Last can from Bine & Vine in San Diego, CA. Newish beer that has been here for about 6-8 weeks. Read all about it here.

Beautiful reddish copper body with the usual Schlenkerla head that gives large bubbles, pitted retention and lace. Nose has a strong, clean smoke note.

Smoke here is big even by Schlenkerla standards, and the hybrid style brings the wood! Sweetish at first, the beer settles to give big smoke and plenty of malty character. As the beer warms and palate adjusts, the Märzen come in more for me. Helles element seems to be in the background rather than the forefront, but that’s not surprising.

Sweetness builds, but is tempered by big smoke, Perhaps it’s my imagination, but this might be the smokiest of all the Schlenkerla beers which obviously be saying something! It may be that the sweetness and smoke complement one another.

Perhaps unsurprisingly it’s massively drinkable and is gone in a very short time. The presence of this beer at 4.5% is absolutely unbelievable; in that singular respect, reminiscent of the very best British ESBs. Magnificent.