I’m going Old School tonight. Old School 1300’s beer and Old School snacks. Heck, they had to have fried pigskin in the 1300’s, right? A lot more likely than a plate of chili cheese fries. Of course if they had the fries in 1350, I think they’d outsell the pig skins heartily!
Aecht Shlenkerla Rauchbier, a historic smoked beer, what a classic. My first smoked beer was a lot like my first beer, period. At the tender age of 4 or 5, I talked Dad into giving me a sip. TERRIBLE! That’s how I felt the first time I had a smoked beer – Gawd Awful! But you know, like many things, the more you do it, the more you enjoy it (my favorite line, they never seem to take me up on it though!)
What a TERRIFIC and historic beer. Back in the day, Barley malt was kilned over a fire of Beechwood logs, and picked up a smoky character. So as ancestor humans in our ancient past, when you were thinking beer, you weren’t thinking the pale lagers. That came later. This was it – a hearty and smoky blown ale, matured for months in beer cellars.
The interesting thing about all this is that the palate sort of adjusts to the smokiness, and it becomes less of an issue. I actually look forward to glugging an ancient beer like this periodically. 5.1% ABV, slight head and slight lace, medium carbonation. I need to go to Bamburg – wow, Weyermann and Aecht Schlenkerla / Brauerei Heller in the same town!
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