Schlenkerla Lentbeer

Review Date 9/16/2024 By John Staradumsky

  Style: Rauchbier   Brewery: Heller Trum   Country: Germany   State: N/A   $ Per OZ: $.28 (B)   ABV: 5.9%

It was a week before Father’s Day when my wife gave me a gift card to Half Time Beverage. I went shopping there, and what did they have but Aecht Schlenkerla Weichsel Rotbier (and, to boot, the Lentbeer I had also never tried). Two cans of each went into my cart. I kept my fingers crossed they did not sell out before packing my box, and you know, they didn’t! My prizes arrived the Friday before Father’s Day.

I spent part of Father’s Day at Atlanta’s Der Biergarten restaurant, and when I got home, I drank a can each of the aforementioned brews. I did not take notes on the Lentbeer at the time, but drank my second can recently and did just that. As per usual with Schlenkerla beers, the Lentbeer, also called the Fastenbier, was exceptional. Here’s what Brauerei Heller Trum says:

The Original Schlenkerla Lentbeer is an unfiltered smokebeer, brewed according to the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516. Bottom-fermenting yeast gives the reddish brown lentbeer a natural cloudiness….. Due to the nourishing yeast, the Original Schlenkerla Lentbeer has the "Brotzeit already included" (German word for afternoon snack).

Different from the Original Schlenkerla Smokebeer, the Schlenkerla Lentbeer is made from a mixture of light (e.g. non smoked) malt and Schlenkerla Smoked Malt. It is brewed in classic copper kettles in a two-decoction mash with hops from Spalt (near Nuremberg) and Hallertau. One week of primary fermentation is being followed by a two month period of lagering in the ancient cellars underneath Bamberg. The lentbeer is being served unfiltered with fine bottom fermenting yeast from the keg and thus preserves its full body and aroma.

For the US market, draft Lentbeer is shipped to Oxford, Connecticut where it is canned by Ordinem Ecentrici Coctores. If memory serves, this is the only unfiltered Schlenkerla rauchbier I have come across.

Schlenkerla Lentbeer has an alcohol content of 5.9% by volume and I paid $6.49 a can each for my 16.9 samples from Half Time. Total Wine sells it for $18.99 a 4-pack of same in Palm Desert, California, but they are out of stock as I type.

Schlenkerla Lentbeer pours to a deep amber color with a thick fluffy tan head and a nose of thick bacony hickory smoke. Taking a sip, the beer is medium to slightly more in body. It’s chewy malty up front with a hint of caramel. It is immediately packed with smoky woody hickory notes, green olives, and a balanced smoky finish. It’s even a tad phenolic smoky.

Reminds me of the Märzen, and that is a good thing. I will be looking for, and buying, more.

 Glad I tried it?  T