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Rauchbier Eiche
9% ABV

I managed to mess up on brew day and instead of being 26 IBUs, it ended up 40 IBUs. It’s still very tasty. I used half smoked malt and half regular. Next time, I’ll probably go 75% smoked malt as I could use a little stronger smoke taste.
 
Blackdirt_cowboy said:
View attachment 567366Rauchbier Eiche
9% ABV

I managed to mess up on brew day and instead of being 26 IBUs, it ended up 40 IBUs. It’s still very tasty. I used half smoked malt and half regular. Next time, I’ll probably go 75% smoked malt as I could use a little stronger smoke taste.
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Nice looking beer.

I'm starting to think that once one warms up to the smoke taste, 100% may not be enough. LOL. It's like hops.

You have too experiment to find the limit of your palate.

Some smoking process are more immense than others. My cold apple smoked beer at 50% was very strong. It took me a bit of time to determine it was really NOT too much. For awhile I thought it was harsh.
 
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It was much smokier during fermentation. I lagered it for about 6 weeks. I’m sure this mellowed a lot of the smoke flavor. The oak smoke also has a different flavor than what Schlenkerla uses. It a little more acrid and sharper on the palate. However, at 50% of the malt background, the smoke is in the background, not front and center.

At 9% ABV, it’s a little bit on the hot alcohol side, but not too bad. The tettnanger hops are a perfect complement to the maltiness and smoke. I would prefer it to have just a tick more sweetness to make it taste more like a doppelbock. When I rebrew this, I’ll cut the grain back a bit to account for my efficiency and the higher attenuation I achieved. Hopefully I will be closer to 8% ABV. I’ll also cut the hops back to achieve close to 25 IBU so that the malt can shine through a little more.

All in all. for a 9% beer, it is very drinkable. It’s also very intoxicating, have to be careful with this one.
 
Blackdirt_cowboy said:
It was much smokier during fermentation. I lagered it for about 6 weeks. I’m sure this mellowed a lot of the smoke flavor. The oak smoke also has a different flavor than what Schlenkerla uses. It a little more acrid and sharper on the palate. However, at 50% of the malt background, the smoke is in the background, not front and center.

At 9% ABV, it’s a little bit on the hot alcohol side, but not too bad. The tettnanger hops are a perfect complement to the maltiness and smoke. I would prefer it to have just a tick more sweetness to make it taste more like a doppelbock. When I rebrew this, I’ll cut the grain back a bit to account for my efficiency and the higher attenuation I achieved. Hopefully I will be closer to 8% ABV. I’ll also cut the hops back to achieve close to 25 IBU so that the malt can shine through a little more.

All in all. for a 9% beer, it is very drinkable. It’s also very intoxicating, have to be careful with this one.
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Sounds awesome.

Remember you can always mash higher for more body and use a lower attenuating yeast.

You have to love a big beer that's tasty and dangerous. That's why you age them save them for special occasions. Time will mellow that beer. My "Smoke Beers" book says that smoked beers have a better shelf life from smoke.

Your beer will change over time as you drink it. It will be less hot, the smoke will mellow and the malt will pick up . Oak is supposed to be a more subdued smoke profile. You can try other woods too.

Oak is my next rauch bier. Gratzer(Prussian) or Grodziske(Polish).
 
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:drunk:So I’m smoking some pork butts and spare ribs today and I thought what a great excuse to drink a rauchbier. I carbed my rauchbier Eiche and have not had one since then. The keg has been sitting at 32° for about a week after carbonation. The beer has mellowed and the hot alcohol taste is completely gone. The beer is actually quite smooth. The smoke flavor is very faint on the back end and way back on the pallet...until you belch, and then it’s front and center.

This would be a great beer to introduce someone to a rauchbier as it is not a smoke smack down. I will definitely be brewing this again, however I will go at least 75% smoked malt. Knowing me, I will probably actually go 100% smoked malt. I’m a huge fan of strong, in your face flavors.

This thing could be deadly. It’s 9% and drinks like a 3.2 :drunk:
 
Blackdirt_cowboy said:
:drunk:So I’m smoking some pork butts and spare ribs today and I thought what a great excuse to drink a rauchbier. I carbed my rauchbier Eiche and have not had one since then. The keg has been sitting at 32° for about a week after carbonation. The beer has mellowed and the hot alcohol taste is completely gone. The beer is actually quite smooth. The smoke flavor is very faint on the back end and way back on the pallet...until you belch, and then it’s front and center.

This would be a great beer to introduce someone to a rauchbier as it is not a smoke smack down. I will definitely be brewing this again, however I will go at least 75% smoked malt. Knowing me, I will probably actually go 100% smoked malt. I’m a huge fan of strong, in your face flavors.

This thing could be deadly. It’s 9% and drinks like a 3.2 :drunk:
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LOL. - Love the smoke burps!!!! It's a nice reminder of what you're drinking. I'd say, me too on the in your face flavors.

Rauchbier is so awesome when you're tending to the smoker. I'm glad yours turned out well. Yes, if you like your first try on smoking your own, it's time to push the envelope.

