Smoked Beer

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.

A great one to enjoy by the autumn bonfire, this is a style that any smoked-beer enthusiast should know how to make—and it can be nearly as easy to brew as it is to drink.

Oak-smoked wheat malt drives the character of this Polish-style quaffer, which—when brewed well—is as refreshing on a warm day as it is appropriate next to an autumn bonfire.

Jan Chodkowski, co-owner and head brewer at Our Mutual Friend in Denver, shares this recipe for their Polish-inspired grodziskie. Brewed with only in-state ingredients, it includes wheat malt from Colorado Malting Company—half of it oak-smoked—and Colorado-grown Tettnanger hops.

When it comes to building big flavor into smaller, session-strength beers, smoke is fire. These five picks from the pros are sure to make sparks fly.

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.

This light and quenching smoked wheat beer remains a relatively obscure platypus in the style canon. Lichtenhainer is undeniably odd yet easy to brew and lots of fun to drink.

From sourcing old-fashioned ingredients to aiming for authentic flavor, Our Mutual Friend head brewer Jan Chodkowski outlines an approach to brewing historically inspired beers in a modern craft brewery.

Jan Chodkowski, head brewer and co-owner of Denver’s Our Mutual Friend, outlines his approach to brewing historically inspired, highly drinkable, smoke-forward beers.

Based on authentic gammeltøl recipes from the 1800s, here’s a recipe for the strong, smoky Danish farmhouse ale—including some suggestions for traditional twists worth trying.

Typically, gammeltøl was brewed in March for drinking in the autumn, but the Danish tradition of brewing this strong, smoky raw ale has virtually died out. You can help revive it.

For those willing to take on a dark, low-strength, smoked beer, this historic Danish style may be the way to go. Yet there’s a question you must answer for yourself: How traditional do you want to make it?