Rauchbier

An ancient beer style that’s still smokin’
by Horst D. Dornbusch

Rauchbier by the numbers

OG     ..................     1.048–1.070 (12–17.5 °P)
FG     ..................     1.013–1.016 (3.25–4 °P)
SRM  ..................     22–30
IBU   ..................     29–32
ABV   ..................     4.8–5.5% 

The term “rauchbier” means smoked beer in German. Once upon a time, all beers were smoked beers. With the ancient kilning methods of drying green brewer’s malt over open fires, all grains picked up smoke flavors and passed them on to the beers that were made from them. Today, however, with “clean” malt being the dominant brewing grist, old-style smoked beers have set themselves apart as an atavistic rarity, a throwback to a time gone by.

Style Parameters
Today, rauchbier is its own beer style, but not all modern smoked beers are rauchbiers. Smoked ales, for instance, are not. Modern rauchbier is understood to mean primarily a barley-based, opaque smoked lager that is brewed and aged in a manner similar to a Märzen-Oktoberfest beer.

Some rauchbiers are like smoked featherweights, with an original gravity (OG) of around 1.048. Other rauchbiers are real bock-type heavyweights, with an OG in the 1.070s. However, most rauchbiers fall within the middleweight category, with an OG of around 1.054. In all cases, there is usually a bit more hops in the brew to counterbalance the otherwise too-assertive smoked flavor and aromas.

In addition, rauchbier is also identified with its place of origin. Just as the altbier style has been defined by the brewers of Düsseldorf and the Kölsch style by the brewers of Cologne, the modern rauchbier style is primarily the creation of brewers in and around the Francon-ian city of Bamberg in northern Bavaria. (For more on beers from this region, see “The Beers of Franconia” by Matt Cole on page 40.)

The most prominent commercial rauchbier brand — the one that is considered the rauchbier archetype — is Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier, brewed by the Hellerbräu of Bamberg. The word “aecht” is a Franconian mangling of the High German “echt,” which means “true” or “original.”            

Schlenkerla also appears to be the most readily available rauchbier brand in most parts of North America. Two other brands that can occasionally be found in the New World are Kaiserdom Rauchbier and Rauchenfelser Stein-brau (a smoked stone beer).

Beer Color
Most rauchbiers are amber like a Märzen, yet some are almost black, like a Schwarzbier. Still others are almost blond, like a Helles.

Most rauchbiers are made from a foundation grist of pale Pils malt (<2° L) mixed with a significant but widely varying portion of malt that is kilned the old way, over an open fire fueled by local beechwood. Schlenkerla makes its rauchbier without any “clean” malt at all, just 100%  smoked malt. They are the only brewery to do so. The Bamberg style of drying brewer’s grist is similar to the kilning of malt over peat moss for Scotch whisky. The smokiness from the beechwood imparts a bit of a bacony flavor to the beer. Schlenkerla, by the way, is also one of the last breweries in Germany that still malts its own grain.

The Schlenkerla brewery owns a beer hall at Dominikanerstrasse 6, in the old town of Bamberg. This venerable drinking establishment used to be a medieval brewpub known as Zum Blauen Löwen (At The Blue Lion), which is first mentioned in a document dating from 1405. It is not certain when the current version of the rauchbier emerged around Bamberg. However, because of the malting methods employed by the Schlenkerla brewery even today, we can reasonably assume that some form of smoked beer has been brewed by this enterprise for at least five centuries.

Schlenkerla makes several types of rauchbier. The standard is the Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier-Märzen, which weighs in at an OG of 1.054. The brew finishes at about FG 1.014 for an ABV of about 5.1%. On the lighter side, there is the helles rauchbier (around an OG of 1.048). On the heavier side, there is Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier-Urbock, which is available only between October and December. It comes in at a gravity of OG 1.070. The Schlenkerla  brewery also makes a smoked wheat beer, the Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier-Weizen, which is brewed with top-fermenting yeast and has a starting original gravity near 1.053.
   
Rauchbier Brewing Ingredients and Processes
The smoke and the color of most rauchbiers come entirely from specialty grains. These may include Weyermann rauchmalz (smoked malt, 2–3.5° L) for the signature flavor; Munich malt (6–20° L) for depth, body, nuttiness and color; Cara-Pils (1.5° L) or Vienna malt (5–8° L) for extra body from unfermentable sugars; caramel or crystal malts (20–40° L) for richness; and Weyermann Carafa or black patent malts (300–500° L) for darkness.

