Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen, and Aecht Schlenkerla Fastenbier

In case readers haven't noticed, I've been going back through my notes and posting some older ones. In going through them, I saw notes for the Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen, which I'd tried after getting intensely curious about. Next thing I know, I'm out at Rustico, and they've got the Schlenkerla Fastenbier on tap, so I figured it was a sign.

First up, the marzen:
Smells smoky, almost meaty - like this smoked mozzerella I had the other night. Slightly sweet, though. Taste starts and ends smoky. Slight malty sweetness in the middle - clearly a fine beer underneath the smoking. This would be great with the right kind of food. By the end of the bottle, the pork/bacon tones of the smoke get to be a bit much, and being a pretty thick beer, it's a little hard to finish.

So, that experience, while sounding pretty positive in my notes, was not entirely - the bacon flavors were pretty intense, and I wasn't left with an overwhelming desire to have another rauchbier anytime soon. But I ordered the fastenbier anyway, and when the bartender said it was less intense, I was greatly encouraged.

Smells coppery, only a hint of smoke. Definitely smoke in the flavor, but not super porky. Lagery, crisp and clean otherwise. More enjoyable than the marzen, as the balance is a lot more even. Easy to drink the whole pour, and I could imagine having more than one - definitely the better beer for a cookout.

Brauerei Heller-Trum makes three other beers, one of which isn't smoked. The other two are a pretty widely available urbock, and a weizen I don't recall having seen anywhere before. The urbock I remain a little dubious of, as I'd expect the thickness would soak up a lot more smoke, but I'm now very curious as to how the smoke interacts with the weizen. Definitely one to keep an eye out for.