Smoke a Glass of Beer?

Hey, vegetarians, if I told you I found a beer that smelled and tasted like a plate of smoked meats, would you throw a parade or just throw up?

Well, at least one of my vegetarian friends is getting the ticker tape ready as we speak. Then again, she only became a vegetarian because of a late-onsetting meat allergy and not because she was morally opposed to killing animals. Me? I'm a meat person through and through. I always joke that the number one reason I could never become a vegetarian is lamb. And the second, third, and fourth reasons are beef, pork, and chicken!

(crickets)

Yeah. I get lots of blank stares with that one. Anyway, being a meat person I was stoked to discover what was, for me, a new beer.

There's a great bartender over at Suppenküche. His name's Craig and we love him. He sees us and says, "Let me show you something new I've got." And then we drink. It was one of these "something news" that brought us to Smokebeer. Smokebeer, called Rauchbier in Germany, comes from Bamberg in Bavaria and has been made since the 1500s. The intensely smokey flavor in this dark, rich beer comes from exposing the unsprouted malt to burning slats of local beechwood.

The first sip I took was intense. Yep, that was bacon in a glass. One of those and I actually feel that I've had a meal -- it's that filling and it's that satisfying. That said, my limit may be only one of the 25 oz bottles, because of how aromatic and full the beer is. However, set me up with a platter of Suppenküche's sumptuously crispy potato pancakes and a bowl of homemade applesauce and I just might keep on sipping.

The two places Craig suggests looking for Smokebeer in San Francisco is at Suppenküche on the corner of Hayes and Laguna in Hayes Valley or at Schnitzelhaus on 9th at Folsom in SOMA.

Until we make our next visit, I have an empty bottle that we absconded with just so we can sniff it every once in awhile. Mmmm, Bacon.