Schlenkerla is without a doubt the most famous brand name of all the rauchbiers in the world. See rauchbier. It is made in Bamberg, Bavaria, by a brewery whose legal name is Heller-Bräu Trum KG, but which is known to the locals simply as the Schlenkerla Brewery. The young owner, Matthias Trum, is the sixth generation of his family to run the brewery, and beers show a strictly conservative bent. The heart of the enterprise is an ancient half-timbered public beer hall at number 6, Dominikanerstrasse, in the old town of Bamberg. Schlenkerla is a hallowed medieval drinking establishment that was first mentioned in a document in 1405, when it was known as Zum Blauen Löwen (At the Blue Lion). Almost hidden behind an unassuming entrance, this venerable beer hall with its dark and cozy recesses framed by heavy, blackened, hand-hewn timbers started out as a full-fledged brewpub, but today the brewery and fermentation cellars, which are not open to the public, are a short walk distant, up on one of the seven hills of Bamberg. The name Schlenkerla is Bamberg slang for “Schlenkerer,” a German word denoting a person who is in the habit of swinging his arms while shuffling along. The patrons of the Blue Lion affixed this nickname to a fellow named Andreas Graser, who had acquired the pub in 1877. Soon thereafter, the people began using the publican’s epithet as a synonym for his tap room and eventually for his brew, too. Rauchbier of various strengths has always been the singular focus at Schlenkerla. The full name of the brewery’s flagship lager is Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier, with “aecht” being Franconian dialect for the German “echt,” which means “true” or “original.” Like all rauchbiers, Aecht Schlenkerla is made from barley malt that has been kiln dried over an open fire of aged beechwood, which imparts a smoky, bacony flavor to the beer. It is not certain when the current version of the rauchbier emerged in and around Bamberg, but Schlenkerla still has its own malting operation, where it employs the traditional open-fire malting methods to this day. It is reasonable to assume that some form of smoked beer has been brewed by this enterprise for at least 5 centuries. Schlenkerla makes several smoky brews. The traditional Aecht Schlenkerla, considered the archetype of all rauchbiers, is brewed and aged much like a märzen, with an alcohol by volume level of 5.1%. See märzenbier. Schlenkerla lager is a slightly smoky helles-type blond brewed to an alcohol level of 4.8%. The brewery says that smoked malt is not used here, but that a slight smokiness pervades the beer through the repitched yeast and the general brewing facility. See helles. Schlenkerla also brews two seasonal smoky offerings, an Urbock sold in October in bottles only, with a bockbier alcohol level of 6.5%; and a fastenbier, a doppelbock-like Lenten strong beer, available only in the spring in cask-conditioned form. See bock beer and doppelbock. Finally, the brewery makes a smoky weissbier, a wheat ale called Schlenkerla Rauchweizen, with 5.2% alcohol by volume. This beer uses smoked barley malt and unsmoked wheat malt.

See also weissbier.