The tiny Franconian town of Bamberg retains more than its architecture. The city of 70,000 still has nine breweries that produce distinctive and sometimes challenging rauchbiers.

Historically, most beers have been lightly smoky from the fires used to dry malt. In Bamberg, they never abandoned the tradition of malt flavored by beechwood fires. The two breweries most devoted to the cause, Schlenkerla and Spezial, maintain their own malting operations to generate smoked malt to their specifications.

The most traditional rauchbier offering is a spin off the Munich märzen, although many styles are produced including weizen, helles, and very complex smoked bock beers. The level of smoking can be subtle whiffs to Schlenkerla's smoked ham in a glass flavor.

If you plan on brewing a rauchbier, choose Weyermann's Rauchmalz, a beechwood-smoked malt. Depending on the malt and your tolerance for smoke, you can use it for the whole brew. Keep the hops light to avoid clashing odors.