Rotbier (i.e. red lager) used to be common in Franconia. The city of Nuremberg in particular was known for its Rotbier. Since its production was extremely laborious, Rotbier was replaced in the 19th century by Braunbier (i.e. brown lager) which was produced using modern, simpler brewing methods. It was not until 1997 that the beer style was revived.

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.