Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Draught at the brewery, 5/27/17.
Bronze-golden with darker copper hues, good clarity and a small, beige head atop showing modest retention.
Honey and light caramel kick things off as light vanilla and pepper-like hops enter the mix, as well. Seems more a long the lines of a Schlenkerla Helles as it’s not terribly intensely smoky. What’s there shows light campfire, bit of ash, light cured meat and mild phenolic pepper. It certainly complements the lighter malt character and smells clean and fragrant with no flaw.
Sweet and succulent malts are quickly joined by woodsmoke, vanilla and black pepper that help balance but leave the beer leaning more to the malty side, as it should be. Low but ample carbonation and fairly strong attenuation keep it drinkable while campfire and very light cured meat smokiness slowly build on the palate. Very soft, silky almost, texture. Clean and very drinkable.

Love me a rauchbier!

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

At some beer shop: pours amber with a beige head. Aroma is sausage and caramel. Taste is sweet and smoky. Almost no hops. Light aftertaste. Pretty good.