Rauchbier

You may remember that back in January we made a very successful brew called Audlem Smoky – a smoked old ale. The smoked flavour comes from rauchmalz – a Bavarian beech-wood smoked malt that imparts a distinctive smoky flavour. As I mentioned in the post, another common smoked beer is Rauchbier – a malt-rich lager with a sweet smoky aroma and flavour.

Well, we had 2kg of rauchmalz that needed using up… so that was yesterday’s brew. Being a lager, this is fermented at 10C, so we need to use the garage fridge and the temperature controller to maintain the right temperature. The brew day went well and fermentation appears to have started.

I’ve only had one rauchbier (at Wincle Brewery, when I did my brew for a day). It’s a fascinating beer: both cool and clean flavoured (being a lager) but also sweet and intensely smoky. Rather like a soft Bavarian smoked cheese (funnily enough).

Andy hunted for an idea for a name for our rauchbier – looking for a Cheshire connection but also something to do with smoke. He discovered that there was a Great Fire of Nantwich in 1583 which was, ironically, started in the local brewery. And so the name was found: Nantwich 1583.

Photo: http://www.nantwichtowncouncil.gov.uk/?page_id=657 with thanks.