One of the advantages of spending some time in a city different than your own is that you get to try beer normally not available at home. That normally means local and regional craft beer and the occasional import only available in that area. My trip to Halifax this year revealed one of the latter.

I finally, after many years of pining, got my hands on a bottle of Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier from Brauerei Heller in Bamberg, Germany. A privatized boutique wine store in town got a one-time shipment of the beer. Quite the coup for me!

Let me take a step back for those of you unfamiliar with this beer. Bamberg is famous for its production of smoked beer, which use a significant portion of malt smoked over wood, usually beechwood. This adds an intense, trademark smokiness to the beer that adds both complexity and a truly unique beer experience. Brauerei Heller and its Schlenkerla are considered one of the grand-daddies of smoked beer in the world. They have been brewing their beer since 1405, so I imagine that have some of that figured out. I was able to get my hands on their Marzen, which is a malt-forward style that they accent with a strong smoke character.

I have been slow to an appreciation of smoked beer. I have, mostly, sampled homebrewed versions, which can often be too strong on the smoke. The occasional commercial example had the opposite problem, not allowing the smoke to define the beer. I have always felt I needed to go to the source to really decide if I liked the style.

So how did it turn out?

It pours a ruby red with a moderate white head. It has great clarity and is a deep, rich-looking beer. The aroma starts with a strong woody smoke aroma. It is not harsh or acrid, more soft like a quietly burning campfire. Underneath I pick up some sweet caramel and not much else. I take a sip and it starts as a light, sweet, clean lager offering a bit of breadiness and toastiness. But then the smoke kicks in, that is soft, rounded and, well, smoky (what other word is there?). Very quickly it takes the lead in this beer, but never brings down the hammer. Somehow, the malt character finds a way to hang around to balance the sharp, smoky edge. The finish is about more sweet, pungent smoke. And the linger is dry, woody and smoky.

The beer is fully deserving of its reputation. It gave me an education on what a smoked beer can be. The key is balance. Smoke needs to take the lead but not steal the spotlight. This beer is smoke forward but keeps enough toffee malt sweetness to provide a counter-balance. You cannot escape the reality that it is a smoked beer, which is more than most commercial examples I have tried, but the smoke doesn’t obliterate the beer behind it, like some homebrewed versions.

I feel very lucky to have found a bottle. And it clearly tells me that I can enjoy a well-crafted smoked beer. I like it enough to pick up a couple of bottles to take home so I can experience it again.