Bamberg Obsession is a light and malty smoked German-style helles lager on tap at McMenamins Old St. Francis School in Bend.

Hot summer weather begs for crisp, light, crushable brews, and this Fourth of July weekend, there will be a fair number of these types of beers consumed. But what would you say if, along with reaching for the pilsners and hefeweizens, I also suggested checking out a smoked lager?

McMenamins Old St. Francis School currently has just such a beer on tap, a smoked German-style helles lager named Bamberg Obsession. Head brewer Vance Wirtz named it after the German town known for its beers brewed with smoked malt.

While it may seem surprising, smoky beers were typical centuries ago. It was common practice for malt to be produced by drying germinated grains over fire, which infused woodsmoke into them. During the Industrial Revolution, new processes for cleanly kilning malt were developed, eventually rendering smoke-seasoned beers a thing of the past.

Though not entirely; in the city of Bamberg in the German state of Bavaria, several breweries continued to kiln their own malts over open flame to produce a variety of smoked lagers. Known as rauchbier (translated literally as “smoke beer”), these beers are intense, balanced and surprisingly delicious; it’s not uncommon to draw comparisons to smoked meats, or bacon.

And in fact, these types of beers are terrific for pairing with smoked or grilled meats, or even a smoked cheese like cheddar or gouda.

With Bamberg Obsession, the base style is a Munich helles lager, light and malty, with smoky character achieved through the addition of beechwood smoked malt. Beechwood is the traditional wood used in Bamberg for smoking (and you may recognize its non-smoked form as used in Budweiser, which Anheuser-Busch markets as “beechwood aged”).

I asked Wirtz what inspired the beer. “The inspiration for it was honestly seeing some really awesome interpretations of the style from breweries like Pfriem, Wayfinder, and Heater Allen,” he said via email. “Seeing rauchbiers in cans was not a typical thing years ago. I think once I had some hard evidence that these beers are sellable to the masses, it made it easier to justify that creative itch I wanted to scratch.”

In developing the recipe, the amount of smoked malt to use initially gave Wirtz some pause.

“The base line for most beers in the style is 20% of the mash bill, but it’s not uncommon to hear breweries using up to 50% or even 75%!” he said. “I wanted this beer to be super approachable to the average beer drinker so I did 20%. The result was a super crushable beer that I think acts as a good gateway smoke beer for the average drinker.”

He conditioned the beer for two months to develop the clean lager profile. With 4.9 percent alcohol by volume and 25 IBUs, it’s a thirst-quenching, easy-drinking beer that’s great for summer. Subtlety is the key element to Bamberg Obsession, with just enough slightly sweet smokiness in the aroma to evoke appetizing smoked meats, while being mellow and relatively clean. It has a rich maltiness as well, like good, fresh crusty bread.

The flavor is light and crisp and the smoke is present with an ashy, slightly charred character, but it’s a tempered, neutral “cold” smoke — it has none of the seasoned character that I associate with different types of wood on a campfire, for instance. There’s also a note of light earthy, spicy hops that provides a balancing bitterness to the grainy, malty body (think crackers and Grape Nuts cereal).

Despite what you might expect from a smoked beer, it remains crisp and clean throughout. While it seems counterintuitive, I found the smoky nature enhances its hot weather drinkability with a dry finish.

And it’s going to stay hot through the holiday weekend. A growler of Bamberg Obsession would hit the spot nicely and be a great addition to your Independence Day celebrations, especially if there’s any grilling involved.

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