I kegged my classic stout. I had about two pints that didn't fit in the keg. The first taste was a pleasant shock. I forgot I put a pound of maple rauch malt in the beer. The smoke is pretty noticeable for a stout. Was drinking it flat, hopefully this gasses up fast.

Brewing my Grazter tomorrow. Its a oak smoked wheat. It's half pilsner and half wheat. 6 lbs of 100% oak smoked. Using two ounces of saaz at first wort hoping. It'll be 10.043 with 35 IBU. I've been smelling the grain every few days just to quell my excitement for this beer!
 
This is my Classic Stout with maple smoked malt!!!!

Tasty almost a touch of chocolate in the finish. Used a pound of homemade black malt and homemade crystal 120L.

Basically 100% pale malt, that I converted in some fashion.
20180429_224138.jpeg
 
I had my FIL and BIL taste my rauchbier this weekend. I knew they wouldn’t like it as they are not big on smoked anything. They were able to identify it as oak smoke. They were also surprised how smooth it was for a 9% beer. Your stout looks great!!
 
I kegged my Oak Smoked Wheat Beer. Gratzer or Grodziski It smelled very hammy. I forgot to taste it, but I'll try it tonight!
 
This beer is flat but fvcking awesome.

It's very hammy. Literally tastes like a ham.


Might call it, "Moon Over My Hamy" LOL

Kin to Moon Over Miami.

 
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Blackdirt_cowboy said:
Looks delicious. How does the oak smoke taste compared to other woods you’ve used?
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For this beer it's little more up front since its was made at 100% smoked malt. Half pilsner and half wheat. Two hours at 200F. The beer smell and after taste reminds me of smoked ham. No other beer I have made reminds me of meat more than this beer. My maple brown ale had a bacon-esk flavor/smell to it though. It was mostly maple with some cherry and apple added smoked for at least 4 hours 200F then later at 400F for another 2 hours.

So far I have used mostly apple, some maple, a little cherry, now oak and beech. Beech is only one I have smoked grain but yet to have brewed with it. I have 10 lbs of it, that might just might have to make into a Marzen. Close to 100% smoke. I'm just going to use 1lb my home made black malt. So I have no opinion on beech yet.

I shared this beer with a local microbrewery just this week. The head brewer loved it. There's a little bias to this. We were talking about this beer for awhile. Since we both come from Polish families. The beer style is Prussian a Gratzer (German) or Grodziske (Polish). It's a nearly extinct beer style. His comments was that it's a very drinkable summer beer with lots of Smoke flavor. The smoke is very noticeable but not off putting to the drinker.

A few patrons that didn't really know the style thought it should be a celebratory beer. Their first comment was "Wow" or shock. They weren't expecting the prominent smoked flavor despite me telling them it's a smoke beer. I didn't know how to take it at first. Then they said, "You probably can't make enough of this!". They mentioned that it should be sold at Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter. Easter especially since ham is traditionally the meat of choice for that holiday.

That's exactly my thoughts. Ham is becoming my new favorite smoked meat. I can see why this is used in bock. This might have to made for Easter from now on as my grand mother and mother always served ham.

Cheers! [emoji481] [emoji481] [emoji481]
 
Your post inspired me to draw up a glass of my rauchbier Eiche clone. I agree that it tastes a lot like smoked ham.

I still have about 8 pounds of oak smoke malt to use. My next adventure may include smoking malt with mesquite. I have acres and acres of mesquite and oak that I can cut, so those will probably be the two I stick with the most.
 
Blackdirt_cowboy said:
Your post inspired me to draw up a glass of my rauchbier Eiche clone. I agree that it tastes a lot like smoked ham.

I still have about 8 pounds of oak smoke malt to use. My next adventure may include smoking malt with mesquite. I have acres and acres of mesquite and oak that I can cut, so those will probably be the two I stick with the most.
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What beer types do you typically like to drink? It's easy to make an English or German beer with your leftover malt.

Milds, Browns, Porter, Stout, Marzen, Weizen, Dunkelweizen, and Alt just to name three of each.

I'd make some oaky session beer for the summer.

Mesquite is supposedly good in wheat beers.
 
Chorgey said:
My apologies. I never made a Rauch beer (yet) but its something that I would like to try. I absentmindedly just chimed in with my preference
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No apologies necessary. I wasn't sure if you're into rauchbier. If you love smoking foods you'd love having a classic rauch beer to go with the activity.

It's easy, if you brew all grain. You can buy smoked malt add a pound to a simple Marzen recipe. If you're a extract brewer you can steep a pound with your specialty grains. You just steep for 60 minutes.

You can do so with nearly any beer style. Malty styles seem the best integration if you're not used to smoke in your beer.

[emoji481] [emoji481] [emoji481]
 
triethylborane said:
Checked on the smoked malt today. The smell has intensified over the past week and there is a certain sweet scent from the beech that is developing. The grain is dry and I plan on brewing this upcoming weekend. Getting starters prepped this week so there are no issues.

Also confirmed with my liquor store they will be getting a case of the Fastenbier.
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Did you ever make your rauchbier? If so, how did it turn out?
 
