Spaten Oktoberfest Ur-Märzen

Brewed by Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu (InBev)
Style: Oktoberfest/Märzen
Munich, Germany

Serve in Dimpled mug, Stein

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Bottle. Slightly skunky roasty malt aroma. Amber with a small beige head. Roasty malt flavor with a light spicyl hops finish. Medium body and carbonation.

Amber balanced pour with a lot of roasted malt flavor. Can’t taste a ton of hop in this Marzen, but a lot of nice spices are present in the aroma- a crisp taste and a slightly powerful carbonation, but overall, this Oktoberfest is a pretty decent brew.

Bottle poured a clear gold w/ a medium frothy white mostly lasting head excellent lacing. Mild malts aroma w/ notes of grain and straw. Light bodied, watery texture. Light sweet flavor.

this is a nice one. refreshing and flavorful. good long bitter finish. spaten knows whats good ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Light amber in color with a foamy white head. Classic German oktoberfest beer. Not my favorite style but always drinkable and hits the spot at any time in the fall.

Reviewed 8/26. Oktoberfests in August? Tis the season, I suppose. 12 oz bottle poured into a stein. A: Pours a crystal clear copper color. The head is a two finger barely offwhite head with decent retention (settling down to a finger). S: Light toasted and caramel malts, along with a touch of toffee and noble hops. Not the strongest aroma, but thank Jebus it’s not skunked! My hopes are now moderately high for this one. T: Truth be told, there’s not a whole lot to this as expected - a light sweetness, some toasted and caramel malt, and that’s just about it. The ever-so-subtle finishing hops give this an extremely crisp bite to it. Nothing complex, but it does what it sets out to do well, and that’s to be drunk by the pitcher. Only a hint of metallic-ness on the finish detracts from the experience. M: Light, crisp, and refreshing. The drinkability factor is excellent, and it’s not overcarbonated. O: Honestly, while it’s damn solid at its job, I’d say look elsewhere for a marzen, simply because there’s too much of a chance you’ll get skunked bottles. If you can get it in a manner that doesn’t allow this to happen (read: on tap), then by all means, go for it. Serving type: bottle

This is a very good Oktoberfest Beer. They must be doing something right since 1397

I’m getting to the point where I’m starting to feel bad that I don’t like authentic German Oktoberfestbiers. Most likely this is due to the fact that by the time they arrive here they’re skunky, but also due to the fact they’re just not exciting beers. I really wanted to like Spaten Oktoberfest Ur-Märzen, but I couldn’t find any genuine redeeming qualities in it. Not that it’s bad (I’ve had worse), it just has an overt lack of goodness.

I poured a 12oz green bottle into my OktoBEERfest mug.

Appearance: By far the darkest Oktoberfest I’ve ever seen. Dark amber/brown color; crystal clear; not much visible carbonation. Initially forms a large, beige, soapy head, but it quickly fizzles away leaving next to no lacing on the glass.

Smell: Since this is a green bottle it’s no surprise it emits a skunky smell as soon as the cap is removed. It’s not as bad as some others but it’s noticeable. There isn’t much else to it, though, just a generic dark lager aroma with a trace of sweet grain.

Taste: Spaten Oktoberfest Ur-Märzen doesn’t do anything none of the other German Oktoberfestbiers don’t do. It’s mild, it’s straightforward, it’s only slightly sweet and slightly bitter. The palate is at least noticeably clean here. This is impressive considering how pungent the nose is. Still, I need more than a lack of overt flaws to truly compliment it.

As for the actual taste, again, there’s not much to say. A clean, mild, familiar dark lager flavor pitches the palate. There’s a quick burst of typical German hop spice in the middle, but if you blink you’ll miss it. The finish is essentially the same as the beginning but with just a tad more sweetness. A hint of toffee I suppose, but nothing as robust as many American Octoberfest beers with toasty malts or nutty flavors.

Drinkability: A thin, calm, wet mouthfeel with a clean aftertaste makes Spaten Oktoberfest Ur-Märzen rather refreshing while it’s in the mouth. I’m actually quite surprised it’s 5.9% ABV as it does not seem to have the weight or body of a beer that big. Not that it’s a challenge to drink, but I don’t see much reason to throw back another.

Malty sweet aroma. Amber with white head. Light bodied and a little skunky. Not bad but I wouldn't go so far as to call it good.

Pours a clear amber with a medium, frothy, white head that stays. Very good lacing. Minimal malts in the aroma; indeed, slightly straw. Thin mouthfeel. Sweet, but rather bland taste -- more like a European pilsner than an Oktoberfest. Not the best Munich representative of the class -- the Paulaner, Ayinger and Hacker-Pschorr are all superior. Not the best offering from the Spaten brewery in general. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for the Daystrom M-5