Terrapin Side Project Volume 2: Roggenrauchbier Lager Beer

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

I don't like the way you're walking.You've been into the sacramental rauchbier again. You're fahsnickered! You drunken mule, you.

Aroma: wow, truly delicate and upliftingly pleasant! light sweet smoked wood and light honey bbq sauce ..
Look: pours a 20yr old copper penny with medium foam, stable headring , lacing is proper.. . its my specialty and junk ... .
Mouth: perfect perfect perfect in the mouth, full and coating but not overdone, classy! ... very pure smokiness, light kiss of smoked caramel even,
a fantastic brew... (salami and smoked gouda would be amazing with this)... I said a few weeks ago that smoked beers were becoming my new favourite style (eclipsing my love of english barleywines) and this beer helps out my thinking ...
What good is mining nose gold if I can't share it with the townspeople? .. .

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

A healthy pour produces a three finger thick, amber tinged, tan colored head. The beer is a deep amber-red color that shows a brilliantly clear, brassy, bright ruby / amber hue when held up to the light. The aroma has a sweet smokiness to it up front. The sweetness accentuates a soft berry character and the smoke mixes in with the spicy grain notes. This is not an overly smoky beer, but it is the most noticeable part of the aroma.

Sweet tasting up front, but this has a richness to it from both the smoke and the grain character that tempers the sweetness quite well. This has a full on Beech wood smoke flavor to it that is a bit more pronounced than the aroma might have suggested. Conversely though there are a lot of other flavors going on in the flavor profile of this beer such that the smokiness is not as dominant as it was in the aroma. This has a chewy, viscous heft to it that tends to stick to the palate and actually has the smoke stick to the palate as it lingers on after each sip; this is definitely on the thick side for a beer of this strength, it makes me wonder how much of the viciousness comes from the rye malt. There is a peppery spiciness to the finish of this beer that helps to dry out the up front sweetness along with the smoke. The up front sweetness is more clean, though not cloying, it does linger through to the finish, but actual becomes richer and more caramelized in the end.

A second pour of this 22oz bottle injects a bit more carbonation and helps to lighten the body by cutting through the viciousness. The spiciness in the finish also seems to be contributed a bit from the hop character, which also provides a nice low level, but definitely biting bitterness to the finish of this beer. This is definitely a nice beer to sit down and enjoy a 22oz bottle of. It really drinks like a meal and at only 5.7% it won't get you schnokkered.

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

Aroma is malty and sweet with some smoked peat coming through as well as some burnt wood with some very faint hops making it though and maybe some graininess. Appearance is a deep, rich, dark reddish-burgundy in color when held to the light with a smeller than expected head on top that diminishes quickly to a slight, stringy lacing that sticks to the glass and is off-white in color. Mouthfeel is rather light-bodied with good smokey complexity as well as malty balance with a palate that is wet-like and surprisingly light in body for sure. Flavor is malty sweet and good with maltiness that comes through with an aftertaste that is of slight liquid smoke and sirred wood with a finish that is clean and very crisp with some dryness and is rather good. Overall, this rauchbier is tasty but a bit on the light side with just not enough smokiness coming through to satisfy me but, nonetheless, a fine lager from Terrapin for sure and recommended...I like the "extreme" aspect that is Terrapin. P.S. This beer is tasty, don't get me wrong, but for a rauchbier, it is too light and thin and very much undercarbonated for the style.