LaConner Oktoberfest

Brewed by LaConner Brewing Company
Style: Oktoberfest/Märzen
LaConner, Washington USA

on tap-pours a dissipating white head and gold color. Aroma is mild sweet caramel, fruit. Taste is mild sweet caramel, fruit, secondary spice hops. Light side of medium body.

12 oz bottle, via Indiana Red. Pours a hazy copper with a small fizzy beige head. Light toasted malt aroma with a little butterscotch. Flavor has more toasted malt and a little toffee with a moderately bitter and lightly alcoholic finish. Not the tastiest Oktoberfest out there, the hopping falls short and it’s lacking in sweetness from the malt base.

ྫྷ oz bottle: Obtained in trade with Larry Pitonka, thanks André!) I think I’ve totally lost faith that this brewery can put out anything good anymore. First off, this beer smells pretty brutal. I mean really, it’s smells like soured, rotting vegetables, not too different from rotten tomatoes in a compost bin. And I have to make this distinction clear, I don’t mean sour as in tart, but sour as in rotten. With the apparency of a very toasty and woody maltiness, the flavor is at least somewhat better, but not much because those putrid, rotten vegetables have ransacked the flavor as well, giving it a general soured (again, not tart) character. The beer is minimally sweet, which is pretty unusual, but I’m okay with that. Moderately bitter hops also makes a showing, and who knows, maybe the hops had spoiled for this batch. Body is medium and carbonation is average, but this is little solace. And I’ve never poured an Oktoberfest where the bottom of the bottle was lined with a dense layer of sludge. The resulting pour, even with the sludge still sticking to the bottle, is a very cloudy but bright orange color. Off-white head fails to rise above a quarter inch in height and quickly settles to a thin ring. Honestly, despite a few desperate glimpses of something positive to grab ahold of, this has truly been a disgusting, revolting beer in just about every respect.

Nice, rusty-orange hue. Creamy-soft texture with a nice carbonation level. Interesting injection of sourness. Malts were complete with sweet caramel and moderately toasted bread. Some acidity cleaved off the sweetness nicely. Zingy hops with a woodsy-earthy bitterness followed. Overall, pretty good Oktoberfest – not too sweet, and more interesting than your average, bland-tasting session Oktoberfest.

Head is initially small, frothy, off-white, mostly diminishing. Body is medium amber. Aroma is moderately malty (caramel, cookie), lightly hoppy (flowers, apricot). Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, moderately acidic, moderately bitter. Medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation. Uninteresting and kinda sour, but ok.

Pours a murky red color, small white head. Aroma is sweet and malty, some dark fruit in the nose as well. Flavor is smooth and sweet. Excellent balance and very easy to drink.

Bottle Pours a hazy deep copper with a small off white head and thin creamy lacing. Woody bread like aroma and a slightly spicy malty flavor. Nice smooth soft feel, easy on the hops and a nice slightly sweet malt finish. Nice.

Bottle pours a red amber, with virtually no head. Very malty, but not as sweet as other Fest-Marzens. Spicy taste throughout, and I agree with the previous observation of a peppery hop character. Love the style, and this is a good entry. Prost to lagering!