Schlenkerla’s Urbock is one of my all-time favorite beers.
It traditionally lands in Finland as part of the annual christmas beer selection in Alko, serves beautifully as a ham accompaniment, and one or two bottles end up in the stash, to be consumed during the summer.
Urbock, as the name lets on, is an old-school, archetypal beer – and in this particular case the ecological niche is rauchbier, smoked beer. And Urbock is indeed smoked, very well smoked. It’s not a light dusting of smoke as an add-on flavor – nope, Urbock goes all-in, and apologizes to no-one. In comparison to the more common Märzen from the same brewery, Urbock is a much more powerful beer. And with great power comes great polarization: this is not a beer that you “kinda like”, either you love it or you hate it.
The coloration is dark, and the smoke meets the nose as soon as the bottle is cracked open. The pour is thick, with a pretty dark head – but the mouthfeel does not reflect the totalitarian presence of smoked ham, no perceivable oiliness at all.
The taste needs warmth to be fully appreciated – there’s subtle hints of caramel sweetness and bitterness that surface much better with time as the beer warms up.
Even if I’m firmly in the “love it”-camp, there’s no denying that Urbock is a tad one-dimensional. No matter how pleasant that dimension is. So, 4.5 stars (and a smoky the bear badge as an additional merit).
FI: Savuoluiden kantaisä.
brewnardo 