For Aecht Schlenkerla Weichsel Rotbier, the malt is dried over fire with cherry wood (not over beech wood fire as with classic smoked beer). In contrast to the spicy beech-smoked malt, the cherry wood smoked malt has a fruity, almost sweet smoke aroma and provides a copper-red color in the glass. The aroma hops add berry notes to the multi-layered smoke flavor.
This Rauchbier style beer is best paired with barbecue and German cuisine especially beef, game, grilled/smoked meats, salmon, and also sharp style cheeses such as Blue or peppery style cheeses like Monterey.