Summit House Oktoberfest
Paper City Brewery Co., Inc.

 

 

Appearance: 1 inch head, high carbonation, orange brown in color, clear

Smell: toasted malt and grain

Taste: toasted malt, grain, and biscuit

Mouthfeel: sweet with slight bitterness, moderate carbonation, medium-light bodied

Overall:A solid marzen. Not a beer I would turn down, but there are others in the style I would go for first.

 

Pours a slightly hazy medium orange with a white fizzy head. Not much retention, although it retains a ring down the pint. No lacing.

Some caramel, but moreover some fruit rind notes that are a bit on the sour side. Some toasted malt as well.

Some caramel sweetness up front, which is gone very quick. Next comes some tart bread and biscuit flavors, as the beer begins to dry out. Nice toasted malt and bitter grainy finish -- actually, this finishes great.

Medium body with some astringent qualities. Clean and crisp.

As I reviewed this, I kept upping my scores. Not overly sweet, some nice different notes, and it goes down easy. What more can you ask for. A really good version of this style. Found this as an orphan single, hope I can find it again.

Pours a straight up golden orange color that is completely clear. The head is about two fingers and fizzes out after I give it a quick stare. Very light spotty lacing is left by this beer as I guzzle it down. Not the best looking beer by any means. Tastes and smells pretty much of straight up sweet malts. Nothing special about this at all. There is some fall spices in it, some pumpkin flavor in the taste but the malts are dominant. Not the worst taste, but it feels kind of cheap. Mouthfeel is fine for the taste and style. Light-moderate body with good carbonation, no alcohol warming to speak of. Not sure how much of this I would want to drink, the flavors are already getting off-balanced and kind of bad as I finish this one glass up. Not gonna get this one again.

This beer shows promise but there is a definite metallic maybe slightly sour tinge in the mid section of the beer which significantly detracts from its score. The beer pours a nice amber color with a smallish off white head, not much retention or lacing. This is a pretty low carbonation beer. The nose is pretty typical marzen, sweet grainy malts, caramel, some orange zest, maybe some earthiness. The taste is just off. I can detect what this beer could have been, and my first inclination was to check the expiration date. I'm at least 4 months inside "best served by" so that isn't the issue. There is just a bizarre slightly metallic, slightly sourish, slightly off hop bite taste that is the product perhaps of elements which just won't blend together. This is going down the drain, unfortunately.

Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a Killians Imperial Pint glass. I really liked the labeling on this one--nice Fall colors; pretty eye-catching. About a 2 finger head which shrank quickly to a film head. Spot lacing throughout the drink. Very traditional and pleasing medium bronze-mahogany hue.

Very faint malt, caramel aroma, which intensified upon aeration. No hint of hops that I can detect.

The taste is quite sweet, almost cloying; a bit sweeter than I like. A very faint hop taste in the finish, but not enough to balance the sweetness. While malt should dominate in a marzen, as it does here, there also needs to be some balance, so that the beer is not too sweet.

The mouthfeel, while pleasing, was a little too thin for the style. Carbonation was not overly aggressive.

This one makes a good session Marzen.

Overall, a good representation of the style and a good US alternative to the German brews available here. With a bit more balancing, this one could become very good.

This beer pours an amber-orange color with a nice white head. The aroma is slightly malty but more hoppy. The taste was good with a nice malty hoppy blend that really was refreshing. The aftertaste was very strong sweet taste which was kind of nice. It felt good going down and I could definately drink a few of these before I retired for the night. Overall a nice Oktoberfest.

Poured into a pint glass, a golden amber color. A two finger head that had lacing during the entire drink. Slighty sweet aroma with a hint of grains. Very slightly bitter aftertaste, but just added to the beer. Coated the mouth, and lingered for a while on the tongue. Very easy to drink, a pleasant beer.

A: Pours a dark amber color that sports red hues. White head dissipates quickly. Thin rim on the edge of the glass. Good lace.
S: Sweet caramel malts with a slight fruit hop infusion.
T/M: Good sweet caramel blast up front with a dark fruity presence. Toasted grains followed by a return to a more mellow fruityness. Slighly dry finish with a smokey/fruity aftertaste. Hops are also a bit noticeable here, but still faint. Medium bodied with a balance leaning more towards the syrupy caramel sweetness, which was too much for my tastes. Good zing of carbonation.
D: Good session O'fest from Paper City. Won't blow you away but definately a solid offering.

