Hofstettner Hochzeitsbier von 1810

Brewed by Brauerei Hofstetten - Krammer
Style: Zwickel/Keller/Landbier
St. Martin, Austria

Serve in Lager glass, Stein

Draft @ Oktoberfest Cask & Keg night, Bavarian Lodge, with tmoreau. Brown color, cloudy; lacy head. Darker than anything passed as an Oktoberfestbier. Rich, malty smell; very little roastiness, but a hearty malt smell with a bit of yeast After the nice sniff, the malts are not so big in the first sip. I’m imagining some Vienna malt, but nothing darker. Sharp, spicy hop note. A very drinkable lager beer, just amped up in flavor without interference from big alcohol. Leaves some stickiness on the lips.

Bottle. Rich amber beer with a dark cream colored head. Light malt aroma. Malt and light caramel flavor with citrus, light breadiness, and mineral notes. Medium bodied. Easy drinking. Light caramel and mineral lingers with citrus.

Pour is a medium amber with light fizzy head. Smell is sweet earthy tart. Taste is beet sugar tart cherries dry spice cardamom and ginger.

Pours slightly hazy clear amber, tightly bubbled head, good retention. Aroma is apple cider, some bread, toffee, sweet maltiness. Taste is rih caramel, fruity bread, some spicy hops. Body is medium, creamy, low carbonation, sweetish bready finish. Overall, ok.

Bottle, poured into dry, clean Peroni lager glass, producing a hazy pale amber colour with a dense, though thin, beige head that has very little cling and retention. Soft noble hop aroma of a pear/red apple kind of complex accompanying the familiar floral notes. Flavour is sweet, yet dry in the finish, with sweet cereal grain up front, doughy malt, a tasteful amount of DMS throughout, and floral, herbal hops. A bit of heat is allowed to poke through in the finish as it’s so dry, as is a minerally note that reminds me of iron, which, if I’m detecting this properly, is actually oxidized polypeptides, which seems unlikely. Very palatable with medium carbonation and fine bubbles. A pretty enjoyable Zwickle that I would order on draft at a biergarten, though for the price, would not get in bottles again.

Golden orange with zero lasting head. Big biscuity aroma, with caramel notes (almost like dog biscuit). Very malt forward with not much hop bite besides maybe some spiciness. Taste is biscuity, earthy, caramel and bready. The extreme bready notes mellow out as it warms. Nothing overly special, but glad I tried something from this previously unknown style.

500ml bottle. It pours a hazy amber with a foamy off-white head that leaves some nice lacing. The smell is hoppy with some herbal notes. The malt is slightly fruity and there is a hint of metal. The flavor is nice. It has a nice hop bite, fresher than I expected. The malt is bready. There is again a hint of metal but it somehow works. The unfiltered yeast flavor permeates as well. Not a bad Maerzen/Kellerbier.

Draft. Pours amber with a thin head. Bready malty aroma with fresh floral and spicy hops. The flavor is very well balanced, with spicy, floral, and grassy hops, and bready and lightly sweet malts. Crisp, sharp, refreshing, delicious. Very sessionable.

Slightly sour along the lines of a Flemish Red but only very slightly. Very well balanced out with a nice malty character. Gorgeous amber red pour with nice white lacing.