Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier and Spirit (Peatin' Meetin' Pt. 3)

The last time anyone had heard from me on Twitter, I was ears deep in Schlenkerla:

Very bad day at home. Time for a tasting that will probably ruin me. pic.twitter.com/mfJCxAX2zD
— Michael Kravitz (@kravitz_hubris) September 5, 2014

I'm here to say I survived, free from ruin.  It's no longer my habit to consume a liter of beer unless I'm in Ireland.  So I consumed probably 80% of those beers over two hours, along with the sample of spirit I'd obtained from Peatin' Meetin' 2014.

Okay, let me take a step back.  Schlenkerla is a pub in Bamberg, Germany that has become well known for the rauchbier (or Smoked Beer) that they brew onsite.  Rauchbiers get their smoky character from malted barley dried over open flames.  The damp barleycorns absorb some of the characteristics from the resulting smoke......which may sound a little familiar to peated whisky fans.  And the good news is, Schlenkerla has started to experiment with distilling their smoky beers.

After escaping with a sample of the Rauchbier spirit last month, I wasn't sure what to expect from the stuff, nor what should accompany it.  With some quick research I discovered that a few of Schlenkerla's rauchbiers have made their way to the US.  So I bought the two that I found at a local store so that I could match them up with the spirit.

Here's the Twitter pic again, cleaned up.

In the back are the beers, Urbock (6.5%abv) and Marzen (5.1%abv).  Up front is the spirit (40%abv).  I'm not a beer connoisseur, but I do like beer a lot.  The fact that these two aren't pushing 9% or 10% abv (as many American craft beers have been doing lately) is also much appreciated.  The Urbock and Marzen do not need a higher alcohol content since their flavors are quite potent already.

Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbeir URBOCK (6.5% ABV)
Color -- Cassis juice. Almost black with hints of red.
Nose -- Massively bacony and hammy. Lots of barley. Coffee brewing and dark chocolate melting.  Old sweaty gym clothes.
Palate -- Caol Ila of beers.  Actually Caol Ila with some extra charred bacon thrown in.  Moderate sweetness and bitterness.  A bit ashy and savory.
Finish -- Huge (pronounced: yooooooge).  Ashy, charred things; very similar to peat smoke.  Pre-lit matchsticks and manure.

Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchier MARZEN (5.1% ABV)
Color -- Similar to the Urbock.
Nose -- Mesquite chips, pre- and post-barbecue. Stout-ish. Some coffee and dirty hay notes. After some time there's a full note of vegetable oil burning in the fryer.
Palate -- Grainier than the Urbock. Very refreshing actually, with a mild sweetness, roasted coffee, and honey. Occasionally feels like a very low ABV bourbon cask Ardbeg.
Finish -- Here's the bacon, alongside a little bit of coffee and hops.

Verdict: Winners, both.  Urbock is darker in nature, perhaps a bit too much of a wallop for a summertime beverage, but probably a killer on a rainy night.  Marzen is lighter and could work during all seasons.  They each run about $5-$6 per half liter bottle.  I will be buying them again.

Next up is the spirit distilled from the smoked beer.  There's not a lot of info about it online and Schlenkerla's site doesn't reference it at all.  Some sites say that it is aged in Michel Couvreur casks for a few to several months.  Their distributor in New Jersey says it is "matured in M. Couvreur whiskey barrels for 24 months. They then add freshly smoked barley malt to the barrels, and age for an additional 12 months."  So now you know as much as I do.

Aecht Schlenkerla Smokemalt Rauchbier Spirit (40% ABV)
Color -- Medium gold, with quite a bit of unfiltered schmutz floating around.
Nose -- Very big and bright considering its alcohol content.  Black licorice, cinnamon candy, oatmeal, and baked raisins.
Palate -- Intensely herbal, like a hoppy eau-de-vie. That's followed by apple and cinnamon with lots of pepper and clove. Sweet anise candy. Sometimes seems like a second cousin to a good rye spirit.
Finish -- Caramel apples with cloves. A hint of smoke and bacon.

Grade Range: B-/B
I really liked this, but I'm not comfortable grading it higher until I have a larger sample to reference.  It's mostly a raw eau-de-vie style spirit.  The refill whisky barrels give it some color but rarely interject.  There's much less smoke here than in the beers, but the palate and nose are just as aggressive in their own way.

The price on the Smokemalt Spirit will scare away most customers; $110 for a 750mL bottle.  Most of us are not in the habit of paying that sort of money for a three-year-old whisky.  But it's not whisky.  This is a different creature, one not frequently available in this part of the world.  As always, I recommend you try before you buy it, if that is humanly possible with this thing.  And, perhaps, if you do some googling you may find half bottles for $55...

