City Festbier

Brewed by City Brewery (Melanie Brewing Co)
Style: Oktoberfest/Märzen
La Crosse, Wisconsin USA

Serve in Dimpled mug, Lager glass, Stein

Overly sweet malty body not very well balanced with the hops. A typical attempt at duplicating a traditional style, but going too far. I suppose it’s better to have too much than too little, but it makes this beer more difficult to drink. Overall, it’s not that bad, but I drank it inbetween having two of its better German competitors.

Bottle. Poured a clear, sparkly lighter golden with a short layer of white head. Aroma of stale flowers, sweet caramel, leaves, and some autumn-type spices. Lighter-bodied with a caramel base and some spicy, slightly bitter floral hops. Tasted pretty good, but had a fairly medicinal feel around the edges and at the finish (finish also carried through the caramel and some spicage). Not too impressed with this one, but it was certainly drinkable.

Take a good german Oktoberfest and add a can of light beer. That’s about it. Nothing to objectionable just not all that a oktoberfect needs to be.

I have had this a few times in the last few years. I thought I had rated, but I am just now getting to it. The body is a dark orange and gold with a white head. There is a fair amount of lacing in the glass. The aroma is light leaves and some earthy wood. There is also caramel and some The taste is dirt and some light caramel. Finishes with some sharp bitterness of orange peels. I was surprised by the character of bitterness, especially for the style.

Picked up a six-pack of 12-oz aluminum cans at Festival Foods in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Pours a clear light copper brew with a thick creamy white head that quickly dissipates to a thin white film top with some spotty lacing. Aroma of sweet caramel malt, grassy hops, and a touch of toffee. Taste is sweet, medium bodied, and some light carbonation with flavors of sweet caramel malt, a touch of marshmallow and wintergreen. Finish is mostly sweetened caramel with a touch of candi sugar and grassy hops after the finish. It’s interesting.

From Vinnie’s in the La Crosse airport. Bright amber color with a medium thin khaki colored head. Thin and spotty lacing. Earthy malt aroma with mild hops as well. Medium-bodied with hoppy bitterness at first, and more malt and caramel showing up later. It seems unbalanced all around though, veering from a generic Lager to a generic Oktoberfest. The finish is mildly bitter. Altogether avoidable.

12 oz bottle from the Woodmans on Gammon Road, Madison WI (October 2006) sampled in early November from a pint glass a bit below cellar temperature. Quite clear dark amber with a moderate receding almost-white head....pleasant enough malty-doughy sweetish aroma, a touch smoky and toasty on the second nosing....sugary, thin and fairly dull on the palate, a bit like caramelized flat watery soda but not really unpleasant tasting....difficult to finish the bottle as it’s cloying in it’s sweetness despite the watery thinness.

Poured a clear copper color with a thin off-white head. Swwet caramel malty aroma. The flavor had more caramel but was a little light and some tartness on the finish.