Bayern Oktoberfest

Date: September 20, 2009
Mode: Bottle
Source: Bottleworks, Seattle
Appearance: clear dark brown, wispy beige head, bits of drippy lace
Aroma: sweet dark caramel aroma, balancing earthyness
Flavor: sweet chocolate and caramel flavor, light bready character, light earthyness, touch of caramel candy
Overall: a dark oktoberfest? drinks almost like a schwartz with so much roastyness
Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 11/20
Rating: 3/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: ** /4

Bottle courtesy of kyzr. Pours brown with a thin white head. Smells of caramel, fruit, some hints of molasses. Tastes of pepper, spice, some hints of caramel, some nice spicy hints on the finish.

No head, very dark ruby/mahogany color. Slight caramel nut aroma. Flavor has nuts, toffee, earth and butter detectable. Creamy with a nice hop finish. Slightly acidic finish with a watered down mouthfeel. Nice initially but finishes weak.

Bottle. Pours ruby brown with a decent beige head. Rich roasted caramel aroma with medium dark fruit. Medium body with creamy carbonation. Flavor is medium fruit, definitely roasted malt, a hint of chocolate, and some arguable spice. One of the best Oktoberfest beers I have had this year.

Picked up 12-oz bottle from Liquid Solutions. Pours a dark caramel cola brew with a fast dissolving off-white head that leaves behind a fine film and thin ring. Aroma of caramel malt, some light flowery hops, a touch of toffee and raisins. Taste is medium bodied, lightly carbonated with flavors of caramel malt and some dry roasted nuts and citrus. Finish is slightly dry with a good hop bite and a faint caramel malt aftertaste. One of the more dry Oktoberfest brew than the sweeter styles I’ve tried.

Pours dark red/copper with a thin beige head. Malty caramel flavor, with a cherry and sweet bread finish. Light on the hops, just enough to keep it from being cloying. Long roasty caramel finish. Very rich oktoberfest beer, while not one you could probably drink a few steins of without feeling totally full, still a nice beer.

I think the commercial description about says it all. Very short and sweet this one was. Very malty and nutty just like I expected it to be, no hops detectable at all, maybe as an afterthought. Medium - bodied, with a nice chewy sweetness at the end. The best of the Bayern beers that I have had.

13-Jan-08 (12-oz bottle, Best Before 01-Mar-08: Purchased 04-Dec-07 for $1.30 from liquidsolutions.biz) Wow, this stuff pouring into my pint glass is dark! This isn’t amber, but light brown mixed with ruddy brick. The half-inch tall head is tan in color and short-lived, fading to a wide ring within a few minutes. malty and lightly sweet-smelling when swirled, but a modest sourness comes out if the beer is undisturbed for several seconds. On the palate, the beer is very malty, more so than most examples of the style. It’s moderately sweet too, but certainly not sugary, though a light tartness emerges in the finish. It’s seems apparent that they simply used a LOT of malt to make this beer. Hops are mild, but on the perfumy and floral side, offering some balancing flavor and mild bitterness, but malt remains the focal point here. Medium in body and carbonation with a bit of acidity to break up the clinging maltiness. No lacing on the glass. Overall, it’s packed with flavor and has a very aggressive profile for an Oktoberfest, but the malty sweetness and floral hops make this less enjoyable than hoped.