Archive for the 'Rauchbier' category
Terrapin RoggenRauchbier
This is part of the Terrapin Side Project series. I believe the last “side project” offering I wrote about was the Hop Shortage Ale. If memory serves me correctly, I liked it. This beer is a combination of the roggen and rauch styles hence the very unique and innovative name. Here’s a little German lesson for you; roggen means rye, rauch means smoke and bretzel means bread pretzel (you’re welcome). For those of your that are a little slow essentially we have a rye/smoke beer. I don’t have a firm handle on it either but I trust the folks at Terrapin so I’m giving this beer the benefit of the doubt.
This beer looks very interesting. It has a brown hue that lightens from top to bottom. As per the name it smells kinds smokey but not ashtray smokey, more roasted nut smokey. I expected a slight bacon/beef-like quality as well but this beer seems to be more subdued than some. Truth be told there is also a malty sweetness that follows the smokiness into the nostrils. This characteristic carries over into the taste as well. The flavor is quite smooth with scant meatiness. The sweet, bready flavor arises in the front of the mouth and then morphs into carbon flavoring. The smoke is more pronounce as the beer warms but not so much that it attacks the tastebuds. To this point I have enojoyed this beer but the thing that put it over the top for me is that it doesn’t have a disgusting, ashy aftertaste. As a matter of fact there is more of a malty aftertaste that washes away the smoke flavor. This isn’t a beer I would drink on a regular basis but it is unique and drinkable. I urge the folks at Terrapin to keep making beers on the side.
Brauerei Spezial Rauchbier
This beer was described as “bacon beer” by the nice bloke at Sam’s Blue Light in Durham. He claims that, while Rauchbiers are unique, they are an acquired taste that can be very rewarding. This is why I am drinking this beer. The beer pours a dark, dark golden hue with a white head. The aroma is fairly smoky with hints of bacon – kinda like a campfire at breakfast time. The beer traverses the palate with a unique flavor. It begins fairly tart, but quickly move to a smoke flavor at the center of the mouth, then dissipates down the throat without much additional contribution. It seems that the aftertaste from this particular brew sticks under the tongue and on the sides of the mouth. You get a bit of the bacon in the flavor, but the predominant presence is of tart smoke.
