Kure Rauch by Kure Beer is a 5% Rauch (smoked beer). It’s a yearly brew, usually released around October. Any rauch fans out there want to review this instead of me? No? Damn. Here goes.
Kure Rauch by Kure Beer Aroma and Taste
So Rauchs are made with smoked malt, and are a hangover (pun incredibly intended) from the time when malt was dried over fires. So they’re totally unnecessary these days, and anybody who likes them is a masochist who probably also enjoys grit in their coffee and bits of shotgun shell in their meat.
Kure Rauch pours out with a centimetre of beige head and a clear, reddish-mahogany body. It smells, jesus, it smells like smoked ham. Or cheese. Sorry, I don’t know much about Grandpa Beers. I’m not going to be able to identify what type of wood smoke it is. According to the BJCP Style Guidelines, this is apparently fine.
It tastes cheesy, so so cheesy, and greasy. There’s some hop bitterness too, and the aftertaste is harsh, which according to BJCP is not A Good Thing. I tried eating some smoked sausage at the same time and it was completely overwhelmed. It was like eating a coaster.
Kure Rauch by Kure Beer: The Bottom Line
Rauchs. I don’t get ’em. Really unpleasant-tasting type of beer, and Kure Rauch doesn’t appear to be a very good example of one either. Fortunately it’s not a common style amongst the Japanese brewing community. If you like them, good for you, hope you’re enjoying wearing your hair shirt and flagellating yourself.
Where to buy Kure Rauch by Kure Beer
Kure Rauch is available on yearly release from the Kure Beer website.
