Altenmünster Rauchenfelser Steinbier
It has a lightly smoky taste which is achieved in the special brewing process.
3.3
151 reviews
Kempten, Germany
Community reviews
Swing top bottle. Deep brown in color with a nice thick tan head. Smokey, peat aroma. Caramel roasty notes. Malty peaty flavor. Medium bodied. Smooth. Finish is smokey. Drinkable. Nice.
Swingtop pint bottle from Foremost Liquors, Oak Forest. Well, it’s been a rough evening: a toilet overflowed upstairs, filling the globe of a light fixture downstairs. Plumber snakes it out, I bleach two rooms and do lots of laundry. Now I can just settle down with a real "old style" beer poured in a straight .2 l Stiegel glass. My first steinbier. Didn’t think it’d be smoky, but what should I have expected with this method. Pours nice brown with gold in narrow part oif the glass. Tiny floaties visible in the glass. Smell is smoke, but not bacony like Aecht Schlenkerla. A nice caramel nose too, under a thin clingy head. Smokiness returns in the tasting; like a smoked Edam cheese. Malts are like caramel wrapped around campfire marshmallows. Just enough bitterness to keep the sweetness in check. Lots more particles toward the bottom of the glass give it something of a campfire flavor. Too bad this isn’t date-stamped; I wonder how old this one is and how it changes over time.
Fruity mildly smoky caramel malt aroma with some bready malt character. Clear copper coloured body is topped by a low white head that recedes to ring. Fruity and smoky caramel flavour with some underlying meatiness. Medium light body with fair carbonation. Bottle sampled at the Country Inn with beerbuzzmontreal, MartinT, Rastacouere and Yowie.
Bottle. Pours nutty brown with a small rocky-fizzy tan head. Smoked caramel medium roasted malt aroma, heavy ash and wood notes with faint notes of bacon grease and fruits. Ashy medium roasted heavily smoked wood and malt flavor, some fruits and bacon. Medium bodied fizzy palate.
I would have thought it would be difficult to achieve "lightly" smoked, but this beer does it. I don’t know what the base beer is supposed to be and I don’t really care. There is some fruit, like strawberries and honeydew, and some syrupy goodness, like caramel and gooey brown bread, and also some meaty oiliness. And woven through that, the smoke. Very mild and easy to drink. Palate is a little watery though (oily in texture, watery in weight). Liked it quite a bit nonetheless.
The Lure:
Fruity earth is the ground on which lays careful caramel. Some peaches, and barely a hint of smoke, but all in all seemingly well-made.
The Festivities:
A smoky mist descends onto the cherry field. The earth is moist, and benefits from the rich maltiness. Fizzy carbonation resides underneath an admirable balance.
Transcendence:
Morning rises through the branches.
Hazy copper pour, the head is white, 1cm tall and mostly lasting. Gentle soft toasted bread maltiness form a most diplomatic nose where the hops don`t show up at all. Globally fruity though individual species are very hard to pinpoint. Some light, fitting leatherette and blood undertones grows from sip to sip allowing the flavors to last in mouth. Malt oriented and well balanced german brew.
A caramel/mahogany brew with a thick density of swirling particulate. No head. Malty aromas were toasted grain, nuts and caramel... but no smoke. Flavor was thoroughly bittersweet with a dry, weak finish. Reminded me in a way of Hair of the Dog Adam (which I didn’t like). I would in no way call this a Rauchbier.
Foremost Liquors, Oak Forest, IL
(Bottle 50 cl) Dark golden with a handsome, lacing head. Distinct smoked notes, but otherwise surprisingly thin-bodied, almost watery. 140200
(Bottle 50 cl) As "Altenmünster Steinbier" by Sailerbräu Franz Sailer in Marktoberdorf. Clear reddish brown colour with a beige head. Notes of caramel and smoke and a lasting, long bitterness. 130101
Sampled at chester’s in hamilton, ontario with jadoreblanche and joeycapps. Ruby red body, with almost no head at all. Aromas are sausage, hickory, smoke. Taste is sweet smoked meatyness. Slightly sour too, with some maple syrup and oranges. Watery finish. Pretty good smoked beer, but a tad one dimensional in the finish. Thanks a lot Joey Capps for sharing!
Nice creamy head, reddish tan appearance. Nice meaty smoke aroma, but just a touch off, possibly oxidized. Taste is a spicy, meaty smoke. Brown sugary sweetness. Finish stays sweet, smoke all but leaves. Body is a little too watery for me. Other than that, very approachable and drinkable smoked lager.
12 Mar 2005 - Unbelievablle meaty beacon ++ aroma could do with some fruit for my liking. Clear dark brown colour with a tinge of red, small head but retains nicely. Weird meaty smoke flavour tasts with strange inital metallic flavours. Thinish lingering smokiness. A bit different but dissapointing.
Nice beer! Pours dark and mysterious; one can almost see the fog rising. Flavor is a mixture of light smoke and roasted malt, with a bit of chocolate and toffee thrown in for good measure. A pleasure to drink.
