Beer of the Week: Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen

Beer score: 5.5

Company: Schlenkerla

ABV: 5.4
IBU: 30

The German "smoked" beer, a type of beer with which I'm not familiar. Apparently this is a rare type of beer and this particular one was the first and the oldest, having been brewed for centuries.

It comes out of the bottle into a clear glass with a dark red color, reminding me a bit of some of the darker wines.

The smell definitely reminds one of smokiness, specifically of burning logs, but there's also the barest hint of sweet, perhaps maple or caramel.

In the drinking, I found this beer to suffer from just a little flatness, but the flavor was full of a cool burnt quality that reminded me somewhat of a porter. There are definitely flavors of dark rye bread and dark molasses here.

I can't call this a favorite beer, but it's definitely worth trying. It is somewhat heavy and thick, and I could see it make a good sipping beer.