Just loaded the cabinet smoker with 5lbs of grain and ton of spent pistachio shells.

It smells pretty danged good.
 
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The smell is not distinctly nutty but maybe its from the last bit of wood. That was Pecan. Pecan doesn't smell nutty either.

Pistachio is supposed to have nutty smoked taste.

20180801_225054.jpeg
 
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The pistachio smoked grain smells great. The dried malt is going into the oast to mellow. I'm using this in a red ale.

Need to make my summer rauchbier with beech. 10 lbs of beech smoked malt, 2 oz of black malt, hopped with hallertauer, pitching WB-06.
 
I got a ton of peanut shells saved.....

Yes, I actually saved peanut shells for smoking barley.

That's the next batch of smoked barley.
 
triethylborane said:
I have a cabinet smoker (electric with temp control, total garbage, I dont use it) that I modified to use with a small hibachi. I made a hood with steel pipe that sits on the hibachi and funnels smoke into the cabinet. It only needs a few coals to produce billows of smoke, and it stays pretty cool, doubt if temps go above 80f.

I plan on using beech or oak, depending on what home depot has tomorrow. Beech is my preference for the marzen I have planned, but oak will be fine too. My father dropped off a 5 gallon pail of plum chunks earlier this week after I told him I was planning on smoking malt. He dropped a large plum tree in his back yard, it did produce good plums but the hail in May 17 shredded it (other trees were ok, lol wtf) They look great, but I want to stick with beech for this first run.

View attachment 554470

That bambergermeister looks great too. Black malt . . . mmm makes me want a smoked stout with some roasted barley and plum smoked malt . . . fruity with some roast and smoke.
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Getting close to using the plum?
 
Schlenkerla said:
Getting close to using the plum?
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Well, yes, but not for brewing. I dont drink beer anymore, but Ive brewed a few times with my parents . . . they like beer lol. They dont like rauchbier (sucks for them) so it is unlikely that I will brew one for them. Another unfortunate reality is that I had my smoked malt stored in my basement, but a clogged french drain during a savage hail storm this summer put a small amount of water into my basement . . . but dripped over the sacks that were holding the smoked malt. Well, better the smoked malt than my G-scale LGB collection.
 
triethylborane said:
Well, yes, but not for brewing. I dont drink beer anymore, but Ive brewed a few times with my parents . . . they like beer lol. They dont like rauchbier (sucks for them) so it is unlikely that I will brew one for them. Another unfortunate reality is that I had my smoked malt stored in my basement, but a clogged french drain during a savage hail storm this summer put a small amount of water into my basement . . . but dripped over the sacks that were holding the smoked malt. Well, better the smoked malt than my G-scale LGB collection.
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That's a shame... [emoji26]

BTW nobody likes a quitter. LOL
 
My rauchbier Eiche has been carbed since April. I’ve been drinking it sparingly as it’s really, really strong and is a sipping beer. It’s really too heavy of a beer to drink over summer. I can see why it’s a Christmas time beer from the brewery. But man, oh, man, this thing has aged beautifully. Every time I draw a pint, it’s better than the last. I hunk next time I brew this, I’ll do around May or June and lager until December. This thing is absolutely glorious with some time.
 
Blackdirt_cowboy said:
My rauchbier Eiche has been carbed since April. I’ve been drinking it sparingly as it’s really, really strong and is a sipping beer. It’s really too heavy of a beer to drink over summer. I can see why it’s a Christmas time beer from the brewery. But man, oh, man, this thing has aged beautifully. Every time I draw a pint, it’s better than the last. I hunk next time I brew this, I’ll do around May or June and lager until December. This thing is absolutely glorious with some time.
Click to expand...
Need another picture! [emoji1]
 
Blackdirt_cowboy said:
My rauchbier Eiche has been carbed since April. I’ve been drinking it sparingly as it’s really, really strong and is a sipping beer. It’s really too heavy of a beer to drink over summer. I can see why it’s a Christmas time beer from the brewery. But man, oh, man, this thing has aged beautifully. Every time I draw a pint, it’s better than the last. I hunk next time I brew this, I’ll do around May or June and lager until December. This thing is absolutely glorious with some time.
Click to expand...
I've been thinking of making a Xmas rauchbier. That might be the beer to make, it's about time to make one. I have to use ale yeast though. I could make a doppelmock or a Scotch Ale with wood smoke.
 
Blackdirt_cowboy said:
My rauchbier Eiche has been carbed since April. I’ve been drinking it sparingly as it’s really, really strong and is a sipping beer. It’s really too heavy of a beer to drink over summer. I can see why it’s a Christmas time beer from the brewery. But man, oh, man, this thing has aged beautifully. Every time I draw a pint, it’s better than the last. I hunk next time I brew this, I’ll do around May or June and lager until December. This thing is absolutely glorious with some time.
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Did you oak smoke like 17lbs of grain? I assume you used about 1/2 of it. Have you used it on anything else?
 
Yep. I smoke 17 pounds with post oak wood. I was originally going to use it all in the beer but only used half. I still have the other half. I haven’t used it in anything yet.
 

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