#historical

Bottle from Beerdome. Nice smoked aroma, malt, smoked ham, ash, some caramel. Moderate sweet and bitter. Medium body. Great as always from Heller-Bräu.

Bottle from the brewpub. Hazy amber, stable, foamy, off-white head. Aroma of red apple, plum, biscuit, toast, peanut, smoked wood, BBQ herbs, caramel. Taste has sweet red apple & plum in a peanutty, bready, slightly caramelly malt body with subtle herbal, toasty and smoky edges. Grassy & herbal hops in the finish, lingering spices, apple, gently smoked wood. Medium body, oily texture, average carbonation. Thoroughly enjoyable as some kind of Schlenkerla 'spin-off'.

Undefined German Lager by the unsurpassed Heller Trum brewery in Bamberg, one of the world's great heritage brewing cities, oddly not integrated in their justly famous Aecht Schlenkerla brand - because apparently this beer is one of those rare historical recreations, based on a recipe retrieved from Bamberg's oldest known brewery (Michaelsberg, in existence from 1122 till 1969), which in the 19th century got tied to Heller Trum, hence the connection. Thanks to tderoeck for sharing this oddity! Egg-white, membrane-lacing, frothy and fluffy, thick head on a clear amberish pure orange-blonde robe. Aroma of smoked wood (Rauchmalz) but much more subtly so than in the Aecht Schlenkerla range, croissants, white pepper, light toast, cured meat, roasted peanuts, paprika powder, black tea, dry tree leaves somewhere. Clean malt-fruity onset (even a touch apple peel-like) with medium carb, smooth bready core with underlying minerality, bread crust- and cracker-like with a growing smoky Rauchmalz edge (smoked bacon) but again remaining milder and softer than in an actual Bamberg Rauchbier; floral, bit leafy, lingering hop bitterness in the finish - the hops here had to shine because they come from the 'Hopfengarten Bamberg' which reintroduced hop growing to the city - but remaining well in touch with the toasty, gently smoked maltiness that makes up this beer's backbone. I doubt if the actual historical recipe this brew was based upon was a clean and quite hoppy amber lager like this one and clearly the brewery is unable to brew anything without that pungent smokiness hanging around at least somewhere, but these reservations do not make it any less tasty: this is an utterly solid Bamberg offering in all respects, indeed distinct from Aecht Schlenkerla, but at the same time closely tied to it as well. Hard to judge without those Rauchbier variants in mind, but I love those too and this one was just as tasty.

Bottle.Clear amber colour with medium white head.Aroma is mild smoked and toasted mild note of rye bread and fresh hops nice by style.