Zünden German-Style Smoked Schwarzbier

Review Date 8/27/2025 By John Staradumsky

  Style: Rauchbier   Brewery: Schilling   Country: USA   State: New Hampshire   $ Per OZ: N/A   ABV: 5.3%

Schilling does it again! Yes they do! I was shopping for beer on the Half Time Beverage website, and as I was browsing, I saw Schilling Zünden German-Style Smoked Schwarzbier. So of course, a can went into my cart. In retrospect, I should have bought more, and checking the Half Time website today, they are sold out. Thing was, Half Time had so many wonderful beers, and 24 is the most that will fit in a box. I filled that box, friends.

Schilling Zünden is in the style of Schlenklera Erle, a smoked Schwarzbier (black lager) from the world’s most famous smoked beer brewery. I could not find a listing for the beer on the brewery website or their Facebook page, but Half Time had this listed as a description, which I assume they got from Schilling:

Named for the German word meaning 'ignite' or 'spark,' this dark lager draws inspiration from traditional smoked beers. Brewed with alder-smoked malt from Blue Ox Malthouse in Lisbon Falls, Maine, it delivers rich campfire aromas layered with notes of cocoa and roasted coffee, finishing crisp and clean with a touch of noble hops.

Schilling Zünden Smoked Schwarzbier has an alcohol content of 4.8% by volume and I paid $6.49 for my pint can from Half Time. This is the only pricing information I have, and I do not list price per ounce based on singles. My can was stamped 050225 on the bottom, so it is almost 4 months old as I drink. It could go far longer.

Schilling Zünden German-Style Smoked Schwarzbier pours to a jet-black color with a thick creamy tan head and a nose of intense hickory smoke and to a lesser degree char. Taking a sip, the beer is medium in body, smooth roasty and immediately smoky with hickory, bacon, light char and ash, soft phenols and green olive. It finishes dry roasty and again, smoky.

Important safety tip: if you don’t like smoke, this beer is not for you. I popped the top on the can, and I could smell the smoke. I poured into my glass, and I could smell the smoke. I took my photos and as I did, I could smell the smoke. I leaned to the other side of my desk to finish the last of my previous beer, and I could smell the smoke, like a campfire blazing in my office.

If you do like smoke, this is as good as beer gets.

Glad I tried it?  T

Would I rebuy it??