Pours a clear amber with a large foamy 2 finger head.The smell is a carmel malt and buttery mix.Taste wise,this is a nice malty,creamy beer.It does have a slight watery aftertaste,but it's still pretty good.Nuttiness is a flavor that really sticks out.The m/f is light,but not really well balanced.The watery aftertaste is the only setback.All in all,this is a pretty good brew and I'd try it again next Fall.

This beer was a lovely reddish-brown brew with a one and a half finger head. Although the head dissipated, it left lovely lacework on my pint glass.

The aroma was of caramel malts, a little nutty, a little buttery, with hints of spiciness. Not too bad.

Taste was of slightly fruity malt, no nuttiness, no butteriness. Bitterness was restrained. This one was all about the malt.

Mouthfeel was a little thin... drinkability was OK, this was a pretty good one as Oktoberfests go.

Tastes like sour mix poured into beer. I had to check the date on the bottle and it said January of '06. Poured a nice amber brown with a 2 centimet thick head. Nose is fairly malty. But the flavor makes me wince it is sour. Thought it was the bottle. So I dumped it in the sink and opened a second bottle. Same thing. There are other flavors like biscuits and toast around the sourness, but it was tough to focus on thos flavors. Mouthfeel was light and crisp but this beer was tough to drink.

Clear dark brownish amber topped with a 2 finger creamy off-white head, leaves webs of lacing.
Toasty malt aroma, not too light but not very toasted. With herb and floral notes.
Grainy, husky, toasty malt dominates the taste, with some floral and earthy hop in the background
Light to medium bodied. A nice fall seasonal.

22ozer bottle from somewhere close, Yankee Spirits, Spirit Haus, or maybe Town & Country.

Poured into an imperial pint glass, formed a 1/2" light beige head above the copper brew. Average to good lacing. Aroma is busy, with creamy, buttery, nutty, caramel malt flavors. Taste is nicely malted, yet still comes as well-balanced, but the strong, almost artificial sweet, buttery flavor is somewhat off-putting. Mouthfeel and drinkability are both good, if we could just cut out the dominant scent that detracts, we'd have something impressive.

Chugging along this month with the Oktoberfestbiers...

Pours dark golden amber, not a bad color. One-finger tall creamy head with good retention. Smells of alcohol with some fruity spicey notes. I would like more spice in the taste, light-to-medium hops with some malts, a nice balance. Not a bad taste for the style. A good consistent brew. Overall, I'd get it again.

Wow! This beer poured a clear golden/amber, nice sudsy head, that diminished, but left slight lacing all the way through, the smell is nice and complex, sweet smelling,faint sort of maple smell, the taste, is EXCELLENT!mild hops,and good carbonation hit the tongue 1st, followed my sweet malt, and again sort of a faint maple taste in there, maybe a bit of fruit, can't quite identify, mouthfeel is thin light and crisp, drinkability is exceptional, I could drink these all night, no problem, one of the best Oktoberfests that I've tried this season,

The beer pours an orangey caramel, great clarity, with an uneven froth of cream colored head. Some clumps of large bubbles, similar to the head you sometimes get with cask conditioned ale. It slowly settles into a thick film after a couple sips, lasting all the way through the pint, leaving rings of belgian lace on the glass.
The aroma brings up a deep, rich maltiness, replete with plenty of toastiness and caramel. Mild herbal german hopping, with a slight alcohol presence. Some vague apple and a slight oak scent. Clean aromas, with a nice balance.
The flavor starts with plentiful sweet malt at first. Loads of toasty caramel flavor coats the tongue, with a faint touch of smokiness. Full bodied, carried by fine bubbled carbonation. Very clean, trailing directly into some mild herbal hopping (my guess is hallertau?) and a slight alcohol presence in the swallow. No murkiness. Very smooth and easy drinking, perfect for brisk fall evenings.
A very well made marzen. Clean, flavorful and a pleasure to drink. This was one of my favorites from fall 2003. I'd love to try it on tap.

Deep golden orange color with a yellow-beige head that's thick and sticky, made of tiny tightly packed bubbles. Aroma is a bit spicy and hoppy, but mostly sweet malt and toffee. Flavor is very smooth, a bit sweet and malty, and a little doughey. Some butter and butterscotch lying beneath. Smooth and creamy mouthfeel, with a low overall hop profile, except for the bit that creeps in with the aftertaste. Very drinkable, one of the better domestic O-fests.