It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Zwönitzer Rauchbier

The dark beer trend in the beer advent calendar continues, as Zwönitzer Rauchbier was up next.  It's made by Brauerei-Gasthof Zwönitz in Zwönitz, which is not in Bavaria, but rather in Saxony, a little more than 15 miles north of the Czech border and about 65 miles southeast of Dresden.  If you don't already know about rauchbiers, you should know what you're getting into if you ever see it on a menu or at a store or brewery, lest you think it's just some normal variety of German beer.  Rauchbiers are smoked beers that get their unique flavor thanks to using malts that are dried over an open flame.  Some rauchbiers are over the top in their smokiness -- like you're inhaling beer that just came from your fireplace -- but this one isn't too potently smoky.  It's got a nice, full flavor, but at the same time, like all rauchbiers, I don't have any desire to have more than one.

Name:  Zwönitzer Rauchbier
Brewery:  Brauerei-Gasthof Zwönitz
Location:  Zwönitz, Germany
ABV:  4.8%
IBU:  N/A
Good for drinking if:  You've ever thought to yourself, "man, I wish my beer tasted and smelled like a camp fire."
Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4