I’ll be having one of these tonight while I see how many restaurant posts I’m behind on writing up. The Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen appears to be a top-notch brew. I had the Schlenkerla Weizen at LivingSocial for the Churchkey beer tasting back in July, and it was great…tasted of delicious bacon. I picked up this brew, and a few others, over at Norm’s Beer and Wine in Vienna…good selection over there.
Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen
On Sunday, I went to a beer tasting event at LivingSocial’s 918 F Street led by Greg Engert, the beer director for ChurchKey and Neighborhood Restaurant Group.
I can confidently state that I have never met anyone as knowledgable about beer as Mr. Engert. He certainly brings his academic education and experience to his craft. For two hours or so, he was able to discuss the history, economy, science, and societal aspects of beer. More importantly, he had picked seven beers that even I, a beer novice, could easily tell apart.
A veritable professor of beers, Greg Engert introduced us to seven exceptional brews.
We started the first round with three beers:
According to Engert, the Bam Noire is what beer tasted like for 99% of its history. Tart, sour, and a slight vinegar smell at first. It had a clean aftertaste with a hint of smokiness.
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BACON. That’s all I could think of when I smelled, and then tasted, this great beer. The extremely smokey nose and flavor comes from the beechwood it’s fired with.
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Fruit nose with a hint of sage. The sage comes out more in the taste…white sage was used to flavor it. This beer is contract brewed by Stillwater at DOG Brewing in Baltimore.
The first three brews. My favorite from this round was the Schlenkerla Weizen, in the center.
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At this point, we got a break to collect some charcuterie. Good selection that went well with the rest of the beers.
Don’t mind the plating…I put this one together myself. I need to remember to eat before going out to these things.
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Round two consisted of these four beers:
Fruity nose and taste. Orange/citrus notes.
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I wasn’t sure what to peg the flavors in this as…I thought soy sauce, and somewhat similar to the next beer. More intense flavors than the Hitachino, and a little more bitter, especially at the finish. From what I gather, for a hoppy beer, this wasn’t that bitter though. As I don’t normally drink a lot of beer, I have more taste testing to do before I can figure that out on my own.
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As mentioned above, I found this similar in taste to the Duck-Rabbit (although I’m not sure I should’ve with the different flavor categories they fall into). I found this one to be a little bit mellower and sweeter. Cleaner finish than the Doppelbock.
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Bready nose and taste with a hint of grapiness. I don’t know how something that tastes doughy can also be crisp, but surprisingly it was.
The last four beers. Hard to pick a favorite out of this group, but I’d probably say the HopDevil (the one on the left in the top row).
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Some additional bullet points from the evening with Engert:
I haven’t made it yet to ChurchKey, but after this class, and my subsequent rediscovery of beer, I will be dropping by in the near future to try some more.
Ben Eats 