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.

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.