What Is Rauchbier?
Rauchbier (pronounced roughly "rowkh-beer") is a smoked lager from Bamberg. The key is in the malting process: barley malt is dried over burning beechwood before being brewed, which infuses the beer with smoke aromas you won't find in any other style — smoked wood, bacon, sometimes campfire, sometimes cured meat.
This used to be the normal way to dry malt. Wood fire was the only available heat source, and so every beer before the 18th century would have had a smoky character. With industrialisation, steam drying and hot air replaced wood fire — the smoky character disappeared from virtually all beer worldwide. In Bamberg, two breweries never stopped. That's the whole story.
The Two Real Rauchbier Breweries in Bamberg
- Brauerei Schlenkerla — The original and most intense. They malt their own barley over beechwood.
- Brauerei Spezial — Milder, more accessible, with a finer smoke profile.
What Does It Actually Taste Like?
Honestly: it depends on what you order and in what order you drink it.
The Schlenkerla Märzen — the brown one, on tap year-round, the one the waiter brings without asking — has a clear, assertive smoked character. The first sip divides people. Some say: "This is like drinking smoked bacon." They mean it as a compliment. Others say the same thing and mean it as a complaint. Both reactions are valid.
After the third glass, the smoke profile settles into a kind of baseline on which the malt sweetness and hop bitterness start to play. It's not a simple beer. It demands attention. That's not a flaw — it's the point.
What to Order First
| Beer | Brewery | Smoke Intensity | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rauchbier Lager | Spezial | ★★☆☆☆ mild | Absolute beginners |
| Rauchbier Märzen | Schlenkerla | ★★★☆☆ medium | The standard entry point |
| Helles | Schlenkerla | ★★★★☆ intense | Surprise: the pale one smells stronger |
| Ur-Bock | Schlenkerla | ★★★★★ very intense | For enthusiasts, Oct–Mar only |
| Weizen | Schlenkerla | ★★☆☆☆ mild | Want to try smoked beer gently |
Our recommendation for first-timers: Start with the Märzen. Not the Helles (smells more intense than it tastes, can put people off immediately), not the Bock (too strong as an introduction), not the Weizen (too mild to give the real experience). The Märzen is the benchmark.
Rauchbier With Food
Rauchbier drinks better with meat than without. This sounds obvious, but it's striking how well it works. Schlenkerla traditionally serves Schäuferla (braised pork shoulder), Bratwurst, and Sauerbraten. The smoky character of the beer echoes and amplifies the meat flavours. It's one of those rare food-and-drink pairings where the whole is genuinely greater than the sum of its parts.
About the Schlenkerla Tavern
The Gasthof Schlenkerla is a 14th-century vaulted cellar tavern — narrow wooden tables, dark ceilings, beer drawn from wooden barrels. It is, admittedly, a tourist destination now. But it's a good one. The regulars sit in the back.
Opening hours: Daily 9:30am–11:30pm (kitchen until ~10pm)
Address: Dominikanerstraße 6, 96049 Bamberg
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I buy Rauchbier to take home?
Yes. Schlenkerla has a small shop at the tavern, and the Märzen is available in many German supermarkets and bottle shops. They also ship internationally. Bottle is slightly flatter than draught — but that's true of every beer.
Is Rauchbier available outside Bamberg?
Rarely. In Germany, smoked beer is almost exclusively a Bamberg phenomenon. Some international craft breweries experiment with smoked malt — but the original, as it's been brewed for 600 years, comes from Bamberg.
What if I don't like it?
Then you drink something else. Bamberg has eight other breweries without any smoke. Mahrs Bräu's Ungespundetes, for example, is the opposite: soft, mellow, full-bodied, no smoke at all. Nobody has to like Rauchbier — but it ought to be tried.