The brewers love it, and they think you should too
Eight breweries from across the Pacific Northwest created a new collaboration beer: Smoke Break Rauch Märzen. Smoked beer (rauchbier) is not exactly common in this part of the world, but this collaborative cohort of breweries thinks it deserves a bit more attention, and they invite the wary to give it a shot. Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and try something a bit different.
Any rauchbier gets its distinct flavor from smoked malt. The smoky character comes from drying the malted barley over an open fire. Traditionally, beechwood is the smoke of choice. Smoke Break is described as a mid-strength Rauch Märzen, brewed with beechwood-smoked barley and a touch of oak-smoked wheat. The result is a malt-forward lager with notes of caramel and cocoa, backed by a firm but clean smoky finish that lingers without overwhelming.
The breweries involved include Cloudburst Brewing, Obelisk Beer, Varietal Beer, Ladd & Lass Brewing, Ravenna Brewing, Urban Family Brewing, Human People Beer, and Single Hill Brewing. The collaboration brew day took place at Single Hill Brewing in Yakima.
Rauchbier, a traditional style from Bamberg, Germany, is considered a cult classic by some. Others find nothing unusual about it. Many folks avoid it, simply assuming they won’t like it. Whatever the case, it is not necessarily an easy sell for breweries across the Pacific Northwest who pay their utility bills by brewing IPAs and pilsners. That’s why such a large collaboration effort made sense.
“We all love Rauchbier, but brewing a full batch on your own means you’re committing to selling a lot of it,” said Andrew Pytel of Single Hill Brewing. “This was a way to make something we’re genuinely excited about and share it across all of our taprooms. If you’ve ever been Rauchbier-curious, this is probably the best time to give it a shot.”
Single Hill Brewing will introduce the beer at its taprooms in Yakima and Seattle on April 2nd. The other collab participants will tap into their own allotments simultaneously. Available in cans and on draft, look for it at any of the eight breweries involved. This year’s batch was brewed at Single Hill Brewing, but the group has talked about keeping the project going and potentially rotating host breweries for future iterations.
A press release introducing the project said, “At the end of the day, Smoke Break is a simple pitch: a group of brewers made a beer they love. Now they want people to try it.”
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