238. The Duck-Rabbit Marzen

Cracked open this bad boy while watching my beloved NC State Wolfpack in a rivalry game against UNC.  Needless to say, I wasn't terribly interested in drinking after the 1st quarter.  But I'm not one to let a good beer to waste.

Beer was poured into a stemmed snifter glass.  One finger of dirty-white colored head.  Ended up getting moderate to long retention with this one, leaving splotches of lacing along the sides.  There are aromas of caramel, biscuit, maybe a faint whiff of apples.  

This doesn't taste quite like a marzen, although it hits many of the same notes.  It starts out with the caramel sweetness and the finish is more hoppy and bitter than I recall from other beers of this style.  The apple taste is also more pronounced at the end.  Medium bodied with medium carbonation.

Imagine a marzen that's a little more extreme on the front and back end and I think this is what you would get.  To me, if I was served this at Oktoberfest or something, it would be a pretty good beer but I don't know how sessionable it would be for me.  That said, if I was comparing this not against this style but as a beer that I would drink, it's pretty good.

Grade: B-

Price Paid: $1.79 (12 oz bottle)

  

236. Highland Clawhammer Oktoberfest Lager

"Clawhammer Oktoberfest is a lightly colored, but toasty, rich and full bodied Marzen styled lager brewed with traditional German malt and the finest noble hops.  A spicy hop finish and aroma balance out the abundance of malt flavor.  Clawhammer means pure high-country enjoyment!"

Today's brew was chosen as a pairing for some sweet and sour chicken over a bed of white rice.  Maybe not the most ideal pairing, but it worked for me!

The beer was poured into a DFH shaped pint.  It has a hazy orange color to it.  1 finger of cream colored head.  Average retention, leaves a ring of splotched lacing around the glass.  Not much to distinguish from the aroma except for caramel and biscuit.  

The taste is what I would expect from this type of beer.  Heavy with the malts, a caramel-like sweetness, and a touch of pepper and bitter hops on the end.  Light bodied, average carbonation.  Not an overly strong beer, very sessionable.  

The beer is a solid representation of the style, although the style itself is simplistic in nature and isn't trying to do too many things.  That said, it did not wow me and I while I wouldn't mind having it again, I also would be more willing to try the same style from other brewers and see how they fare.

Grade: C+

Price Paid: $1.99 (12 oz bottle)

183. Flying Fish Oktoberfish

Still working backwards from the last beers I've enjoyed, this brew from Flying Fish (http://www.flyingfish.com) comes courtesy from Recovery Sports Grill from Westampton, NJ.  The plan was to order pizza, but then the pizza place we planned to get it from was closed and Recovery Sports Grill was the next best thing.  While ordering the food and waiting for it to come out, I figured I'd enjoy a beer to pass the time.  

First of all, the menu called for a small and a large beer.  I assumed small was 10 oz, large was 16 oz. Nope.  I ordered a large and ended up with this 24 oz whopper of a glass with half a finger of off white head.  It dissipated quickly, leaving a ring near the top of the glass.  It wasn't quite an amber or copper color, a little more on the brown side, something along the lines of a murky amber.  I detected aromas of toasted malt, caramel, slight grassy notes, and some cinnamon spice.  

I could taste the toasted malt, caramel, and light hops, but the finish was spicier than expected with pepper and cinnamon.  The light hops also gave the marzen a little more character.  It was light bodied with moderate carbonation, making this a very drinkable brew.  The only bad part was that my food finished early and I had to gulp down that beast of a beer, which takes considerable effort since I don't typically consume beers quickly.  Comparing this to the previous beer I just reviewed, I find this to be a notch better.  Have you had both and agree or disagree?  Let me know!

Grade: B

Price Paid: $6.50 (24 oz draught)

182. Triumph Brewing Oktoberfest

I'm about fifteen beers behind but felt like updating my more recent entries first since I wasn't able to write notes down on all of my beers and I'm having to go by memory with some of them.  While visiting Princeton, we had lunch at Triumph Brewing.  The food is amazing, by the way.  The best brewpub (in regards to food) that I've ever had.  I haven't been to many, but I do consider myself a foodie, and even I have to give high praise to this place.  While I was enjoying a fancy grilled cheese sandwich, I decided to pair it with their seasonal Oktoberfest beer.  

The beer was poured into your standard pint glass.  The head had already receded by the time I got the beer, not much lacing on the sides of the glass.  Had a really nice bronze color, aromas of toasted malt and caramel definitely giving me the impression of a marzen or Oktoberfest style beer. 

I could taste those slight bread notes to go with the caramel and toffee notes.  There was a slight metallic taste to it as well.  It seems like it would be a sweeter brew, but it's not.  I find that to be quite refreshing.  It's not an overly complex beer, pretty simple in style and execution.  Granted, for the style, I'm fine with that.  The beer was light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.  Overall, I found the beer to be enjoyable, although the aroma and look of the beer could be a little better.  Still, this is a pretty good beer and while I probably won't ever venture back to Triumph (being that I'm not from the area and all..), if I ever see a bottle down the road, I'll probably pick one up.  

