A RUNNER-UP SMOKE IS STILL A TREASURE
Spezial Lager Smoked Lager, Bamberg, Germany Abv 4.9
In 1989 Maurice Coja, owner of the Washington’s Brickskeller Saloon in Washington DC decided to go into the beer importing business. He had a license to do so because when he and his father opened the Bricks in 1958, they acquired ever license that they were eligible to hold. Their foresight allowed the Bricks to become a prominent entertainment venue, hosting the likes of a struggling Emmy Lou Harris, and allowed us to begin the longest running seated “theatrical” series of beer tastings in the country.
Maurice wasn’t a recluse—he had favorite restaurants and had no problem commuting to his place on the water in Deale, Maryland, but the idea of serious travel was an anathema to him. So he recruited –and subsidized–us to “go find him some beers” in Europe. We were to find the best beers we could that were not already coming into the states, make initial contacts and let him do the rest by telephone.
Before the end of our trip that year, we had netted De Dolle, Cantillon, and Schlenkerla. Bigger companies with bigger distribution swooped in and replace Maurice’s modest Wide World Imports, but it was an honor and a huge adventure to try to narrow in on the best of Europe to come to the US.
We knew at the outset we wanted to import one of Bamberg’s smoked beers. None were available in the US at the time, so we included a trip to Bamberg to do the arduous task of drinking as many smoked lagers as we could and choosing the one best.
Schlenkerla won, but Spezial was a razor-close second. On our first trip to Bamberg in 1982 we thought Spezial Lager was the best the city had to offer and we assumed that a return to the city would be a matter of making the contact and getting the import process rolling. In 1982, though, we were younger and had sweeter palates. On the return we grew to appreciate Schlenkerla’s drier balance, but Spezial still has a place in our hearts as one of our first out of the box favorites. : Our most recent tasting was in 2011 the Spezial Keller high up on Stephansberg; the view is worth the climb.
Tasting notes: Sweet oily smoke and plenty of it runs through the finish, but there’s a big chewy malt that shows just a bit of tartness in achieving some balance. It is indeed sweeter than Heller’s Schlenkerla, but it has enough complexity to shine as habituation softens the smoke in the second liter.
Food Pairings: We’ve noted before that one of the basic rules of food pairing is “complement or contrast”. The knee jerk pairing for smoked beers is smoked fish or smoked meats, and that’s OK, though it can be a bit much for some palates. We prefer to match it with meats that aren’t smoked—there’s almost a gustatory illusion as the actual and expected sources of the smoke are reversed. On Stephansberg, though, the choice is easy—the garden’s excellent roast chicken. Review #0079 20170304
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