard Pretzel Mix. It's mustard mustard and not honey mustard with the unneeded sweetness. Plus you get their prized rye chips in addition to the pretzels. The brand sounds Italian but this is a Teutonic snack mix through and through. You might want to grab a couple bags as Erle is an easy-going 4.2% A.B.V. so you'll likely have more than one.

Imperial Winter Black: Of Wood and Smoke by Haandbryggeriet

 

What do you get when you cross lutefisk with a hit of LSD?

A trip to Stoughton.

Hopefully a local reads that.

I've had Norway/Norwegians on the brain for a little while now. Next week I am off to Gamehole Con to spend a few days drowning in Lovecraftian chaos as I play Karsten Ekelöf, a Norwegian bacteriologist and physician who goes Beyond the Mountains of Madness. BtMoM is a Call of Cthulhu adventure that takes place in the Antarctic. Here's a bit of his backstory:

Karsten would join the Bratvaag Expedition led by Dr. Gunnar Horn.

Ostensibly an expedition to hunt seals and study glaciers and the Arctic seas, its secret mission was to claim Victoria Island for Norway.

The expedition first stopped at White Island where they improbably discovered the remains of Swedish explorer S.A. Andrée's Arctic balloon expedition. The official story is that only skeletal remains were found but Karsten and company stumbled upon corpses that still had flesh attached to the bones. Karsten examined the corpses and was horrified to discover that it appeared as if much of the adventurers' flesh had been eaten away as if by necrotizing bacteria.

The remains were stowed aboard their ship and Karsten examined tissue samples from them in transit to Victoria Island. Although he was not surprised to find that they were awash with foreign bacteria, he was shocked to discover that the invaders were unlike anything he'd seen previously.

They had strange tentacle-like protrusions and organelles unknown to science...

So there I was contemplating this Norwegian brew and what to do for a picture for this review and my mind started wandering. I thought about Nordic Noir TV shows but discovered that the ones I've watched are mainly Swedish and Danish with the odd one from Finland and Iceland thrown in. Where are the Norwegian TV producers?! Surely Oslo is as crime ridden as Stockholm. You can't tell me that there aren't maniacs living in the fjords or that the Norwegian forests are bereft of fae.

Then it occurred to me that I've been listening to a lot of Wobbler, a progressive rock band from Norway, lately and I have dragged them into this. Heck, they're probably the kind of guys who would drink this variety of beer anyway.

The brew at hand is Of Wood and Smoke by Haandbryggeriet located in Drammen which appears to be an exurb of Oslo. Thankfully some of it made its way to Madison at some point. The date on the bottom of the can was "12-7-202~~~" - the last digit was all smooshed so I guess its date of origin shall forever be a mystery. But, given that December was noted, I take it that this is a winter release.

This jibes with the beer, a hearty brew that was aged in akvavit barrels giving it a potency of 8% A.B.V. Of Wood and Smoke is an amped up version of Haandbryggeriet's Norwegian Wood, a smoked lager with juniper. This stouter iteration is apparently smokier and juniperer, in addition to having a higher alcohol content due to the spiritual comingling.

With the temperatures around here finally providing some much-needed relief from summer, I figured it was time to put this beer to the test.

My pour produced a big tan head which had shrunk a bit before I could take a decent photograph. Holding my glass at just the right angle, I could see that the beer had a deep ruby hue. I didn't notice any bubbles because I just couldn't see that far into the liquid. There was just blackness. Taking a whiff, I first caught booziness, that sharp alcohol smell. Apparently they weren't playing around with the akvavit. Luscious smoke then wafted into my nose and I attempted to discern what variety it was. Ultimately I failed but suspect it was from a fruit tree like apple or cherry. However, that impression may have been influenced by the inviting plum scent from some of the non-smoked malts.

My initial sip revealed a smooth booziness, as if the surely rather large malt bill was able to add enough sweetness to take the edge off of the akvavit. (I'd say the brew had a medium-heavy body.) Just as with the aroma, smoke came next followed by a moderate malty, caramel sweetness. I also tasted some milk chocolate. There was a mild fizz which struggled to penetrate the Maginot Line of malt.

On the finish I tasted a boozy heat which was joined by some lingering smokiness as well as bit of that caramel sweetness and a dash of the juniper. Everything resolved into a mild, slowly fading akvavit burn.

This is a really nice beer. I suspect it was past its prime but I liked it anyway. The smoke was just delicious and the sweetness wasn't anywhere near cloying. The hops and juniper were very much in the background keeping things from becoming a treacly mess and adding only piney/spicy accents. The akvavit I've had was flavored with caraway but I didn't detect any here.

Of Wood and Smoke is surely amongst the most boreal brews I've encountered. The smokiness was wonderful and it kept me warm on a chill autumn evening.

Junk food pairing: Until I can find some locally-produced lefse chips, I will recommend you pair your Of Wood and Smoke with a bag of Sørlandschips Original Spansk Paprika potato chips. The earthy paprika will go well with all of the malt flavors here and the oil will be swiftly cut by all that akvavit.

Citra? Simcoe? Mosaic? What are those?

A couple recent beers that I've had.

A Taste of Autumn, 7 October

I had a nice dinner last night that included some spoils from my trek up north last month. I opened one of my favorite beers, Whispering Embers, from Valkyrie Brewing and set to work.

Whispering Embers is a smoked Oktoberfest and is just delicious. Full of smoky goodness and a firm, though not heavy, dose of malt. Truly autumn in a bottle.

I made a wild rice blend from Rice River Farms up in Spooner to go with some lemon butter chicken.

 The chicken was good but definitely needed more lemon.

Neues Rauchbier?!

I know the folks at Schlenkerla have been throwing in a new beer here and there over the past several years but this year, we get zwei in just the span of a few months.

Back in June, they introduced Aecht Schlenkerla Weichsel, a rotbier, a.k.a. - red lager.

And, any day now, if not already, the world can enjoy Aecht Schlenkerla Erle, a smoked Schwarzbier, a.k.a. - dark lager.

 

 

Considering how much I loved Schell's smoked dark lager, Chimney Sweep, I presume that it will be love at first sip for me and the Erle.

The Weichsel seems to have made it to these shores, though I dunno about Madison in particular. However, the Erle seems to have yet to make the trip.

 

It's like Christmas came early.

I Said Yes

Yesterday I just said yes to Oktoberfest with The Polkaholics and my first Märzen of the season - smoky goodness from Schlenkerla.