I could hear the bottle yelling my name from the cooler that held it captive, and it called to me all the way on the long drive home.
Yes, I could not wait to become reacquainted with an old friend, Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier, or in English, Original Schlenkerla Smokebeer. This is, quite simply, the best smoked beer in the world as well as the most unusual lager you are ever to encounter. Some refer to this as liquid bacon (minus the grease).

The secret to Schlenkerla Brewery’s beautiful smoky lager takes place in their own malt house, where they germinate barley and kiln the green malt over an aromatic beechwood log fire. Few breweries malt their own grains.
The beer is lagered in 14th century hand-carved rock cellars beneath the brewery. The brewery considers their beer a true sip of history. “We are a living fossil from a brewing world that existed centuries ago.”
The brewery in Bamberg, Germany, serves the beer from wooden kegs, beginning at 9:30 am. This is written on the brewery’s coasters:  “Even if the brew tastes somewhat strange at the first swallow, do not stop, because soon you will realize that your thirst will not decrease and your pleasure will visibly increase.”

Oh, man, I wish I could pop over for a quick one right now!
The smokiness is so good.  I’m sorry, I must run out immediately for another bottle of smoky goodness.

Brown, brown go to town. I love me a good brown ale, and, so was happy to see Founder’s Sumatra Mountain Brown pop up at my local, which is double the pleasure since it is a brown infused with Sumatran coffee.
This imperalized brown weighs in at a hefty 9 percent, yet is a very easy-drinking big coffee-flavored brown. Big coffee aroma, too.
Founder’s knows how to use coffee in beer, as in their Breakfast Stout. Sumatra Mountain Brown is simply another iteration of that felicity with coffee.