Smoked beer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Smoked beer (German: Rauchbier) is a type of beer with a distinctive smoke flavour. The Rauchbiers of Bamberg in Germany, Schlenkerla in particular,[1][2] are the best known of the smoked beers.
Contents |
[edit] History
Drying malt over an open flame may impart a smoky character to the malt. This character may carry over to beers brewed with the smoked malt. Prior to the modern era, drying malted barley in direct sunlight was used in addition to drying over flames. Even though kiln drying of malt, using indirect heat, did not enter into widespread usage until the industrial era, the method was known as early as the first century BCE. Also, there have been various methods over the years of preparing cereal grains for brewing, including making beer from bread, [3] so smoked beer was not universal. However, it is known that beer made from malt dried over flame was common in England from the 16th to the 18th century.[citation needed]
Beginning in the 18th century, kiln drying of malt became progressively more common and, by the mid-19th century, had become the near-universal method for drying malted grain. Since the kiln method shunts the smoke away from the wet malt, a smoky flavour is not imparted to the grain, nor to the subsequent beer. As a result, smoke flavour in beer became less and less common, and eventually disappeared almost entirely from the brewing world.
Another method of imparting a smoky flavour to beer is the use of hot rocks to heat the brew, dating from the days of wooden vessels which could not be set over a flame.[4]
[edit] Bamberg Rauchbier
Certain breweries, however, maintained the smoked beer tradition by continuing to use malt which had been dried over open flames. Two tavern-breweries in Bamberg, Germany in particular — Schlenkerla and Spezial — became almost the sole source of smoked beer production for nearly two centuries.[citation needed] Both breweries are still in operation today, alongside six other breweries in the same town. Both dry their malt over fires made from beechwood logs, and produce several varieties of Rauchbier ("smoke beer" in German).
[edit] Smoked beers outside of Germany
In Austria, the Upper Austrian brewery Braucommune Freistadt produces smoked beer.
In Italy, Birrificio Lambrate in Milan produces "Ghisa", a smoked beer with typical Bamberg's beer features.
In Japan, Honshū brewery Moku Moku produce a smoked ale, the brewery's name being a reference to the use of smoke screens by ninja warriors. The brewery is part of a cooperative that also smokes ham and makes sausages.[4]
Geoff Larson, founder and brewmaster of the Alaskan Brewing Company made a smoked beer, Alaskan Smoked Porter, in 1988 influenced by the rauchbiers of Bamberg. The brewery was located directly across the street from a salmon smokery in Juneau, Alaska, so he made arrangements to have them smoke his malt with alder wood. Other American breweries, such as Rogue Ales and Stone Brewing Company, also produce smoked beers.
In Brazil, Eisenbahn produces a smoked beer called Eisenbahn Rauchbier, using malts imported from Bamberg.
In Sweden, Närke Kulturbryggeri produces a smoked beer called Anders Göranssons Bästa Rököl.
In Australia, Redoak Boutique Beer Café (est.2004) produces an award winning [5][6] smoked beer called Redoak Rauch Bier[7]
[edit] References
- ^ Schlenkerla Tavern & its Heller Brewery and Rauchbier (Smoke Beer), Bamberg
- ^ German Beer Guide: Rauchbier
- ^ Beer in ancient times
- ^ a b Beer, by Michael Jackson, published 1998, pp.150-151
- ^ World Beer Cup
- ^ European Beer Star Awards
- ^ Redoak: Special Beers
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
[edit] External links
- Brewery Schlenkerla (English and German)
- Brewery Spezial (German only)
- Bamberger-Bier.de - everything you have to know about Bambergs brewing tradition (German, English)
- Braucommune Freistadt (German only)
- Alaskan Brewing Company (English only)
- Cervejaria Eisenbahn (English and Portuguese)
