Smoky Mountain High: Schlenkerla Märzen
Written: May 12 '03 (Updated Jan 11 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Smokiness complements most meats and cheeses; patience is rewarded.
Cons: Rauchbier is a hard style to get to know and love. Requires effort.
The Bottom Line: If you haven't tried rauchbier before and you want to shock yourself, go straight for this brewery's lineup.
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| davidmanning's Full Review: Schlenkerla Rauchbier |
Note: There are categories for the Ur-Bock and Weizen, so this product, by default, becomes the Märzen. I'm amazed that nobody has seen fit to review this wonderful brew; while it stylistically is similar to the Ur-Bock, it has its own unique characteristics.
I last encountered this beer at a beer tasting at the Brooklyn Brewery. Since there were only three people at our table for this tasting, where there could have been six, there was some beer left over and thus did a couple extra 500ml bottles of the Schlenkerla Märzen fall into my hands. The tasting was led by a well-known beer writer, and he also loves this beer.
Märzen can of course be translated to March beer, for when it is brewed, and is one of the more popular styles of German Oktoberfest lagers as it is designed to be consumed in September. As noted above, Schlenkerla makes two other smoked beers that are imported into the United States, though I hear a Helles, or maybe Kölsch, from them may arrive in the future.
On to the tasting notes, conducted with a relatively clean palate at home instead of being preceded by six other world-class beers:
The Märzen pours a very dark brown/ruby in the light. A nice-sized beige head can be formed with the proper cut-glass mug. Oddly, the beer smells like smoke-oily, dense, cured-ham smoke, without the ham, with a touch of bitter almond apparent. The beer is only of moderate alcohol levels though it is not printed on the label. Perhaps the website might clarify that.
The beer strangely enough tastes very smoky too; how odd for a beer with smoked malt in the grain bill! It's quite malty all the way round. It's got a rather full mouthfeel, no doubt helped along by the oiliness the beer projects onto the tongue. A slight bitterness from the light touch of German hops really helps mitigate the smokiness somewhat, on to the still-bitter finish laced with a zesty straw-like note.
Once the smokiness gets to the point where you no longer notice it, like working in a fish processing plant for so long you don't notice the smell of the fish any more, other flavors start to jump out at you. You can really get a feel for the complex maltiness. I don't get the classic cookie-dough maltiness of your basic Oktoberfest, but I do get a noticeable hit of slightly sweet caramel behind the smoke.
Mostly, I just like sitting back and enjoying the sweet smoky taste of this beer. If I smoked in the home, I'm sure a fine cigar (one that doesn't come in a five-pack at the Wal-Mart) would go well with this beer.
I've not been to Germany for Oktoberfest, but I imagine that this particular beer would not go over well with the tourists, who would prefer a less challenging style to drink all day.
This is a beer that screams for an appetizer such as schweinhaxe with German mustard and extra sauerkraut. You will find it goes with just about anything non-dairy. Or do what I do, and enjoy it all on its own.
(Edit 1/11/05: epinheads screwed the pooch on the special character codes; I'm just now cleaning this piece up.)
Recommended:
Yes
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davidmanning
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Location: New York City
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