Excited to find this at Navare Res Bier Cafe in Portland, ME and even a little surprised. I think it had only been in the US for a short time when I drank it, and it was in relatively limited supply.

The light, copper body is under a nicely formed, equally light and fluffy whiteish head with some good lace. Retention also good.

There’s a lot of fruity notes in the nose and in the tastes here. It’s very drinkable and the initial smoke is definitely nowhere near as prominent as several of Schlenkerla beers for me. A light bitterness rounds the beer out in the finish. It’s reminiscent of a sweet, barbecue sauce. Whether this is cherry or some other dark fruit is debatable for me, but the fruit is certainly there. The smoke build across the length of the beer, and it ends up being a very satisfying experience. Great stuff.

This turns out to be a very “light” smoked beer in terms of the smoke element, and in terms of it’s mouthfeel and drinkability for me. Don’t read that wrong, this is still an incredibly satisfying and delicious beer, but that fruit element is quite noticeable and a very big feature.