Samuel Adams Octoberfest

Oh fall, what a season. Leaves changing color, football back on TV, octoberfests back on the shelves. As far as octoberfests go, Sam Adams makes a fairly decent one. Smooth, pretty tasty, almost makes up for the end of summer.

Pretty impressed with Samuel Adams brews. The look is clear amber with a small cream head. Spot lacing. Smell is pretty average for a marzen. Sweet malt, caramel, and barley. Taste is a light malt with a nice hop balance. Wheat and honey is prevelant. Good octoberfest beer.

This beer was better than I expected. The aroma has some faint caramel. The flavor is sort of understated if anything, containing bread and some sweet malt. The palate is nice- creamy, solid and medium-bodied. The favor isn’t anything too special but overall this is a very decent beer.

Pours copper color with very little head. Aroma and flavor of caramel and toffee. Some sweetness and bread flavor. Relatively plain though. Decent enough beer.

12fl oz bottle poured into a Samuel Adams lager glass. Sparkling amber brown with one finger off-white head. Aroma is caramel and toffee. Flavor is basically the same with a bit of spice. Finish is lightly bitter and spicy. Very nice marzenbier.

Pours dark, rich amber color with white head that retains well. Nose is a pleasant musty sweet caramel, maybe old polished wood too. Some fresh brown bread in there as well. Palate is a luxurious malty richness with hops that hide well so the malt can shine. Malt sweetness is just right in this beer. Again, some fresh bread flavors emerge as they do on the nose. This is a good example of the style, even though it’s not a German example. Finish is medium length with a residual sweetness that teases you to take another sip of this fine lager. Very good.

On draft at Old Man Rafferty’s. Nice copper color with no head. Toasty sweet nose with some spice. Flavor is roasted malt, sugars, and spice. Light to medium body and pretty well balanced.

Original rating 09/19/09: Bottle. Stunning copper, thick beige head. Tart black/blueberry aromas, boysenberry jelly, pipe tobacco, butter/lard, breadcrust. Flavor is bland malt combined with peach and lemon. Some diacetyl. Way more tart and fruity than malty. Strange mouthfeel- almost thin, but with a greasy texture. The finish is slightly rough, like cement dust. Minty and tart (surprise!) aftertaste. Pretty much what I expected from BBC. **** Additional notes 10/02/09: had on draft last night in those silly SamAdams curvy glasses... more buttered toast malt flavor and less tartness than in the bottle... but still overwhelmingly fruity for the style (peach/berry/lemon). Original numbers stand