Beer specialty: Schlenkerla smoked beer - Description and background

Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier
The classic smoked beer

Bamberg and Smokebeer (the Germans call it "Rauchbier") belong together, a liaison which was not without consequences. The greatest of which is the Schlenkerla: the most productive, most visited and most traditional Smokebeer source in Bamberg. It originates in the middle of the old town, directly underneath the mighty cathedral, from a half-timbered house on which the geraniums effusively glow in the summer. Anyone who did not come here and try the strong, unmistakable taste of Original Schlenkerla Smokebeer (in German: Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier) cannot claim to have been to Bamberg.

Schlenkerla has become a magic word for a long time, but many do not know where this word originated. Its roots lie within the Frankish vernacular, in which "schlenkern" is an expression for walking not straight - just like a drunken person does. Allegedly one of the former brewers had a funny way of walking due to an accident, or maybe due to the beer, and so he was called the "Schlenkerla" - the little dangler. The ending -la is the typical diminutive for the Frankish dialect. After a while, the residents of Bamberg also called the tavern Schlenkerla, and even though the sixth generation of brewers now taps the beer, the name has remained. Even in the phone book and the internet you can find the brewery under the name Schlenkerla. Today it stands for the tavern, the brewery and, most importantly, for the Smokebeer.

Smokebeer from Schlenkerla is a dark, aromatic, bottom fermented beer with 13.5 percent original extract, which is equivalent to an alcohol content of 5.1 percent. No doubt: there are stronger beers, but nevertheless, one should not underestimate

Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier

... it can make you "schlenker" quite a bit. Its smoky flavor is being achieved by exposing the malt to the intense, aromatic smoke of burning beech-wood logs at the Schlenkerla-maltings. After mixing it with premium-class hops in the brew, it matures in 600 year old cellars, deep down in the hills of Bamberg, into a mellow, magnificent-tasting beer, best drunk directly in "Schlenkerla". An Original amongst the beers, even amongst the Bavarian beers. You can drink it in the "Alte Lokal" at white-scrubbed wooden tables - covering them with a tablecloth would be a sin - underneath an old timbered ceiling, even darker than the beer. You can drink it in the "Klause", a former monastery, built in 1310, or you can drink it in the inner court next to a 500-liter wooden-keg. All this is the Schlenkerla.

The connoisseur drinks it slowly with relish, but steadily and purposefully. He knows, that the second "Seidla" (half-liter) tastes better than the first, and the third even better than the second. He drinks during the morning pint and during the afternoon break. He drinks it in the evenings, drinks it alone and with company, especially with company, as "Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier" makes one talkative and exuberant. It brings together the local with the stranger, as it is common in Franconia to share your table with others.

"Even if the brew tastes somewhat strange at the first swallow, do not stop, because soon you will realize that your thirst will not decrease and your pleasure will visibly increase."

That is written on the coasters, and the coasters are right!

By the way: As it is almost the last traditionally made smoked beer in the world (worldwide there are only 2 producers left: Spezial and Schlenkerla), Schlenkerla has been named passenger of the Ark of Taste by Slow Food®.

What is so special about Schlenkerla Smokebeer?

Schlenkerla is a brewery AND a malting operation.
This was the standard configuration in brewing craft until the industrial revolution some 300 years ago. Today only very few breweries malt themselves anymore.
The malting technique at Schlenkerla is historic.
Schlenkerla smoked malt is kilned directly over an open wood fire. The smoke from this fire penetrates the malt and gives it its unique smoky flavor. Until the invention of modern malting systems in the 17th and 18th century with heat exchangers running on coal, oil or gas, smoke kilns were THE standard. As the new industrial form of malting was much more cost efficient, the smoke kilns everywhere were closed down. Not so at Schlenkerla and hence our smoke malting has centuries of continuous history. (find out more ...)
Schlenkerla Rauchbier is one of the two last traditionally made smoked beers, whereas the smokey beers of modern craft breweries are usually made with industrially produced smoke flavored malts. As of 2017 there are only two breweries left in the world (Schlenkerla and Spezial of Bamberg) that have been malting & brewing Rauchbier the traditional way continuously, hence Slow Food® has made Schlenkerla Rauchbier a passenger in its "Ark of Taste".
Schlenkerla, the historic smoked beer brewery.
Not only the malting is ancient, but all relevant other elements of the production are as well. We brew in copper kettles using the old form of decoction mashing. Fermenting and lagering are still two separate steps in our brewing process. Lagering and maturation happen in hand caved rock cellars from 14th century below the brewery. Gravity pouring in our brewery tavern is done from traditional wooden barrels. (find out more ...)
Schlenkerla Rauchbier is regarded as THE classic example of the smoked beer category.
Schlenkerla is run in the 6th family generation and the estate was first documented as "House of the blue lion" back in 1405. The estate on Oberer Stephansberg with the rock cellars was owned by a brewer as early as 1387.

In sum: Schlenkerla Rauchbier is a sip of beer history. Drinking a Schlenkerla is like a small time travel. Schlenkerla Smokebeer is a living fossil from a brewing world that existed centuries ago.