“Smoked beer, Lovi?” I asked. “I know smoked salmon, smoked cheese, smoked oysters, and all that other smoked food, but beer?” The notion of beer bottles stacked in a metal smoker over the BBQ is just not making sense to me.

“Ah, yes, smoked beer, rauschbier, what our Babchia used to call old-fashion beer,” she said. “The malt, actually, is what gets smoky, when they dry it by fire. Hardwood fire, or peat. The taste, yes, something like smoked meats sometimes.”

Babchia? Oh, the grandma I never met. Smoked meats in beer truly does not appeal to my mostly vegetarian preferences. I express my doubts about this “Tasting” of smoked beers to my cousin. Brown ales in the winter make sense, but this sounds pretty heavy for early springtime.

“In spring” she says, “you get the vigor, the boldness to try something challenging. You are right, the season for strong beers is fall and winter, but the season for adventure is springtime. Rauschbier will challenge you.” Indeed, I hear that vernal vigor in her voice, ringing in her European (but otherwise unidentifiable) accent. She's right: in our family at least, springtime is when we emerge from safe, hibernatory places and start new explorations.

With that in mind, we prepare by hiking and wading in hip-high cold Verde River water to a hot spring, where we soak ourselves red. Then it’s back home, instead of enjoying our beer there in the hot water. Lovi gives three reasons for this. First, alcohol is dehydrating, and makes soaking in very hot water a little risky. Then, crossing through that cold river current can be dangerous, and we don’t want to be careless. Third, smoked beer is hard to find in stores here in town, so we head back to our favorite café to Taste.

Stone Brewing Company provides me my first experience of a smoked beer with their Smoked Porter. I’m surprised by its very light, almost flowery aroma, with no discernible smokiness. On first taste, I am surprised again, to find myself not challenged, but rather, very pleased. The first flavors are more roasty than smoky, more porter-like than anything else. Although porters are usually not my favorite beers, this one is unusually complex, balanced, nicely bitter and pleasantly acidic.

Lovibond, who has been eager to try American smoked beer, is not as impressed. “A very fine porter, oui, but smoked beer this is not,” she said. I suspect she was hoping to observe in me the classic response of newcomers to smoked beer, outraged taste buds that gradually acclimate. The Stone Smoked Porter, however, simply delights me.

Mouthfeel is an aspect of Tasting that Lovi has been trying to awaken me to, and Smoked Porter is communicating the concept to me. I notice that acidic citrus taste resonating at the sides of my tongue, then impressing the back of my mouth, leaving a creamy, smooth sensation at the top of my mouth. My impression is that the effervescence is made up of bubbles of many different sizes, each with a tiny impact of taste and feel. It is as though my mouth and taste buds are responding from the inside out to the many tones of this beer.

As the bottle goes down, the subtle smoky flavors of this brew come through. Although the nose develops somewhat, it remains undistinguished. The clear hops bitterness continues to balance the smokiness. And the buzz is my favorite kind, starting with an effervescent feeling in my thighs that bubbles its way all the way up through my face, lifting the edges of my mouth in a languid smile.

Lovi brings my attention back from gazing at the sexy, musclebound gargoyle on the bottle. “For a porter,” she says, “This beer would call for top points. But today we Taste smoked beers, and for that type beer I give only a 6 out of 10.” I understand she is disappointed in the subtlety of the porter’s smokiness, but personally, I am adding it to my short list of favorite beers.

Our intention has been to compare this porter with another American smoked beer, Rogue Brewing Company’s Smoke. However, the bottle of Smoke has met with misadventure, which is a tale for another time. We shelve Smoke for the time being, but Lovibond is getting that look on her face that says she wants satisfaction now. She announces that we will Taste what she considers a true rauschbier, Schlenkerla’s Urbock from Bamburg, Germany.

“This beer, I know well,” she tells me. “This beer is the meterstick for smoked beers, so already I give it a 9 out of 10 points. Better is possible but where to find it I don’t know.”

Urbock emerges a clear, deep brown with almost no head, although it is pleasantly lacey where it touches the glass. I sniff. Challenging, yes, but the smoky smell is bright, not heavy. Breathing in this aroma, Lovibond has the same kind of smile I had as I admired the gargoyle on the Smoked Porter bottle. Her smile widens with the first sip, nostalgic and fond. The look on her face says she is revisiting wonderful times, places and people.

My turn for a first sip. Ew! I scrunch up my face – it tastes like the Slim Jims I recall from when I was a kid. But interesting. Interesting enough to get me to taste it again. The bouquet turns toasty, like roasting chestnuts. I take another sip; Urbock has a beckoning, elusive tone that keeps calling. Yet another. I don’t really like it, but it is so compelling that I want to get to know it anyway. Lovibond is clearly gratified by my reaction. “Not many things as personal, eh, as a person’s taste in beer,” she says.

Tasting Schlenkerla’s Urbock is a fascinating venture. The bright clarity of the taste is startling, given the intensity of the smoke flavor. An underlying sweetness contributes to its paradoxical qualities. “Challenging” is indeed the word to describe this classic smoked beer. I forget to even look for the buzz, overshadowed as it is by the taste impressions.

The Urbock seems made to go with strong foods, and perhaps strong events. Intense garlic bread is what I want to go with this beer, or something with lots of caramelized onions. But even more, Urbock seems made to go with experiences powerful enough to evoke the kind of associations that Lovi appears to be revisiting in her memory.

Returning from her reverie, Lovibond promises something lighter as we move into the more lyrical spring weather of April. Not warm enough yet for wheat beers, she decrees, but a good time to Taste something new in a more familiar category: India Pale Ales.

Not sure where to find these beers? Try the Raven Cafe or the Liquor Barn in Prescott, AZ.