Grade: B

Price Paid: $6.00 (16 oz draught)

81. Harpoon Oktoberfest

No, this is not a "blast from the past" post.  I'm finally getting around to cracking open another Oktoberfest beer.  Here's to hoping that it's still any good!

Beer was poured into a pilsner glass.  It had a nice toffee color, with a little bit of a reddish haze to it.  Little over two fingers of cream colored head with solid retention, leaving a nice ring of lacing around the glass.  Aromas of malt and caramel dominate, little bit of biscuit and a faint aroma of hops.  Also detect some dark fruit as well.

Beer is hop forward as it hits you relatively quickly.  The malt and caramel sweetness comes through on the front end before the hops come through and the bitter aftertaste finishes it out.  Could also taste roasted grains.  A little oily on the tongue.  Carbonation is light to medium.  I think this is a solid tasting beer, decently balanced.  I don't know if I like the fact that it is hop forward..I'm used to Oktoberfest's that try to bring the malt character out.  Nevertheless, it never hurts to be different and separate yourself from the pack.  A solid session beer.

Grade: B-

Price Paid: $1.99 (12 oz bottle)

59. Yazoo Fall Lager

I decided to crack this one open tonight, thought it might pair well with some teriyaki chicken and rice.  I probably could've found a better pairing, but I'm not experienced in that realm yet..give me some time.  The beer poured a burnt orange color with a finger and a half of off-white head.  Light retention, little to no lacing.  I tried to get the aroma from this one and couldn't pick up anything.  Maybe the sweetness of the malt and some caramel?  That's about it.

The taste was very ordinary.  Again, the malt comes through on the taste, but not much else.  Maybe a little bit of roastiness there, and I'll admit some hop kick at the end.  One thing that did stand out was the high carbonation.  Felt soda-like with the type of kick it brought.  Wasn't a bad thing either.  Light bodied, easy to drink.  I think my biggest complaint with this beer is that it lacked character.  It was an average beer, nothing to get excited about.

Grade: C

Price Paid: $1.79 (12 oz bottle)

57. Atwater Bloktoberfest

No, I'm not reviewing more entries that I consumed in the past.  This is one that I consumed today.  Just goes to show that I have a lot of beer sitting in my reserves right now if I can go back and grab an Oktoberfest beer.  Atwater (http://www.atwaterbeer.com) is a company based out of Michigan.  I had never heard of them before, so I'm guessing that it doesn't have the notoriety like some of its peers.  Still, I was in the mood to give it a shot, see how well this would taste.  I had picked this one up from The Beer Dispensary in Apex.

I worried that I may be waiting too long to drink this one, but I wouldn't really know any better unless the beer is outright awful.  The beer poured a nice honey brown color with about half a finger of head.  There's light retention, leaving a small cap of head, some light lacing as well.  For the aroma, I could pick out some bread and malt, maybe some fruit.  That's about it.  

The taste was remarkably blah.  It wasn't bad, but it also didn't have much flavor.  I could pick up the malt and some hops, but you could have fooled me if you said this was an Oktoberfest beer.  Well, I take that back, since those type of beers in the traditional sense should be easy to consume.  I felt like I was drinking a macro beer.  Remarkably average, very little character and identity.  It's easy enough to drink, but I think I prefer a beer with a little more pop.

Grade: D+

Price Paid: $2.19 (12 oz bottle)

44. Sweetwater Dank Tank Danktoberfest

I've had several beers from Sweetwater..just haven't gotten around to posting the others.  With the free time over the holidays, I plan on putting a dent into my backlog.  For now, I have a glass of this in front of me and I'm drinking, so I figured I'd give it a review now.  Sweetwater (http://www.sweetwaterbrew.com) is another good brewing company based out of Georgia.  Their Dank Tank series is supposed to be their creative outlet for one-off beers that they want to try.  

This particular beer pours a clear burnt orange color.  I poured it in such a way to purposefully try and create   some head.  Was able to get two fingers worth out of it.  Retention was solid, leaving sheets of lacing around the glass.  Aroma smells of baked bread and caramel. 

The taste is peculiar.  I've had my share of Oktoberfest style beers this year and the one thing I've noticed is that they don't seem to be consistent.  In this particular brew, there's a sweetness on the front end that's pleasant, but then the hops and bitter finish stands out on the back end.  It also tends to linger.  If you're an IPA fan, you may appreciate this.  For those of you very few that may have read my posts, then you're aware of my chronicles with the IPA and my continuing quest to get used to them.  I can get used to this brew, I just wasn't expecting it to be there.  Medium mouthfeel, a little warming on the back-end as well from the alcohol (8.5 ABV).  The high alcohol content makes this less like an Oktoberfest beer as well, since I could probably finish the bomber and be good for a while.  If I take the whole Oktoberfest motif out of it and just try to judge the beer solely by its taste, it's not a bad brew.  If the bitterness was down just a tad, it would be even better.

Grade: C+

Price Paid: $1.99 (22 oz bomber)