06B Rauchbier
Manuka-Smoked Rauchbier
Grain bill
| Gladfield Munich Malt | 2.2 kg | 39.7% |
| Gladfield Manuka Smoked Malt | 2.2 kg | 39.6% |
| Gladfield Gladiator Malt | 0.6 kg | 10.8% |
| Gladfield Light Crystal Malt | 0.5 kg | 9% |
| Gladfield Eclipse Wheat Malt | 0.05 kg | 0.9% |
Adjuncts
| Whirlfloc | 1 g @ 15 min |
| Yeast nutrient | 2 g @ 15 min |
Hop schedule
| Hop | 90 min | 15 min |
|---|---|---|
| Moutere | 12g | · |
| Nelson Sauvin | · | 15g |
Yeast
| Lalbrew Diamond Lager | 2 packets |
Water additions
| Calcium Chloride | 4 g |
| Calcium Sulfate | 2 g |
| Magnesium Sulfate | 2 g |
Tasting notes
2023-11-03
About This Beer
The Manuka-Smoked Rauchbier is an adaptation of a recipe from the Gladfield Malt website, exploring an unfamiliar style. Rauchbier is one of the great acquired-taste beer styles, built around the confronting intensity of smoked malt, and this batch leans into that character without apology. The goal was a straightforward execution of the style using Gladfield’s unique Manuka Smoked Malt — a product with no equivalent anywhere else in the world.
The recipe uses roughly equal parts Gladfield Munich Malt and Gladfield Manuka Smoked Malt as the backbone, giving the beer both the melanoidin-rich malt depth of a Märzen-adjacent base and a substantial smoke load.
Ingredients
Gladfield Munich Malt and Manuka Smoked Malt split the base at roughly 40% each. A small proportion of Gladiator Malt and Light Crystal Malt round out the body and sweetness. A trace addition of Eclipse Wheat provides colour adjustment. The hop bill uses Moutere for bittering and Nelson Sauvin at 15 minutes for a late flavour contribution.
Lallemand Diamond Lager was the yeast. Without temperature control this batch would not have been possible; fermentation at 13°C primary required the fermentation chamber that had been set up a couple of brews earlier.
Brew Day
Brewed on the BrewZilla 35L Gen 4. Mash at 67°C for 60 minutes. A 90-minute boil. Pre-boil volume 29 L, post-boil 28 L, 26 L into the fermenter. OG came in exactly on target at 1.059.
Fermentation
12 days at 13°C primary, raised to 16°C for 2 days as a diacetyl rest. A final gravity was not recorded for this batch. The beer was bottled on 2023-11-03, approximately 14 days after brew day, targeting 2.4 vol CO2.
The Result
Tasted on the day of bottling. The Manuka smoke character is intense — this is not a subtle interpretation of the style. It’s a one-at-a-time beer rather than a session beer, which is consistent with what a committed Rauchbier should be. No off-flavours were present, and the lager fermentation character was clean throughout. A solid first attempt at the style.
What’s Next
Manuka smoke at near-50% of the grain bill is a significant commitment. A future batch might dial back the smoked malt proportion to around 30–35% to see whether the character becomes more approachable without losing the identity of the style.