Lakefront Oktoberfest

Brewed by Lakefront Brewery
Style: Oktoberfest/Märzen
Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA

In the bottle. Pours a rich amber with a pale yellow head. The head does not lace and disappears rapidly. Low carbonation. Strong discernable aroma of malt and maybe wheat. Flavor is very thick and rich for a marzen. Almost like it had not reached full attenuation, it’s just that malty sweet. However, it seems to have a decent alcohol content, so I’m not sure what kind of OG it must have had.

12 oz bottle, brewed in August 2004. Translucent dark reddish gold, virtually no head...malty/sugary nose with some hints of cherry liqueur, gets more interesting as it warms...smooth, sweet lightly fruity body, not enough malt with a thin finish, odd sour winey notes amidst the overabundance of sugar. Below average.

(12 oz bottle: The Cellars in Roseville, MN) Yep, here’s another American Oktoberfest that is sugary sweet rather than malty sweet. I just don’t care for that flavor. Along with the surgary flavor, it’s also fairly caramely, but it’s not really even malty, which is just sinfully wrong when you’re making an Oktoberfest. Just sugar and caramel to me. There’s hardly any hops to break up the caramely, sugary flavor, and accordingly, it’s minimally bitter. The nose is a bit malty, certainly moreso than the flavor, so it at least smells somewhat like a German Oktoberfest. The palate seems a bit thin and watery. Dark amber color. Average size off-white head fades to a wide rim around the edge of the glass, but leaves hardly any lacing. Not a fan of this below average Oktoberfest.

Clear bronze, not much lasting head. Malty, musty, with a bit of fruity alcohol in the aroma. Moderate palante, some tingle lasting long after the head is gone. But also a bit light. Oily thin. Dry finish. Not bad, just an average Oktoberfest.

Great brownish amber with dissapating head. Nice roasted carmel nose with some coffee notes. Med weight with absent finish. Light carmel and roasted flavors but too much acid overall, quite a dissapointment.

Not their best, but it still tops a lot of the other Milwaukee microbreweries. Where the other microbreweries in the area take a sweeter approach, Lakefront piles on the malt. Rich and nutty. An enjoyed experience, nonetheless, but it’s hard to drink any Oktoberfest after you’ve been blessed by Paulaner’s.

orange, off white head. pungently sweet aroma of marzipan, earth, malt and alcohol. flavour is a bit nutty(almond?) with a bit of melon, berries and honey. malty with a tart finish. not bad

I’m going against the grain (pardon my pun) on this one. What I really liked about this Oktoberfest was due to a suspected flaw- the dominant nature of the body was partially fermented malt syrup. This gave the beer a very sweet, toasted cereal flavor that reminded me of honey graham crackers. Also had a sweetened iced tea aroma with hints of fruit juice. I suspect if this was more fully fermented the sweetness would be toned down...but maybe then I’d rate it closer to its 2.74 average! Tasty but I could only drink one or two as it stands. Thanks Matt (MrFacto) for the bottle!