This is the point where you go, "Brazil makes beer?" Yea, I was surprised too. But as I'm rapidly finding out, not only do the Brazilians make beer, but Peruvians as well, and it's pretty interesting stuff to say the least.
I had this beer at "Chifa," (http://www.chifarestaurant.com/) a Cantonese-Peruvian fusion restaurant on 7th and Chestnut in Philadelphia. The restaurant is the glorious brainchild of Chef Jose Garces, owner of Spanish Tapas restaurant Amada as well as a few others, and one time ass-kicker of Chef Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America. And this guy knows his stuff. I've eaten at both Amada and Chifa and each time, have come out writhing in euphoric pain from the sheer brilliance of his food. An example: spare ribs. You're thinking "backyard barbecue," "Applebees appetizer," and overall, "nothing special." Garces takes the ribs, cures them, glazes them with Char Sui (a Chinese barbecue sauce), adds some Daikon (an Asian root vegetable), peanuts, and offers you one of the most taste bud-ravaging, fall-off-the-bone, forget your buddy's tailgate party experiences you'll ever have. Anyway, I digress.
In addition to this truly epic food menu, Garces and his crew put together a great bar menu. It consists of a few interesting signature cocktails (including my personal favorite, the 5-Spice Manhattan), several South American wines, and finally, a selection of local and South American beers. Despite my love of Chifa's cocktails, I opted to ask my waiter about the beer. He gave brief descriptions of each, yet he managed to catch my attention by stating the following: "This one is a little different." Nothing sounds more appealing than a description like that. Five minutes later I held a bottle of Eisenbahn Defumada in my hand and poured it into a standard Pilsener glass.
Defumada is made in the style of a German Rauchbier (or smoked beer) created by using malted barley dried over an open flame. These are some pretty unique beers that are getting more and more attention as time goes by. Although the style is most popular in Germany, many American microbreweries (such as Stone and Weyerbacher) and foreign companies are starting to market smoky beers. Eisenbahn is a prime example of this trend, yet it also manages to pay homage to the inventors of this "unique" style of beer: Defumada is made from malts imported from Bamberg, the founding city of Rachbier in Bavarian Germany.
The beer pours a dark-reddish brown with a medium-sized head. The scent is about what you'd expect: smoky. If you've ever been to a butcher shop which smokes its own meat, you've got an idea of how this beer smells (that's a good thing by the way). When all else fails, think bacon. As for the taste. Well go figure, it tastes smoky as well, but not overwhelming in the least. As a matter of fact, this beer is kind of sweet and smoky calling to mind standing over a hot grill prepping a beef brisket since five o'clock in the morning. Not too heavy, not too light. Bit of spice as well. It reminded me of all the reasons why I enjoy smoked food and now, smoked beer.
This beer is "different," don't get me wrong. Really, how is one supposed to react when handed a beer with characteristics most commonly attributed to pork? In my case the answer was "happily." This beer may not be for the faint of taste bud, but it's certainly worth a try.
Eisenbahn Defumada (Rauchbier) - ****/***** (4 out of 5 Stars)
Image accessed at: http://www.beermonthclub.com/images/Eisenbahn-Defumada.jpg
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