Getty Images

Greg Engert was enjoying a half-smoke at Washington, D.C.'s Red Apron Butchery when he got to thinking about the sausage on his plate. Whoever makes these kinds of municipal decisions has long claimed the half-smoke is D.C.'s official sandwich – something akin to the Philly Cheesesteak – the only problem is, no one can seem to agree exactly what one is. So Greg decided to finally make the town's definitive half-smoke. As a beer.

Engert isn't just some ambitious crazy off the street, he's the James Beard Award-nominated beer director for the Neighborhood Restaurant Group, a constantly expanding mass of now-fifteen bars and restaurants in the D.C.-metro area, highlighted by such iconic craft beer joints as ChurchKey and Rustico. This year Engert also began wielding his beer knowledge, and unique flavor profile concept, for one of the most highly anticipated new breweries in America, Bluejacket Brewing. With help from Bluejacket's brewmaster Megan Parisi, Engert wanted to craft a beer that could literally fill the spot of a half-smoke on the menu at any restaurant in town.

To my knowledge, very few beers which actually include meat in them have ever been made. Michigan's Right Brain Brewing uses pig heads for its award-winning Mangalitsa Pig Porter, but it's very small-batch. More prominently, last year Rogue Ales released Bacon Maple Ale. Unfortunately, this applewood bacon-infused brew nearly made the online beer world explode with derision and remains a running gag amongst beer geeks as its eye-catching pink bottles continue gathering dust on store shelves. You see, the odd thing is, the rare beers that actually use real meat tend to taste too overpowering and, paradoxically, somewhat artificial. It seems if you really want your beer to taste like bacon or, say, a half-smoke sausage, you need to utilize a different brewing process. One that perhaps doesn't even include meat.

Luckily, the aforementioned Red Apron, where all that inspiration first struck Engert, is one of the newest members of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group. There, butcher Nate Anda, a master in charcuterie, plies his trade alongside a gigantic meat smoker. For Red Apron's half-smoke he smokes, duh, half the sausage filling over cherrywood, applewood, and hickory while also including some porter beer in the recipe. Hearing this, Engert thought, oh my god, let's simply do a reversal – smoke Bluejacket's malts over Anda's half-smoke woods to create a uniquely meaty beer: The Butcher.

Now this is a very cool process, but it's not completely sui generis in the American craft brewing world. While it's true most breweries simply buy commercially smoked malts, typically of the beachwood-smoked variety, several of my favorite breweries do indeed smoke their own malts in-house. Like Massachusetts's Jack's Abby who make several smoked lagers, my favorite being their intensely smoky Fire in the Ham. In fact, that rauchbier tastes so much like a suckling pig roasted over a campfire, they have to literally note on their website that – "Although hard to believe" – the beer is indeed vegan.

It's the few final steps Bluejacket does, though, that really separates The Butcher from the other "meaty" beers on the market. First, Engert came up with the clever idea to smoke his malts at various intensities to create further complexity. Starting with 1250 pounds of grain, the Bluejacket team smoked just 15 percent of it, further dividing that into thirds: a third smoked for 75 minutes, a third for 90 minutes, and the final third for 120 minutes. Finally, Engert and Parisi took Anda's own unique half-smoke spice blend – which includes sea salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, white cardamom, mustard seed, and nutmeg – and added it both during the brewing "whirlpool" and post-fermentation.

What you're left with is a 7-percent ABV dopplebock unlike any you've ever had and better than most. The Butcher is initially sweet and bready like a classic German doppelbock, but finishes with a spicy, smoked meat note. Yes, it really does taste like a half-smoke slapped between a hot dog bun and it's certainly tastier than any you'll find at a Capitol Hill street cart.

Engert's goal for Bluejacket is "To make complex beers that are redolent of their inspirations." With The Butcher that was most certainly achieved; now local drinkers can easily use it in place of DC's most iconic meat dish. The beer is a crisp, dark lager that is certainly outstanding by itself, but paired with a side of poutine at the newly opened restaurant Arsenal (which shares Bluejacket's space), the smoked meatiness becomes even more drawn out.

Beer that replaces meat? Even if I'm not a vegetarian I know that sounds pretty great. Especially because now my liquid lunches won't seem so weird.

Aaron Goldfarb Aaron Goldfarb lives in Brooklyn and is a novelist and the author of 'Hacking Whiskey.'

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io