It was the weekend between Christmas and New Year’s Day, and I was flush with Taco Mac gift cards. I’m pretty easy to buy for, you see, beer and Star Wars items are almost always going to please (and in fact, my daughter got me a Taco Mac gift card and a Han Solo in carbonite rug this year.) I had a Sunday without Patriots football, though, since we had played the day before, so I decided to go to Taco Mac. Which means first browsing their beer list in the app to plan out what I will drink. I am not at all spontaneous in my beer drinking, I can tell you.

And there it was.

Anderson Valley Grodziskie.

I knew then what beer I would be drinking first. Grodziskie! Now there’s a style you don’t see every day. Grodziskie is a smoked wheat beer with origins in Poland and is a sub-style of Rauchbier. It has a malt bill entirely made up of smoked wheat. It is quite rare indeed and I have only come across a few of them in my beer drinking career.

Then too, I think this was my first ever Rauchbier at Taco Mac. I looked at the check ins on Untappd, most of which were at Taco Mac, and people seemed not to like it. They complained it was the worst beer they had ever had, they had never had anything like this before, what was Anderson alley thinking? The fools. Clearly they do not understand Rauchbier. Look, if you are going to order a smoked beer and then complain that it is smoky, I have no sympathy for you. My server, who knows well my predilection for rare beers, came by after I had taken a few sips and eyed me warily. “Everything OK?,” she asked, to which I assured her, it was.

And it really was.  Anderson Valley Grodziskie is a winning example of the style. Apparently it is a draft only release and I am amazed (and grateful) it made its way to Taco Mac. The only information I could find about it was in a press release from Anderson valley dated February 22^nd, 2022, where they say:

Grodziskie (available now) – The entire grain bill is 100% in-house Oak-smoked wheat malt, creating assertive smoky aromas and rich bready flavors. This combined with fruity esters and a high attenuation from a select yeast strain produces a golden ale with an overall crispness with light smokey notes. Original Gravity: 7.1-9 °Plato.

Anderson Valley Grodziskie has an alcohol content of 3% by volume, so it won’t bog you down. I paid $8.23 for a 23-oune draft, a bargain indeed. The Taco Mac description cites Hallertau Mittelfreu hops used.

My mug of Anderson Valley Grodziskie arrived hazy golden in color with about a half finger of head formation and a nose crisp and crackery with wheat, and permeated with bacony, oaky smoke. The palate was much the same, with lots of tart wheat and heady smoke notes, The beer finishes dry from the smoke and the tart wheat and a gentle kiss of bitter hops.

Kudos to you Anderson Valley for this one. For offering up such a rare style, and for doing it so well, my hats off to you. I loved it, and would love to drink it again.

Glad I tried it?  T

Would I rebuy it??