The grain bill for a rauchbier can vary greatly without distracting from the authenticity of the brew. This is good news because you can create your own grain bill depending on the availability of raw materials in your local store. You are on safe ground as long as you furnish the brew with the required color (22-30° L) and with smoke. Next, you must turn your wort into a lager with the body and strength of a Märzen or Oktoberfest.

The Key Ingredient
The only ingredient in the rauchbier grain bill for which there really is no substitute is Weyermann Rauchmalz (smoked malt). This malt is made by the Weyermann Specialty Malting Company of — where else? — Bamberg, just a brisk walk across the River Regnitz from the Schlenkerla beer hall.

This malt is made from two-row German barley that is smoke-kilned over traditional beechwood logs that have been aged and seasoned for at least 18 months. In spite of its open-fire treatment, this grain leaves the malting house with a surprisingly pale color rating of only 2–3.5° L. Weyermann smoked malt goes into virtually every commercial rauchbier made in Germany, and probably the world. Most homebrew shops carry it. If not, you can find it easily on the Internet.

You can also smoke your own malt, but the use of other woods for smoking will not lend an authentic rauchbier flavor. See “Tips from the Pros” on page 11 or “Smoked Beers” by Ray Daniels and Geoffrey Larson (Brewers Publications) for more information.

Specialty Malts
The best choice of grain for the color in rauchbier is another product from Bamberg, Weyermann Carafa III (450–488 °L). Make sure you get the dehusked version, because only without the husks will you get the dark color without the phenolic, acrid, burnt flavors of normal black patent malt. Burnt-husk flavors tend to compete unfavorably with the dominant bacony beechwood smoke flavor in the beer.

If you cannot find this specialty grain, of course, any brand of black patent malt will do. However, the resulting brew will have less of the original Bamberg taste.

Calculating Color
Because you have such great freedom in blending your own rauchbier grist, consider the grain bills listed in the recipe section as examples only. Use them unchanged, if you can find all the components. But if you can’t, don’t be vexed! If you want to (or have to) experiment, and if you don’t mind a little math, here is a simple formula for calculating the aggregate color of your rauchbier grain bed (a target of around 28 °L is nice), provided you know the Lovibond ratings and quantities of each of the component grains:

[°L1 x lb1 + °L2 x lb2 + °Ln x lbn]/V
           
In this formula, 1, 2 . . . n are the different grains; °L1,  °L2  . . . °Ln are the Lovibond ratings of these grains; lb1, lb2 . . .  lbn are the amounts (in pounds) of each grain; and V is the volume of wort (in gallons) you expect to send to the fermenter (that is, your net kettle volume). Simply multiply the color rating in degrees Lovibond for each grain by its weight in pounds and add up these products. Then divide this sum by the final volume of wort (including adjustments for evaporation from the boil). Incidentally, if your grain’s color rating is given in European Brewery Convention units (EBC), a very rough, but practical, conversion factor is 1 EBC ≈ 0.375 °L. This factor is only approximate, but it becomes more accurate as the Lovibond values increase, which is where it counts for rauchbiers.

Partial Mashing
Partial mashers can substitute the Pils malt or the Munich malt with Bierkeller plain light or Weyermann Bavarian Pilsner as well as Bierkeller Munich amber or Weyermann Bavarian amber, respectively. Steep all the other specialty grains.

Extract with Grains
As far as we know, there is no rauchbier malt extract on the market. Rauchbiers can be made with a partial mash or, at a minimum, from an extract-and-grain recipe. See the “mostly-extract” recipe for an extract-and-grains rauchbier recipe.

Because most extract brewers probably do not own a malt mill, I have adjusted the quantity so that you can steep whole kernels, either in two muslin bags or directly in the brewing liquor, and still get that characteristic Bamberg smoke flavor in your beer.

Smoke Extract
Interestingly, there are recipes in the homebrew literature that recommend the use of so-called liquid smoke instead of smoked grain. This liquid looks like vanilla extract and is somehow made from smoke residues. I have made two batches of extract-only rauchbier with such liquid smoke, and both brews turned out undrinkable. Given the tricky process involved in making smoked grain, I am convinced that there is no way anyone can make a clean-tasting, appetizing, and authentic extract-only rauchbier by the liquid-smoke method. For this reason, I can’t recommend using it.

