Smoke 'Em If Yous Got 'Em, Philly Beer Week - What's On Tap?

by Mike Pomranz, Posted Jun 10th 2010 @ 5:00PM

For many, smoked beers (also commonly known by their German name -- Rauchbiers) are an acquired taste. Though some favorably describe these brews as a delicious mix of the flavors of beer and bacon, others lean towards the suspicion that someone may have ashed a cigar in their pint.

Though the Yards Brewing Company's second annual Smoke 'Em If Yous Got 'Em event for Philly Beer Week did offer up a cigar tent, most patrons paid their admission to pair a healthy selection of professional and amateur barbecue with a world class selection of smoked brews.

The self-described "one-of-a-kind event (translation: there's absolutely, positively nothing else like it in the world)" definitely delivered on the beer front, offering up an exotic mix of 32 drafts (not to even mention the sizable bottled selection) from across the country and around the world, as well as extremely rare selections and one-offs, and one 34-letter beer from Stewart's Brewing that drinkers would be hard-pressed to discuss on Twitter.

After the jump, read more about Smoke 'Em If Yous Got 'Em and check out the amazing selection of smoked beers from this year's event...

Yards' founder and brewmaster Tom Kehoe could not be happier to bring this celebration of everything smoked back to Philly Beer Week for a second year. "You never get smoked beer normally," Kehoe pointed out. "Smoked barbecue, smoked beer, I mean, talk about complimentary. The beer tastes like bacon and so does the food."

What makes Yards' own smoked beer, the Yards Tadeusz Kosciuszko Smoked Pol, so unique is that where most Rauchbiers get their distinct flavor from drying malted barley over an open flame, Yards uses a wheat beer recipe and smokes the wheat, not the barley. "We went to Percy Street Barbecue and they smoked it with red oak," said Kehoe, describing their homespun process.

Luckily for drinkers, knowing how a beer got smoked isn't necessary to taste how well a Rauchbier can pair with ribs, pulled pork or anything cooked in a smoker. Smoked beers can still be hard to find outside of special events such as this one, but as brewers continue to search for new ways to separate from the pack in the growing craft beer sector, keep an eye out for smoked brews.

Here's the list of smoked beers from this year's event:

Yards Tadeusz Kosciuszko Smoked Pol
Captain Lawrence Smoked Porter
Iron Hill Smoked Porter
Iron Hill Smoked Pol
Emelisse Rauchbier
Stoudts Smoked Fatty (cask)
Schlenkeria Fastenbier
Schlenkeria Ur-Bock
Schlenkeria Rauch Weizen
Schlenkeria Marzen
Spezial Rauchbier
Caldera Rauch Bock
De Dochter Van Koren Bravour Belgian Ale
Dark Horse Fore Smoke
Brasserie Illimites Smoked Porter
Roy Pitz Ludwigs Revenge Rauchbier
Manayunk Rauchbock
Ithaca Gorges Smoked Porter
Allentown/Bethlehem Rauchbock
Sierra Nevada Fritz & Ken's 30th Anniversary Stout
Deschutes Hop In The Dark IPA
Schlenkerla Helles
Oskar Blues It's Legal in CO Smoked Ale
Coronado Smoked Nutter Brown Ale
Flying Dog Smoked Imperial Schwarz
Weyerbacher Smoked Imperial Stout
Allagash Burnham Road
Sly Fox Rauchbier
Stewart's Kirschholzgeräucherterdunkelweizen
Victory Scarlet Fire Rauchbier
Stone Smoked Porter
Furthermore Three Feet Deep

Filed Under: Drinks, Features
Tags: beer, craft beer, draft beer, philly beer week, rauchbier, Smoke Em If Yous Got Em, smoked beer, yards brewing company

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

6-11-2010 @9:25AM shane said... I promised I would comment so here it is:

The only smoked beer I've had, Alaskan's Smoked Porter, didn't come off 'bacony' to me. However, I have heard that it usually isn't. I'd be interested in trying something darker with a smoked BBQ brisket. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

I am also growing a small path of barley that I intend on smoking at the end of the malting process to do my own smoked porter in the Fall. I'll let you know how it goes.
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