Brewery: Brauerei Heller-Trum, Bamberg, Germany

Brewery Description: Our dark, bottom fermented speciality, brewed with Original Schlenkerla Smokemalt from our maltings and tapped according to old tradition directly from the gravity-fed oakwood cask.

Brew Style: A Smokebeer/Rauchbier, 5.1% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Dimpled mug, Lager, Stein

The Ugly Truth: I have never had a true Raucnbier/Smokebeer before that I can recall. Dear God, I wish I had tried one earlier. This is, by far, one of the top five best beers I’ve had since I started this endevuor. I can not stress enough that you need to go find this beer and try it, especially if you like dark beers with a hint of smoky flavor. The only thing is, the smoky flavor in this beer is not a hint…its a raging bonfire. If you’ve ever been camping or outside when someone is burning wood and you get a strong inhale of that smell, that wood burning smell. You know that smell? That damn good smell of smoldering wood and stuff? That is exactly what this beer tastes and smells like. Sounds distasteful? I assure you it is not. I could drink this beer for days on end. The color is a dark, dark amber and pours with a decent off-white head to it that is fairly thick. The taste is phenomenal. It literally tastes like you are drinking smoke. It is extremely smooth tasting, with the smoke flavor prevailing all the way through and lingering into the aftertaste. I drank it chilled, and you know how for the most part beers that are served chilled taste cold? This actually tasted warm. Maybe it was an effect of the smokey flavor, I don’t know. It was just damn good and people need to go try it. My beer store stocks the Urbock as well, so I’m going to go get that and give it a shot.

Verdict: Where there’s smoke there’s fire, and this beer torches the competition with a 10 out of 10 bottlecaps.