A smoked lager from Bamberg that genuinely tastes of bacon, brewed with malt kilned over beechwood fire. It preserves the older practice from before indirect kilning, and the Schlenkerla tavern is documented from 1405.
The character comes from a malting floor with a beechwood kiln, not from the brewhouse, and brewing beer at home is licensed or restricted in much of the atlas’s readership.
What goes into it
- barley malt dried over beechwood fire
- hops
- lager yeast
- water
How it is made
The distinctive step happens before brewing: green malt is dried directly over a beechwood fire rather than by hot air, so smoke compounds settle into the grain. That malt is then brewed as an ordinary Märzen — mashed, boiled with hops, fermented cool and lagered for weeks. All the smoke comes from the malting floor.
How long it takes: several weeks of lagering after brewing
How it is eaten
From a wooden cask at the Schlenkerla, with smoked ham and onion.
History
A Bamberg speciality preserving the older practice of kilning malt over open fire; the Schlenkerla tavern there is documented from 1405.
Frequently asked questions
What is Rauchbier?
Rauchbier is a wine & spirit from Germany: smoked lager tasting of bacon, brewed with beechwood-dried malt. A Bamberg speciality preserving the older practice of kilning malt over open fire; the Schlenkerla tavern there is documented from 1405.
How is Rauchbier made?
The distinctive step happens before brewing: green malt is dried directly over a beechwood fire rather than by hot air, so smoke compounds settle into the grain. That malt is then brewed as an ordinary Märzen — mashed, boiled with hops, fermented cool and lagered for weeks. All the smoke comes from the malting floor. It takes several weeks of lagering after brewing.
Can I make Rauchbier at home?
No, and the atlas gives no method for it. The character comes from a malting floor with a beechwood kiln, not from the brewhouse, and brewing beer at home is licensed or restricted in much of the atlas’s readership.
What goes into Rauchbier?
Barley malt dried over beechwood fire, hops, lager yeast, water.
How is Rauchbier eaten?
From a wooden cask at the Schlenkerla, with smoked ham and onion.
