Last Wednesday, Jeff Whelpley and I led our third virtual BJCP Tasting Workshop, since the current public health situation forced us to abandon the in-person workshops.  We had a good session, with a diverse group of twenty five participants, including the two brewers/founders of Chicago's Dovetail Brewery.  For this session, we focused on two smoked beers - Dovetail's Piwo Grodziskie and Rauchdoppelbock.  

Both of these beers were delightful.  If you'd like to try them or any of Dovetail's excellent German or European-styled offerings, you can order them online for either pickup at their taproom or delivery.  

Jeff gave us some introductory remarks about smoked beers and I've included his notes.  I also filled out scoresheets for the two beers and have included those.  

Notes on Smoked Beers

Jeff Whelpley

While in general it can be said that all beers were at one time smoked, it wasn’t necessarily a sought after characteristic of beer, more of something that was tolerated.  Brewers attempted to avoid smoke character through the fuel used to dry their malt.  There were beers without smoked character, but they were difficult for most brewers to make.

• Air drying the malt. This avoided the smoky character that resulted from the use of wood.  This was difficult for many as a lot of space was needed. Germans produced pale, non-smoky beers by air drying or lightly kilned malt. German use of air drying or wood drying was determined by season and availability of space.
• Using straw as a fuel for drying malt resulted in a clear malt with little to no smoke character. Straw required more than one person to tend the fire.
• By the 1600s, people in England began experimenting with kilns that could dry malt without exposing it to smoke. Most people could not afford to purchase a kiln, so this was mostly used by the wealthy.
• By the 1700s, people began to use coke for fuel. Like kilns, coke was expensive not viewed as profitable, or even, affordable for most brewers. Porters used a lot of brown malt, so were smoky.
• By late 1700s people began to use aged wood, which gives off very little smoke and was able to dry the malt in a matter of hours. This decreased the smoked character of brown malt and allowed for less smoky pale.
• It wasn’t until the late 1700s that the hydrometer revealed that pale malt was more economical to use. This caused brewers to use less brown malt and more pale malts.
• By the 1800s, German brewers were using three types of kilns: rauch (smoke), luft (air), and dampf (steam).
• Dampf and luft were indirect heat, with luft becoming the most widely used. Luft could make brown, black, or pale malt without requiring much fuel.
• Rauch kilns were also used for making pale malts with coke, but also beechwood for rauch beers.
• Gratzer was popular in Poland during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Five breweries in  Gratz produced the beer.
• There’s actually not much evidence that many purposefully smoked beers were produced in Bamburg. One book found on the subject doesn’t mention smoked beer, but, rather praises Bamburg beers for having a mild character and great clarity. But two specific Bamburg breweries, Schlenkerla and Spezial, have been specializing in rauch beers for centuries.
• Schlenkerla lagers their beers in caverns beneath the brewery that are connected to a network of caves beneath Bamburg.
• Schlenkerla blends their malts (Two different silos containing 12 different kilnings, then two brews go into one fermentation tank, then six different beers go into a lager tank.)
• Schlenkerla’s helles is lightly smoked from yeast reused from the smoked beers they produce.

Piwo Grodziskie

BJCP Style 27A, Historical Beer

Brewed by Dovetail Brewery

Notes by Jim Vondracek

Aroma

Medium intensity smoke hits the nose first.  A low grainy malt aroma peeks out.  Very low floral, reminding me of lavender, comes out as the beer warms.  No spice or esters.

Appearance

Light yellow, hazy, with a medium sized white head with fine beads - head dissipates quickly.

Flavor

Soft smoke, low intensity, melds with the moderate bitterness and both last all the way through the finish.  Low, grainy malt and a low pepperiness  - the spice may be from wheat and hops.  Bitter forward and dry.  A barely perceptible, indistinct, fruitiness and the subtle smoke combine to give a remembrance of sweet flavors, without being sweet, which adds a complexity and works well with the crisp finish.  

Mouthfeel

Light body, medium carbonation, no alcohol warmth or creaminess or astringency

Overall Impression

A sessionable, easy-to-drink and refreshing beer - but made interesting with a soft, rounded, gentle smokiness.  Not a hint of meatiness in the smoke, which plays engagingly with a moderate, firm bitterness.  The dryness of this beer accentuates its sessionable nature.  Not as clear as the guideliness call for and the billowy, long-lasting head was missing from my sample.  It might be interesting to experiment with increasing the carbonation a bit and enhancing the hop flavors some.  Those are minor tweaks, though, and this is an excellent beer, made for warm summer nights.  Because of the gentle nature of the smoke and the pleasing bitterness,  this beer's two hallmarks, this is among the best examples of the style I've had.  

Score

44/50 Excellent - Exemplifies the style well, requires minor fine tuning

Rauchdoppelbock

BJCP Style 32A Classic Style Smoked Beer, base style 9A Doppelbock

Brewed by Dovetail Brewery

Notes by Jim Vondracek

Aroma

Medium-high strength smoke, reminding me of bacon, competes with a moderate and rich maltiness. No hop, phenols or fruitiness aromas.  The smoke and malt together trigger an impression of breakfasts with maple syrup, waffles and bacon!

Appearance

Brown, somewhat murky, small light tan head that quickly dissipates.

Flavor

Compared to the aroma, the flavor is more balanced between smoke and rich maltiness, with elements of the malt coming out a little more - a little caramel, with some depth from Maillard reactions.  Low dark fruit flavors, reminding me of plums, peek out.  Bitterness is low and hop flavor is perceived.  The key balance in this beer is between smoke and malt - and it is balanced towards smoke.  The finish is off-dry and the smokiness lingers, finally overtaking the malt.  Clean fermentation character.  

Mouthfeel

Medium body, low carbonation, no astringency or creaminess, low alcohol warmth.

Overall Impression

A flavorful beer, with not quite enough malt backbone to support a strong but pleasant smokiness.  The balance in this beer is all about the relationship between the malt and the smoke.  I found the smoke to be somewhat overwhelming in the finish, diminishing or hiding the richness and complexity of the Doppelbock.  That being said, the smoke character is pleasant, not harsh.  My sample suffered from what might be packaging issues - lack of head, carbonation and clarity - and detracted somewhat from my overall enjoyment.  I think the underlying Doppelbock was well-done and enjoyable.  I would buy another one of these beers! 

Score

37/50 Very Good - Generally within the style parameters, minor flaws