Schlenkerla „Heller-Bräu“ Trum

In the middle of Bamberg's historic town center, close to the big cathedral, Schlenkerla brew their famous “Rauchbier” (smoke beer).  The owners can track the brewery's history back to a document issued in 1405 where the brewery was mentioned first under the name of “Haus zum blauen Löwen“ (The blue lion's house). The family has been runnning its business for six generations now. They can pride themselves as the source of a true Bamberg specialty called “Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier“ (Genuine Schlenkerla Rauchbier), a beer that owes its distinct taste, reminding of smoked ham, to malt that gets smoked on beech wood. Only few people know the brewery under its actual name which is “Heller”. They owe their vernacular name “Schlenkerla” to Andreas Graser, who was the company's brew master from 1875 until his death in 1907. Allegedly, his horses bolted while he was unloading barrels from his dray and he was rolled over by the wagon and got injured. As a consequence, his walk became unsteady and he had to balance his steps by swinging (“schlenkern” in German) his arms. A Bamberg chronicle in rhymes summarized that in Franconian dialect as: “Weil er gern mit seina Orm a wengla gschlenkert hot, drum hom's ihn Schlenkerla getauft, aus Übermut und Spott.“ (“As he used to swing his arms quite a bit they started calling him “Schlenkerla” from cockiness and scorn.”)