[BEER REVIEW] A Smoky Beer From Bavaria 🍺

Like most German breweries, Brauerei Heller in the Bavarian town of Bamberg brews pilsner, lager, weissbier, doppelbock and so on, but it's the smoked beer that is Bamberg's specialty, and Aecht Schlenkerla is probably the most famous of them. The Schlenkerla name comes from the ancient Schlenkerla pub (dating all the way back to the 1300s) located in the beautiful historical city center of Bamberg. What an incredible beer history Germany has. Brauerei Heller hasn't got a huge range of beers like most popular breweries today, but the 13 beers they have to offer are something quite special. Their autumn beer Urbock that is tapped every first Thursday of October is probably the best beer I've had from the brewery.

The beer we'll be trying today is the winter season variety called Aecht Schlenkerla Eiche Doppelbock. In Eiche Doppelbock the malt is dried in the conventional Schlenkerla Rauchbier way, but with oak wood instead of alder wood and beechwood. The beer then matures for several months on oak barrels in Schlenkerla's original cellar. The hops used is the aromatic variety Hallertau, known for its earthy and herbal notes. Since it's a doppelbock it's a bit stronger in alcohol, 8% compared to the other smoke beers from the brewery that lies around 5-6%.

Aecht Schlenkerla Eiche Doppelbock

Origin: Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany
Brewery: Brauerei Heller
Style: Smoked Doppelbock
ABV: 8%
IBU: 40
500 ml bottle

Appearance: Clear amber with a large caramel-white head.

Nose: A subtler smoke aroma than in the other smoke beers, probably due to the oak wood. And it doesn't have as much of the smoked ham and sausage aroma as they usually do. After the smoky notes of wet campfire and tar, caramel sweetness and maltiness together with a herbal bitterness arrive.

Palate: Hearty notes of caramel malt, dried fruits, and light hints of almond toffee. The smoked malt is of course also in the picture but it's more a complementary element rather than the dominant flavor. The liquid is quite oily. The body is medium and the carbonation somewhat above medium.

Finish: Just as the fragrance promises the beer is rounded off with a restrained but austere bitterness and warming alcohol in the throat.

Conclusion: Despite the fact that the beer is at 8%, it's surprisingly easy to drink. I would recommend typical German home-cooking with this one, why not sauerkraut and weisswurst? Another nice one from this esteemed brewery. I do prefer the ones with less alcohol though and the Urbock is still the masterpiece. A solid 4.0 out of 5.

 @SteemSwede