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Amber and dark lager

Rauchbier

BJCP 6B

A Marzen brewed with beechwood-smoked malt, from Bamberg. The smoke should read as bacon and campfire sitting on top of a clean lager, not as an ashtray.

Vital statistics

Each bar is drawn against the full range of all 98 styles

Original gravity

1.050 - 1.057

1.050 - 1.057

Final gravity

1.012 - 1.016

1.012 - 1.016

Bitterness

18 IBU - 30 IBU

18 IBU - 30 IBU

Colour

12 SRM - 22 SRM

12 SRM - 22 SRM

Alcohol

4.8% - 6%

4.8% - 6%

Colour also 24-43 EBC

What goes wrong

Too much smoked malt on the first attempt. Start around 30% of the grist; the character builds in the glass and it is far easier to add next time than to drink your way through 20 litres of bonfire.

Commercial examples

Cervejaria Bamberg RauchbierGöller RauchbierRittmayer RauchbierSpezial Rauchbier MärzenSchlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen

Reference examples of the style, as listed in the BJCP 2021 Style Guidelines. Availability varies by market and year.

Vital statistics as published in the BJCP 2021 Style Guidelines. Not yet checked against the published guidelines: treat these ranges as a planning aid and read the source at bjcp.org before entering a competition.

Plan a batch to these numbers.