Rauchbier

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.

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.

From Tom Beckmann, owner and brewer at Goldfinger Brewing in suburban Chicago, here’s a recipe for their smoothly smoky collab with Fair State Brewing Cooperative in Minneapolis.

The idea that “all beer used to be smoky” doesn’t quite hold up, even if smoky malt must have been common in many places. Smokeheads, meanwhile, can tell you another possibility: The beer was smoky because people liked it that way.

“Fermented cold and clean with our German lager yeast,” say the team at Live Oak Brewing in Austin, “this beer highlights the complexity that smoke adds to traditional dark lagers.”

Don’t fear the smoke: This recipe leans heavily into cherrywood-smoked malt for a surprisingly smooth and balanced character with the power to convert the skeptics.

It’s one of the beer world’s great flavor combinations: malt in harmony with the primal appeal of smoke, coolly and cleanly fermented. Best of all, brewing a great smoked lager isn’t all that difficult—as long as you know your malt.

The primal pleasure of smoke can add comforting depth to our stouts, porters, and other dark beers. Drew Beechum is here with the fireside story and practical tips.

Dusan Kwiatkowski, head brewer at Austin lager stalwart Live Oak, shares the brewery’s philosophy and technical approach to historical styles such as their Pre-War Pils, Grodziskie, and more.

Jester Goldman, one of our beer judges, designed this beer to be a little bigger than is typical for the style, approaching a Rauchbock. He’s brewed this recipe at home and in 2013 at a commercial scale with Equinox Brewery (Fort Collins, Colorado).