Okto Festival Ale
Widmer Brothers Brewing Company

Okto Festival AleOkto Festival Ale
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From:
Widmer Brothers Brewing Company
 
Oregon, United States
Style:
Altbier
Ranked #82
ABV:
5.3%
Score:
78
Ranked #26,789
Avg:
3.44 | pDev: 13.66%
Reviews:
191
Ratings:
511
Status:
Active
Rated:
Nov 02, 2023
Added:
Oct 29, 2002
Wants:
  12
Gots:
  37
Classified as a German Altbier by the Widmer Brothers; brewed with an (ale) Alt yeast strain.

availability: early Aug. - late Oct.
bitterness : 28 IBU
original gravity: 13.5° PLATO
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Ratings by Mrbseward:
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Rated by Mrbseward from Virginia

3.5/5  rDev +1.7%

Sep 21, 2012
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.51 by StoutAtTheDevil from Alabama

Nov 02, 2023
 
Rated: 3.06 by emwilke from Nevada

Jun 08, 2023
Photo of Suds
Reviewed by Suds from Missouri

3.61/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
From a twelve ounce can, this brew has a pleasant, clear amber color, a firm off-white head, and some effervescence. The aroma moderately malty, with a bread-crust quality. The taste is sweetish, and the body is full. Not bad, but not exceptional.
Oct 16, 2022
Photo of izraelc
Reviewed by izraelc from New York

3.5/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Pours a medium brown. Light foam. Malty aroma. Sweet malt body. Bread dough and caramel. Light sweet finish. More like a brown ale than an oktoberfest. Average at best.
Oct 16, 2022
 
Rated: 3.59 by tdm168 from Pennsylvania

Oct 01, 2022
Photo of defunksta
Reviewed by defunksta from Wisconsin

3.83/5  rDev +11.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Appearance: Pours a mostly clear, medium, deep orange color with a mild off-white head. SRM of 11. (3.75)

Aroma: Relatively moderate aromas of bread malt, crusty cereal malt. Some caramel evolves as it warms, but largely pale.

Flavor: Moderate flavors of bread malt and pale malt. Strong bready flavors and a smooth malty finish. Some deeper caramel evolves from the bread as it warms. Not too sweet.

Feel: Medium to heavier bodied. Properly carbonated and a full mouthfeel and bread malt lingers off the finish.

Overall: A pretty decent Marzen here. Very bready. Not spiced or amber malt from an altbier like I would expect. I would describe this as a bready Marzen. Relatively pale, but a strong bready flavor and nice mouthfeel. Not too sweet and full. It's not bad as bad as the ratings suggest. Bready and enjoyable. (Rating: 3.83)
Sep 25, 2022
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Reviewed by Skywave from Oklahoma

3.5/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Appearance:
Orange-light copper, Thin head, moderate lace, clear and polished. Altbiers should be darker, more of a mahogany hue.

Aroma:
lightly toasted sweet biscuity malt, minimal hops. no esters.

Flavor:
Mild Munich malt character, some alcohol, weak hops. Some slight fruitiness.

Mouthfeel:
Light. Low-ish CO2, no astringency or harsh MF

Overall:
It's been years -- several years-- since I had a real German Altbier (Frankenheim and such) and this is not like that. Tastes more like a milder, fruitier US-made Marzen or American Bock.
Sep 22, 2022
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Reviewed by dkoehler42 from New York

3.52/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
From Widmer Brothers is Ok to Festival Ale. It's actually an altbier, which isn't actually a märzen or festbier, which feels like cheating being in an Oktoberfest pack. It pours a hazy copper with a thin white head. Sweet malt aroma is clear as day. The sweetness is not as immediately present on the taste. Initially, I had a metallic flavor before it settles into the sweetness I smelled. Most of the mouthfeel is inoffensive. It's not bad, but I wouldn't put this in a marketed Oktoberfest pack.
Sep 21, 2022
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Reviewed by MaltsOfGlory from Oregon

3.54/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
12oz can

Pours two fingers of tan head into my can-style glass. Retention is average and the head mostly fades within a few minutes. Lacing is pretty good. Body is a dark burnt orange, high clarity, with a moderate amount of bubbles coming up. Looks pretty nice.

