Smoked beers

[tighe]

The latest issue of Bon Appetit has a blurb about 'smoked' beers and mentions examples by Alaka Brewing, Rogue and Anchor Brewing. I haven't had any luck finding any of these yet, but am very intrigued. If anyone has tried smoked beer, verdict?

Klink, what do you think about throwing a couple steins in the smoker next time you fire it up?

[col klink]

I've tried a couple of different smoked beers in my day and if they're not too malty, I'll drink them. It's kind of a novelty. Unfortunately I'm unable to remember their names.

tighe, though you're kididng, that's not a bad idea. I've got a buddy who's a serious homebrewer and I could easily throw a 10lbs of grain on the smoker, well, maybe 5lbs, but the idea is the same. I'm very confident he hasn't made a smoke beer yet. Good idea!

[chefb]

I worked with a master brewer at Union station brewery in Provindence Ri and he would put the hops in with my sausage smoker before brewing sometimes. it had a good mellow taste but I haven't seen any since.

[jhlurie]

How exactly do you smoke a beer? Could someone go into more detail?

[ivan]

I had smoked beer (Rauchbier) years ago in Bamburg, erstwhile West Germany, where it's said to have originated (although by some accounts, all beer was smokey in the early days of brewing). To make beer, barley grains are soaked and allowed to germinate, or malt. The resulting green malt is next roasted, mainly to stop the malting process, but also to enhance the color and flavor of the malt. The dried malt is then brewed and fermented to make beer or ale. To make smoked beer, brewers kiln (dry) the malt over smoke, instead of using smoke-free heat. The type of wood used is, as with all smoking, very important. Bamburgian breweries use beechwood.

Brewers will mix smoked malt with regular malt to achieve a balance of smokiness. Beer made with 100% smoked malt might well be undrinkable. I don't know where on the scale of smokiness lay the beer I had in Bamburg -- I suspect moderate to high -- but it was too cloying for me. I drank many litres of it during my brief stay, and have not sought it out since. However, it would be a blast to try brewing some myself! Hmmm..... Mesquite?

[nightscotsman]

How exactly do you smoke a beer?  Could someone go into more detail?

Beer bong?

[roryrabbitfield]

I tasted a smoked beer at a tasting event at a store called Bierkraft, in Brooklyn, NY. I don't remember what it is called. You could find out by getting in touch with them, I'm sure. They have a web site.

[chuck]

If you have never been, Bottlewerks (maybe it's Bottleworks) on 45th in Seattle has a tremendous selection of weird beer. I'd say if you were trying to find something specific they would have it or could get it quickly.

I've had several smoked beers at the Latona pub near Greenlake. They rotate in periodically. They're pleasant if it's cold and raining. Maybe a little cloying, with or without excessive malt, for drinking in the summer. Then again, with a lapful of barbecue...

[Aurora]

How exactly do you smoke a beer?  Could someone go into more detail?

Beer bong?

Where I come from, a beer bong=shotgunning (rapidly drinking, almost inhaling) a beer.

The term beer "bong" comes from the fact that a hole -- in essence, a bong-like carburetor -- is punched into the side of the can (one must shotgun beer from cans). One forms a seal over the hole with their lips and pops the top, thus causing the beer to quickly leave the can.

Drink fast, and don't stop to think about it.

Drinking smoked beer is a different matter altogether. Hopefully it's only available in bottles. I would like to try it, and I will sip slowly.

[beerguyjim]

I don't believe Anchor makes a smoke beer.

Schlenkerla is a well-know Bamberg Rauchbier, and is very smoky. They have a Maerzen, Bock and Weizen. Try one of the first two.

Spezial makes a much more delicate Rauchbier.

Alaskan Smoked Porter is made with malt smoked over alder wood. Rogue Smoke is made with a combination of Rauchbier malt (beechwood) and alder.

Stone in San Marcos, CA produces a nice smoked porter, which IIRC is on the delicate side.

[alithea]

I tried Rauchbier a few months ago in Germany, and the only way I can describe the difference is that it's akin to the difference between a smoked cheese and a regular cheese. It is a distinct, clear-as-a-bell smokiness. This taste might be obscured by a Bock-type or Dunkel beer, however.

[rstarobi]

I had one of the Schlenkerla beers about a year ago. It was too smoky for my tastes - almost like drinking liquid beef jerky.

[Rich Pawlak]

There are more than a few domestic smoked beers out there. On the east coast, one of the best versions I've had in a long time comes from Heavyweight Brewing Co., in Ocean Township, NJ, and is called "Cinderbock", a wonderfully sweetly smoky brew that comes damn close to being a Xmas ham sandwich in a glass, missing only mustard. It is surprisingly easy to drink, smooth and very balanced. Thye have even produced a version on an aged wood cask, most recently served at The Standard Tap in Philadelphia.

Baltimore Brewing Co. produces a terrific Ruachbier annually for their Degroens label, and it is slightly more assertive than Cinderbock, with somewhat less sweetness in the mouth.

At last year's Great American Beer Fstival, smoked beers were a dominant style of beer, made in nearly every part of the country by microbreweries and brewpubs, some more successfull than others. Pizza Port Brewing of Solana Beach , CA, regularly makes a smoked porter, and has also made a wooden barrel aged version, both utterly spectacular. Dogfish Head Brewing from Delaware has also experimented with smoked beers, and may yet produce another one this year, at their whim. Old Dominion Brewing in Ashburn, VA also produces a mighty fine smoked beer, available usually in late summer/early fall.