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The Peatin' Meetin' Scorecard so far...
-- Balvenie 17 year old Islay Cask (OB, 43% ABV) - Grade Range: B-/B
-- Loch Lomond Peated, green label (OB, 46% ABV) - Grade Range: D+/C-
-- Bowmore 16 year old 1990 Sherry Cask (OB, 53.8% ABV) - Grade Range: B-
-- Laphroaig 13 year old 1994 (Cadenhead, 54.7% ABV) - Grade Range: B-/B
-- Bladnoch Lightly Peated 11 year old 2002 K&L exclusive (OB, 51.5%) - Grade Range: B
-- Longrow 10 year old Sherrywood (OB, 46% ABV) - Grade Range: B+/A-
-- Laphroaig 15 year old 1998 K&L exclusive (Signatory, 61% ABV) - Grade Range B/B+
-- Schlenkera Rauchbier Spirit (40% ABV) - Grade Range: B-/B
-- ???
-- ???
-- ???
-- ???
-- ???

A Diageo boycott: The Brands

Four weeks ago, Diageo dropped their annual single malt Special Release pricing turd into the market.  It is likely that price bloating -- such as Port Ellen's boost from $500 to $1000 to $2400 over the past three years -- was intended to try to silence the secondary market.  If their customers can buy an official PE for $500 then immediately sell it at auction for $1000, why would Big D want to lose out on that extra $500 revenue?  This is a drug after all, so an addict and his money are soon separated, thus without pause people were flipping their PEs for $1500.  So this year Diageo raised the price even higher to make sure that this secondary market wouldn't sap any of their potential income.  I'm sure that such a hike will accomplish a bit of what they've set out to do, but I can't help but think that this pricing will do a number on the primary market as well.  The industry is constantly testing to see how much we will spend on all of our whisky, including the stuff at Trader Joe's.  So if folks will continue to pay 10%-20%-30% more each year for a 25-year-old malt, then let's see if they'll do the same at each step in the brand rung.  And we are.

After reading the press release for the new limited releases, I was reminded that I was supposed to be discussing my Diageo boycott idea one of these days soon.  In fact, I said that I'd do so after the Summer of 2013.  It is after the Summer of 2013.  So let's talk about it.

Diageo PLC (DEO; NYSE) has a market cap near $80,000,000,000 (or for folks who like to go by Enterprise Value, it's nearing $95,000,000,000).  Its annual revenue will likely top $18,000,000,000 in 2013.  Its stock value has tripled since a low point in mid-March 2009 and they still give out a nifty dividend of two to three percent to their investors.  Diageo's nearest competitor (though it doesn't really have one) in the whisky industry is Pernod Ricard SA.  Pernod as a whole is valued at less than half (possibly closer to 40%) of Diageo's worth, turns half as much profit, and has considerably less cash on hand.

So really, if I stop buying Diageo's products it's not going to mean a darned thing to their books.  It's more a personal choice: To which company would I like to hand my money?  The answer is not Diageo.  The reasons are legion and I intend to attempt to list them later this week.  But for today, I'm going to list their brands (not including Scotch Whisky), in order to demonstrate what's theirs on the store shelves and thus what I wouldn't purchase under such a boycott.

Because Diaego owns 34% of LVMH's (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy) drinks unit -- and are looking to buy it out in its entirety -- I am including their brands with a parenthetical.  Though there was much discussion of Diageo buying out Beam last winter, nothing has yet come of it so I won't include Beam's brands here.

Please note, this does not include brands distributed by Diageo, nor the 130+ Indian brands absorbed via the purchase of United Spirits Limited.

Brandy and Cognac
Bertrams
Hennessey (via LVMH)

Gin
Booth's
Gilbey's
Gordon's
Nolet's
Tanqueray

Liqueur, Schnapps, and Aperitif
Archers
Bailey's
Goldschlager
Pimm's
Romana
Rumple Minze
Sheridan's
Sirop de Picon
Yukon Jack

Rum
10 Cane (via LVMH)
Bundaberg
Cacique
Captain Morgan
Myers's
Pampero
Zacapa

Tequila
Don Julio

Vodka
Belevedere (via LVMH)
Ciroc
Ketel One
Popov
Smirnov

Irish Whiskey
Bushmills

Canadian Whisky
Crown Royal

American Whiskey
Bulleit
George Dickel
Jeremiah Weed
Seagram's Seven

Beer
Bell
Guinness
Harp
Kilkenny
Meta
Red Stripe
Serengeti
Senator
Smithwick's
Tusker
Windhoek