When writing points down to describe this beer, it almost seemed like I was describing a meat platter at a restaurant. Poured a clear, deep amber with a big, solid off-white head that lasted the distance and laced rings down the side of the glass. Interesting smoky and musty aroma, of char-grilled fish and devilled ham, with light fruity esters, toffee and a little malt underneath. In the mouth, an initial ashtray-like flavour hit the tongue but subsided to reveal similar traits to the aroma. Quite dry and very husky, the flavours seem to round the mouth well, assisted by the light spritzy carbonation and finish off with a long dry, husky and pasty swallow. A little grain and burnt sugars began to show half-way through the glass, but were kept out of reach of the smoky and almost salty palate. Very unusual beer and not what I expected at all, but it really did grow on me. Not for everybody, but ended up being quite a nice drop. Unique!!!
Brown with lots of little floaters and nary a head. Smokey sweet toffee aroma. Weak bodied and watery. Nice long smoked flavor that is neither harsh nor over bearing. But the beer is still one dimensional.
Aroma: smokey woody with a hint of hop. Appearance: clear amber to red with a small tan head that leaves good lacing. Flavour: smokey with balanced sweet malt. Palate: good medium mouthfeel with some clensing hop and lasting smoke and malt.
A curious brew in which "smoking" is achieved by adding burning hot rocks to the mash. Poured a bronze colour with plummy highlights and a towering rocky head. Good head retention and some lacework. Aroma has the expected character - seared ham, smokey bacon crisps, bit of popcorn-like diacetyl. However, it smells a bit singed. Thin to medium-bodied, with a fairly fizzy mouthfeel. Felt thin, however, the sample was a couple of months past its ’best before’ so I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt. Flavour profile includes burnt toast, ham sauce, caramel, hickory chips. Nice, lingering dry finish. It’s drinkable but lacks the meaty body and aroma of Aecht Shlenkerla. (Bottle, Camperdown Cellars, best before 13/2/05)
Chemical burnt malt smokey bacon aroma. Dark brown colour with bad head. Malt smokey bacon salty flavour. Fizzy palate.
Burnt caramel and toffe with a smoky nose. Mineralized mid palate slightly salty and a hint of banana. Nice Rauch beer vey atypical brewing process of throwing hot rocks into the kettle.
Great looking dark amber pour,with a slight smoke aroma. Mainly sweet malt flavor with a tasty smokiness in the background. Nice hop citrus high notes. Very creamy mouthfeel. A liitle bit of tobacco, and caramel hints as well. Interesting change of pace, very enjoyable as such, but not totally satisfying on any level.
OK, this is NOT a "Rauchbier" - the malts are NOT smoked; instead a different kind of smokiness is imparted by throwing searing hot rocks (stein=stone) into the mash to heat the brew to a boil.............
This smokiness is incidental to how beer used to be made. In early times, the use of a wooden brewing kettle prevented direct fire contact, hence the hot stones.........
Since there is nothing to compare Rauchenfelser Steinbier to, and it ain’t at all bad, I’d have to rate this beer highly just on the merit of its survival as a ’dead’ style - from an originally popular beer making method, and which today no-one knows what to even make of it 90% of the time.
Sort of a strong-ish tasting lager with a bit of a tang to the flavor from the caramelizing effect of the stones, and a good waft of smoky aroma. Bit of dry grassy hops, medium sour finish and some herbs. Not everyone’s cup of suds, but in a certain age in Germany this WAS what people expected in beer.......... Try a taste of history, while imagining a completely different time.
Poured a little hazy with a few dark floaties...otherwise amber with medium off white head...smell is bacon, butter, smoke, pepper...definate smoke flavor...taste the way a backwoods BBQ shack smells...definate bacon and ham...dry bitter sour finish...interesting...but not really good...
Amber brown color with a thin white head. Moderate smoke in the aroma along with some chocolatey malts. Light smoke flavor, moderate malty sweetness, Light bitter finish. Drinkable, but certainly no Schlenkerla.
pours light brown with a yellow/tan head. aroma of caramel and pepper jump out immediately. nice smoke taste that is a bit watery and light. nice balance flavor with sweetness up front and a nice bitter finish. a lot of caramel flavor in this. i think i’ll buy this again.
Light brown/amber color. Not much of a white head. Smells of barbeue and hickory chips. Taste is pure salt and barbeque chicken. I felt like I was at a pig roast smoked out. Very original and tasty for the simple fact that this beer is hickory smoke in a bottle. Excellent. No watery or misplaced flavors.
bottled 500 ml. Brownish red color. Smokey aroma. Medium to thin mouthfeel. Not as full bodied a Aecht Schlerenka Marzen.
Pours a brownish amber color with a short-lived white head. Has a mild smoked ham/bacon aroma. This has a smooth, mild-bodied mouthfeel with a smoked-up caramel malt taste. Dry finish with a lingering smoked ham finish. Not as "meaty" as other rauchs that I’ve had, but pretty tasty and satisfying.
Foremost Liquors, Oak Forest, IL
big foamy, loose off white head. light amber/brown body. Dry and smokey: smoked fish and chorizo effervescence helps deliver a more subtle, dry woody smokiness, going back to the chorizo on the finish. Some underlying hints of caramel and grains. presents an emergin orangey hop character
Dark amber in colour with an off white head. Aroma of smoked meat, sausage and cheese. The flavour had a light woody smokiness, some meat, malt, slightly sweet. Medium body. Finishes a bit thin with a mild bitterness. Nice beer. Thanks piscator34.
Chestnut brown with a big head. Has what I would inadequately describe as a salami aroma, which is actually a good thing. Taste is also dominated by the smokiness, but conversely is not too strong. Finish is absolutely not bitter but is a little weak.