For hops and yeast, stick with the standards: Any German- or American-grown noble hops, as well as a solid German-style lager yeast, such as Wyeast 2206 or White Labs WLP830.

Rauchbier and Food: A Perfect Match
Because rauchbier is not a delicate brew, it goes extremely well with bold, full-flavored foods, such as smoked ham, smoked pork, smoked salmon, smoked sausages or smoked cheeses (smoked provolone or smoked gouda are great!). The smoky flavors in the beer and food complement each other. Rauchbier also tastes great with some unsmoked foods, such as lamb chops.

There are those beer drinkers who consider rauchbier strictly an acquired taste. They will have none of it, because they find its smokiness a bit too robust, assertive or even overpowering on their palate. If you wish to serve your rauchbier to such rauchbier-haters, you simply have to do so in your cooking. Everybody will love what rauchbier can do to pork ribs, a pork roast or a suckling pig on a spit.

Grilling with Rauchbier
Here is a recipe for using your rauchbier as a marinade and a BBQ basting liquid at your next outdoor (or indoor) party. Quantities are based on two pounds of pork roast or pork ribs, whichever you prefer. Adjust quantities if you are cooking more or less meat for the party.

Dice two onions into about a pint of rauchbier seasoned with a teaspoon each of ground pepper, ground caraway and salt. Marinate the meat in the seasoned rauchbier for 24 to 32 hours in the refrigerator.

After marinating, place the meat in a BBQ (or in your oven) and grill at 450° F until done (about two hours). Baste the meat liberally, at least once every half hour, with the marinade. About ten minutes before the meat is done, cut carrots into strips (julienne-style) and boil them in rauchbier until al dente.

Serve the meat and vegetables with a hearty potato salad and garnish the plate with a sprig of fresh parsley. Wash the meal down, naturally, with flutes of rich, creamy rauchbier. Instead of pork, you can also cook a leg or rack of lamb, using the same cooking technique.

Horst Dornbusch is the author of “Prost! The Story of German Beers” (1997, Brewers Publications).

Bamberg Rauchbier
(5 gallons, all grain)
OG = 1.054  
FG = 1.013  
SRM = 28  
IBU = 30  
ABV = approx. 5.3%

Ingredients

Easy Rauchbier
(5 gallons, all grain)
OG = 1.054  
FG = 1.013  
SRM = 28 
 IBU = 30  
ABV = approx. 5.3%

Ingredients

• 4.0 lbs. Pils malt (<2° L)
• 4.0 lbs. Weyermann smoked malt (2–3.5° L)
• 4 oz. Weyermann dehusked Carafa III (450–488° L)
• 6.7 AAU German noble hops, such as Hallertauer or Tettnanger (bittering)
• (1.5 oz. of 4.5% alpha acid)
• 0.75 oz. German noble hops, such as Hallertauer or Tettnanger (flavor)
• 0.75 oz. German noble hops, such as Hallertauer or Tettnanger (aroma)
• 2 packages of Wyeast 2206 (Bavarian Lager) or White Labs WLP830 (German Lager)
• 1 cup DME or corn sugar (for bottling)

Step by Step
Rauchbier-mashing involves several rests. To imitate the original Bamberg method, dough in at a cool 113 °F (45 °C) and keep the temperature at that level for about 30 minutes. Next, infuse the mash slowly with very hot water, while stirring gently, to raise the temperature by about 2° F per minute to 149° F for another 30-minute rest. At 149° F, beta amylase enzymes are at their peak performance, while alpha amylase have become active as well (they start at 140° F). The optimum target pH value for a rauchbier mash is around 5.0. Infuse the mash again with hot water to reach 162° F for yet another 30-minute rest. At this temperature, alpha amylase reach their peak performance. Finally infuse the mash to reach 170° F. This is the temperature you should maintain for the duration of a 90-minute sparge.

Boil time for the wort is at least 90 minutes, but two hours is better, because a longer boil promotes wort browning from melanoidins. Add the bittering hops about 15 minutes into the boil, the flavor hops about 30 minutes before shut-down, and the aroma hops about 15 minutes before shut-down. Check the gravity at the end of the boil and compensate for evaporation losses by adding cold water to the fermenter.