Nose is biscuity, with some faint fruity esters, slightly sweet. Not a super big nose, but it smells pretty decent.

Flavor is ok, a little malty, some biscuit. Fruity esters do start to show up as the beer warms, but overall the aroma has a hard time coming through to the flavor.

Carbonation is on the lighter side, I agitated it a decent amount though. Body is medium. Just slightly bitter. Touch of sweetness, well attenuated though. Pretty straight forward mouthfeel.

Drinkability is very nice.

Definitely seems more like a Marzen than a Altbier, like some past versions have been apparently marketed. Overall not terrible, probably better than the rep it gets. Still, the flavor certainly leaves a little to be desired, not a whole lot going on there.
Sep 13, 2022
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Reviewed by jkblr from Indiana

3.31/5  rDev -3.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
12oz can PKGD ON JUN21 22 poured into a becher glass at fridge temp 5.5% 26 IBU. The beer pours mostly bright light amber with off white head. The head recedes to a pencil thin ring and island. The aroma is mild with toasted malt. The taste is toasted malt with mild orchard fruit and and a little funky tang. Mild to negligible bitterness. The mouthfeel is thin to medium bodied with just less than average carbonation and a semi dry finish. Overall, not great.
Sep 01, 2022
 
Rated: 3.42 by mintzmeet from Washington

Sep 26, 2021
 
Rated: 3.54 by Chilmer from Iowa

May 23, 2018
 
Rated: 3 by 1971bernat from Virginia

Jan 04, 2018
 
Rated: 3.75 by BrewskiBrandon from Missouri

Oct 26, 2016
 
Rated: 3.4 by Squire from Mississippi

Jun 29, 2016
 
Rated: 3.75 by Superheatnsubcool from Washington

Jun 01, 2016
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Reviewed by rodbeermunch from Nevada

3/5  rDev -12.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Dull orange pour, 1/2" off white head. Average retention. Aroma was mild sweetened malt grain stuff.

Taste was smooth, hopping low, mild nuttiness. A little bit of caramel mouthfeel.

Slow smooth ride on this one, nothing jumping, nothing off flavored.
Mar 01, 2016
Photo of woodychandler
Reviewed by woodychandler from Pennsylvania

3.25/5  rDev -5.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.25
My first beer in Support of New Beer Sunday (Week 573) will be another from the Bottle Backlog here at Chez Woody. I am actually starting to make real, noticeable progress; bottles are getting recycled; caps are being saved for art projects; 4- & 6-pack carriers are being emptied & returned. It is a glorious time!

From the bottle: "Loosen your lederhosen. Our full-bodied Okto Festival Ale is inspired by Bavarian Oktoberfest. [undersigned] Kurt [&] Rob"; "We pay fitting tribute with its distinctive malt flavors, mild floral character and crisp, clean finish. Prost! to the land of Prost!"

A Pop! of the cap & the Festival was underway! I utilized a gentle pour in deference to its relative age and then gave it a vigorous swirl in the glass. This produced a finger of foamy, tawny head with decent retention that slowly fell to wisps. Color was Deep Amber/Light Copper to Copper (SRM = > 13, < 17) with NE-quality clarity. Nose was oddly vegetal, like cooked cabbage, underlain by a biscuit maltiness. I read the style description for an Altbier, but even with the style's quirks and oddities, this does not seem right. Mouthfeel was medium to-full, not quite creamy. The taste was MUCH better than the nose had led me to expect! It was actually quite sweet, very much of caramel or crème brulee. Again, I am not sure that such is stylistically correct, nor would I ever mistake this for an Oktoberfest/Marzen. The sweetness made it more like a dessert beer for me. It was drinkable, certainly, and the finish was only semi-sweet, perhaps as a testament to the yeast having thoroughly done its job. The caramel flavor lingered well after the finish. For me, one was plenty.
Feb 14, 2016
 
Rated: 3.52 by Zylod from West Virginia

Jan 02, 2016
Okto Festival Ale from Widmer Brothers Brewing Company
Beer rating: 78 out of 100 with 511 ratings