Iron Hill Rauchbier

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

A copper coloured pour, slightly hazy, and almost no cap. Aroma is smoked meat with some weak sweet malts in the the mix. Flavours of smoked wood, citrus, and weak caramel make up the taste.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Fairly well carbonated, a soft pour produces a three-finger thick, tan colored head that leaves a touch of a layered lacing pattern on the sides of the glass as I work my way though the beer. The beer is a dull, dark amber color, but shows a lightly hazy, pretty, red hue when held up to the light. The aroma definitely smells of beech smoked malt, but there is also an underlying, malt fruitiness that reminds me a bit of raisins. The smoke aromas definitely dominate the aroma here as not much else is noticeable, luckily I really like smoked beers, so this is not a problem at all.

Not nearly as sweet tasting as I was expecting. The bottle says it has an O.G. of 1.052 and an alcohol of 3.8%, which means this finished as high as 1.022, but it certainly does not taste that full of residual malt sugars. Still this definitely has a full body to it, and the malt does sweetly cling to the palate; it could be that the smoke helps to significantly dry this beer out. The sweetness accentuates a soft fruitiness here that is hard to pick out because of the dominant smoke character; definitely something caramelized, perhaps a touch concentrated, maybe like a mix of baked apples and raisins (though this seems wring). As touched upon, the smoke is definitely the dominant character in the flavor as well. It certainly permeates this beer, but is not overwhelming. I would actually say that there is enough malt character and sweetness to support even more smoked malt flavors, but that might put off too many people.

This is quite quaffable, though it does drink quite a bit bigger than the 3.8% alcohol would suggest. In another beer the crazy under-attenuation might get to me, but I really like the fullness that this beer has, it really seems to work in this smoky brew On the other hand, at this alcohol level, a 750ml bottle is quite easy to knock back. Wow, I just sneezed quite vigorously and it really opens up a new level to the smoke aromatics in this brew; rich smoked aromas seemed to be pasted to my scent receptors for a minute or so after sneezing; I highly recommend it if you get the chance.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

After having Aecht Schlenkerla sent the bar so friggin high for rauchbiers, it might be nearly impossible to get near it. This is a nice beer and a good attempt and reaching that goal. Aroma is mildly smoky, almost beef jerky like, or smoked hot dogs. Appearance is a dark amber, white one-finger head and mostly clear. Flavors were more smoked meats, caramel, and campfire smoke. It's all very mild though and in fact I got a little bored with it towards the end of the beer. A good beer for sure, but to drink a 750ml of it is a near Herculean task.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

Poured a cloudy orange color sad lacing. Different then other from this style, didn't smell the smoke as you poured it. Some smoke in the aroma and caramel. Very sweet in the first few tastes Some spices and could tast e the smoke better as it warmed. Good beer not amazing for style.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Pours a murky orange-light brown color, ok initial off-white head, weak lacing. The aroma was light smoke and meaty spices over a caramel base. The flavor was initially a little too caramel-like, but this thing settled down with temperature adding in tea bags and a nearly perfect level of smoke, beechwood smoke and light meaty spices. An incredibly well done Rauch, although I wanted more from the base beer itself. Mouthfeel was moderate, significantly carbonated.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

cloudy dark orange color. Aroma is slightly meaty. Flavor is decent meati-ness. Lots of smoked malts, some smoked summer sausage, italian sausage, and some canadian bacon. Nothing like the rauchbier urbock i had before though. But still an interesting style.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Slightly hazed copper with a good, creamy head. Crisp smokiness. Not that stale smoke that I dislike in some of the other rauchbiers. Salami from the smoke and crackers from the malt. This is a great rauchbier. Some rauchbiers give me too much of the impression of meat, but this one is reserved enough to keep from going in that direction. Excellent beer.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 10 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Poured an amber color with a small, off white head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of smoked meat, burnt wood, toffee, and light caramel malts in the background. Taste of some sweet caramel malts, wood, nuts, hickory smoke, and a nice citrus hoppiness. Really enjoyable, i’d been in the mood for a good rauch.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

This one rocked. A murky brown/orange appearance. The aroma is smoked salami, pepperoni, and hot dogs. The palate is a little light and some malt is present. The flavor contained a little bit of caramel, pepperoni, and more hot dogs. Looks like we were all at the sausage fest. Good stuff.