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)