Rauchbier means, literally, “smoked beer”. Rauchbier is a valuable remnant of an old beer style. Malt must be dried to stop its germination at just the right point.
Modern technology provides enclosed heat sources to dry the malt, but before this technology was available, malt had to be dried by sun, wind, or above an open fire. Drying the malt above open fire usually involved suspending it over the fire so that smoke, as well as heat, passed through and the smoke flavored the malt.
The Heller Trum Brauerei in Bamberg produces smoked Märzen (Maerzen), Hefeweizen, Urbock, and Aecht Schlenkerla Helles Lagerbier, a smoked pale ale. Many online retailers list simply “Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier”, failing to recognize the different variations.
Roger Protz also mentions the Christian Merz Spezial Brauerei, also in Bamberg, producing a smoked “Lagerbier”, and the Bürgerbrau Kaiserdom Brauerei with another smoked beer (though their website no longer mentions it, so it may be defunct). There is also a smoked porter available from the Alaskan Brewing Co. (USA) and a Japanese ale called Moku Moku smoked ale.
