Classic Style Smoked Beer

From Marcin Ostajewski, head brewer at Browar Grodzisk, here’s a recipe for the revived classic from the style’s own hometown.

All but extinct before Polish homebrewers revived it, grodziskie is now more than a decade into its second life. Here are the elements that come together to make this smoky yet delicate style so beguiling.

From beer-baron bobbleheads to bespoke barrel-aged blends, here are a few recs from our editors.

Based on a description from Norway in the late 18th century, this recipe represents the practicality of local farmers at the time—and the grist is 100 percent oats, which would’ve been malted in a smoky kiln.

One of the most industrialized parts of Germany has a surprising farmhouse brewing tradition, but information about it is scarce. Based on interviews with surviving farmhouse brewers, conducted in the 1950s by the Folklore Commission of Westphalia, here’s our attempt at a recipe. We also include some variations in the notes below.

Farmhouse brewing was once common across much of Europe, though documentation can be scarce. Here’s what we know about a surprising and little-known rural brewing tradition in northwest Germany.

From the team at Silver Reef in St. George, Utah, here’s a homebrew-scale recipe for the smoked lager that won gold at the 2024 World Beer Cup.

Brewed on the edge of the Mojave in St. George, Utah, Silver Reef’s Más Fuego Rauchbier won gold at the World Beer Cup last year. Here’s what goes into the elegant smoked beer that’s gained a following among brewers and other beer-savvy visitors to Las Vegas.

Featuring hot stones in the mash, juniper, bog myrtle, and some smoke, this strong farmhouse ale may resemble what the commoners of eastern Norway brewed to celebrate Yule during the Viking Age.

When it comes to smoked malt, there are far more options for all-grain brewers than for those who rely on extracts. This partial-mash recipe maps out just one way to get it done.

Don’t let them tell you an extract brewer can’t brew a good rauchbier. While smoked-malt extract is a rarity, there are ways to get creative with our smoke and dial it in to make a lager that can convert the skeptics.