Wine
Acacia
Beaulieu
Blossom Hill
Canoe Ridge
Chalone
Chateau d'Yquem (via LVMH)
Dynamite
Dom Perignon (via LVMH)
Domaine Chandon (via LVMH)
Hewitt
Justerini & Brooks
Krug (via LVMH)
Mercier (via LVMH)
Moet & Chandon (via LVMH)
Moon Mountain
Navarro Correas
Plat d'Or
Provenance
Rosenblum Cellars
Ruinart (via LVMH)
Sterling
Veuve Cliquot (via LVMH)
Vignobles

Seeing some familiar names up there?  These brands often take up more than half the shelf space at small bars, grocery stores, and corner liquor counters.  So if one wanted to stop buying Diageo products cold, one would need to consider his or her drinking experience without those bottles.

For me, there's not a lot being sacrificed from this list.  Of the gins, Tanqueray is the only one I've bought.  I've been trying to buy gins from smaller companies, and the results have been pretty good.  The craft companies seem to be having more luck with gin than whiskey so far.  For the liqueurs, I don't drink 'Schlager or Bailey's anymore.  In the rum category, I haven't had Captain in years.  Having been a vodka drinker in a previous life, I have purchased all of their brands.  Though if I never drink vodka again, I won't be too disappointed.  Whiskey-wise, I was just starting to dabble in some Bushmills, but I'm not convinced it will be that much of a loss.  Nor will Crown Royal.  I like Bulleit, especially at its price range, but there are many other non-Diageo brands that use similar juice.  As you may notice, LVMH holds most of the good wine brands on the list.  Some fun champagne in there, but I'd rather support smaller producers.

The beer section is the tough one for me.  Guinness is a mainstay in our home and it is divine when served in Ireland.  Harp and Red Stripe are also favorites of mine.  Tusker is a beer I share with my dad when I see him, ever since we drank tons of it in the Kenyan heat thirteen years ago.  So that's the sensitive spot.

Again, look at the big ol' list above.  How hard would it be for you to part with all of those brands?  This isn't about snobbery, it's about what tastes good to you.  And would the pleasure those brands bring be worth giving up if their company's policies and corporate actions offended you?

It's something I've been considering.  The beer brands are one of my weak points.  The other?  Scotch whisky.  That list follows tomorrow.

We're back home

We're back home after our 4-hour flight was delayed 4 hours.  A sour ending to an otherwise sweet trip to Ohio (Kristen's homeland).  There was the lovely wedding of Sarah and Jim.  Lots of eats and family time.  Dancing and naps.  And more than a couple beverages.

On the flight out, United provided a surprise by offering Jim Beam Black, rather than the classic bottling.  I did a brief post here, though not much to report due to my limited senses.

Once on the ground, there was A LOT of Yuengling.

Yuengling like a boss.

I'm uncertain if it's delicious because it tastes good or if it's delicious because it isn't sold West of the Mississip.  Either way, it's delicious.

Then at the wedding, the catering company threw me for a loop by carrying this:

White Horse!  Hard to find.  Never tried.  Always wanted to.

I had to keep the whisky inflow to a minimum that night since I was the D.D.  I sampled it neat and with soda.  In a nutshell:  White Horse = Baby Lagavulin surviving a near drowning in sweet grain whisky.  I liked it, but I was probably the only one who did.

After transporting my crew back to the hotel (post-wedding), I was gifted a Revised (Beam-less) Three Wise Men:  Jack, Jameson, and Johnnie.  Many many many thanks to my brother-in-law Andrew!  The wisdom was washed down with...

Oh yeah.

Yesterday, during the epic airport delay, I tried the Lake Erie Monster from Great Lakes Brewing Co.  At 9.1% ABV, the 20 ounce serving sent me on a one hour time warp.  I don't know what happened.  It was that good.

Thanks to my Ace of a wife, we were upgraded to First Class (yay!).  Upon lift off, I discovered United carried Canadian Club Reserve 10yr!  I think it was good, but again it was difficult to tell with air-travel-affected senses.  It was, at the very least, better than then Beam Black.

Yeah, this post turned out to be all about drinking again.  But I have nothing new to say about the air travel industry, which seems to be the one business that's been getting less efficient as time goes by and technology improves.  And all of my wedding pictures were blurry like this one:

Which is too bad because everyone looked beautiful.  Especially me.

So we're back now.  It was lovely to see everyone.  We had a GREAT time.  Now we return to our almost-completely fixed-up home.