Every once in a while you get “Weird Beer Performance” out of one of our daily drinks. Today’s classroom visit into the “Science of Beer” is a 4-pack of Bamberg, Germany’s Aecht Schlenkerla Erle Schwarzbier Rauchbier! It’s a black smoky lager!
Actually there’s something else going on with this particular batch. That would be a SERIOUS case of over carbonation! There’s no quick way of measuring it, but with the beers I’ve drank from this 4-pack already, and the amount of foam produced, it has to be 4, maybe as high as 6 volumes. How much can an aluminum can take? Maybe more!
I had to pull out the Beermeister32 “twenty-nine-ouncer” just to contain it all, and this is only ¾ of a can! Check out the deformation it is causing on the 4th beer can – that’s pressure from the insides folks!
So obviously there’s still some post brewing biological activity or fermentation going on here, this happened with room temperature cans in storage. Checking the flavor – tastes excellent! Nice 4.2% ABV Schwarzbier flavor and color, medium smokiness from the Alder smoked malt. Do I detect just a small amount of vinegar taste? Quite possibly. That would point to possibly Acetobacter bacteria in the brew, continuing to chomp down on residual sugars and producing the additional carbonation pressure, but it is so slight, I just tasted it once before my taste buds adapted to it.
Really this is a great beer, if there is an issue, it’s not worth fussing over – just get a bigger glass! Prost!