Heat-exchange the wort to roughly 55° F and aerate. Primary fermentation lasts about seven days, at which point there should be a gravity drop of about 90% of the difference between OG and FG. Rack the brew, and start reducing the brew’s temperature by about 2° F per day to as close to 28° F as your equipment allows. Lager the brew at this temperature undisturbed for six to eight weeks. Then rack, prime and bottle. The rauchbier is ready for drinking after about another week. Serve the beer at around 45° F.

Bamberg Rauchbier
(5 gallons, partial mash)
OG = 1.054  
FG = 1.013  
SRM = 28 
 IBU = 30  
ABV = approx. 5.3%

Ingredients

• 3.0 lbs. Bierkeller plain light or Weyermann Bavarian Pilsner malt extract
• 1.5 lbs. Bierkeller or Weyermann amber extract
• 2.0 lbs. Weyermann smoked malt (2–3.5° L)
• 0.5 lb. dextrin malt (Briess CaraPils, 1.5° L)
• 0.5 lb. Vienna malt (2–3.5° L)
• 1.0 lb. caramel (20° L, such as Briess) or Weyermann Cara Munich II (42–49° L)
• 3 oz. Weyermann dehusked Carafa III (450–488° L)
• 6.7 AAU German noble hops, such as Hallertauer or Tettnanger (bittering)
• (1.5 oz. of 4.5% alpha acid)
• 0.75 oz. German noble hops, such as Hallertauer or Tettnanger (flavor)
• 0.75 oz. German noble hops, such as Hallertauer or Tettnanger (aroma)
• 2 packages of Wyeast 2206 (Bavarian Lager) or White Labs WLP830 (German Lager)
• 1 cup DME or corn sugar (for bottling)

Step by Step
Mill the Weyermann smoked malt and the Weyermann dehusked Carafa III separately from the remaining specialty malts. Place the Weyermann specialty malts into one muslin bag, and the other specialty malts into another muslin bag. For higher extraction values during steeping, it is best not to stuff too much milled grain into one bag. Immerse both bags in about 3 gallons of cold water. Heat slowly to about 170-190° F. This should take about half an hour. Turn off heat. Lift bags, rinse with 4-5 cups of cold water, and discard.

Add the malt extract and stir. Bring to a boil. Boil the wort according to the instructions in the all-grain recipe. Cool the wort, siphon to your fermenter and aerate. From this point, follow the directions in the all-grain recipe.

Mostly-Extract Rauchbier
(5 gallons)
OG = 1.054  
FG = 1.013  
SRM = 28  
IBU = 30  
ABV = approx. 5.3%

Ingredients

• 6.0 lbs. Bierkeller or Weyermann amber extract
• 1.0 lbs. Coopers, John Bull or Alexander’s stout extract
• 3.0 lbs. Weyermann smoked malt (2–3.5° L)
• 6.7 AAU German noble hops, such as Hallertauer or Tettnanger (bittering)
• (1.5 oz. of 4.5% alpha acid)
• 0.75 oz. German noble hops, such as Hallertauer or Tettnanger (flavor)
• 0.75 oz. German noble hops, such as Hallertauer or Tettnanger (aroma)
• 2 packages of Wyeast 2206 (Bavarian Lager) or White Labs WLP830 (German Lager)
• 1 cup DME or corn sugar (for bottling)

Step by Step
Divide the three pounds of unmilled, whole-kernel, Weyermann smoked malt roughly into two portions and place each into a muslin bag. Immerse both bags in about three gallons of cold water. If you do not have muslin bags, you can also just pour the whole kernels of smoked malt into the water.

In either case, heat the water slowly, to about 170–190° F. Turn off the heat and let the grain steep for about half an hour. If you used bags, lift them and rinse them with four to five cups of cold water. If you steeped the grain loosely in the water, pour the grain broth through a fine sieve or strainer to separate the liquor from the debris.

Add the extract, stir, and bring the three gallons of water a boil. Boil  the wort for 60 minutes. Add the bittering hops at the beginning of the boil, the flavor hops about 30 minutes before shut-down, and the aroma hops about 15 minutes before shut-down.

Cool the wort, siphon to your fermenter and aerate. From this point, follow the fermentation, lagering and packaging directions as outlined in the all-grain recipes.