Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier “Smokebeer” Marzen Beer, Bamberg, Germany (500 ml) RAVE

BREWER’S NOTES:

… it can make you “schlenker” quite a bit. Its smoky flavor is being achieved by exposing the malt to the intense, aromatic smoke of burning beech-wood logs at the Schlenkerla-maltings. After mixing it with premium-class hops in the brew, it matures in 600 year old cellars, deep down in the hills of Bamberg, into a mellow, magnificent-tasting beer, best drunk directly in “Schlenkerla”. An Original amongst the beers, even amongst the Bavarian beers. You can drink it in the “Alte Lokal” at white-scrubbed wooden tables – covering them with a tablecloth would be a sin – underneath an old timbered ceiling, even darker than the beer. You can drink it in the “Klause”, a former monastery, built in 1310, or you can drink it in the inner court next to a 500-liter wooden-keg. All this is the Schlenkerla.

The connoisseur drinks it slowly with relish, but steadily and purposefully. He knows, that the second “Seidla” (half-liter) tastes better than the first, and the third even better than the second. He drinks during the morning pint and during the afternoon break. He drinks it in the evenings, drinks it alone and with company, especially with company, as “Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier” makes one talkative and exuberant. It brings together the local with the stranger, as it is common in Franconia to share your table with others.

“Even if the brew tastes somewhat strange at the first swallow, do not stop, because soon you will realize that your thirst will not decrease and your pleasure will visibly increase.”

-RateBeer 95 pts