Festie Oktoberfest Lager (Heavy Rotation Series No. 07)
Starr Hill Brewery
- From:
- Starr Hill Brewery
- Virginia, United States
- Style:
- Märzen
Ranked #529 - ABV:
- 4.8%
- Score:
- 74
Ranked #38,725 - Avg:
- 3.19 | pDev: 18.18%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 64
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Oct 23, 2024
- Added:
- Sep 10, 2008
- Wants:
- 1
- Gots:
- 11
SCORE
74
Okay
74
Okay
Smooth and malty with a clean finish, this is our tribute to the German tradition of Märzen lagers.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Reviewed by brewerburgundy from West Virginia
3.34/5 rDev +4.7%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25
3.34/5 rDev +4.7%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25
12oz can, stange glass, canned 9/3/24.
Fine orange fall leaf color and a crackling, vanishing old paper colored head. It’s chill hazed.
Rich caramel and toasted bread.
Malty, but not very sweet. The flavors are toasty caramel, grainy bread, bitter alcohol, and a slightly metallic bitterness. Most of the right elements are there, but the finish is just strangely vegetal.
Medium-light body and carbonation.
Personally I now prefer Festbier for the season. Not this beer’s fault, but something is missing here.
Oct 23, 2024Fine orange fall leaf color and a crackling, vanishing old paper colored head. It’s chill hazed.
Rich caramel and toasted bread.
Malty, but not very sweet. The flavors are toasty caramel, grainy bread, bitter alcohol, and a slightly metallic bitterness. Most of the right elements are there, but the finish is just strangely vegetal.
Medium-light body and carbonation.
Personally I now prefer Festbier for the season. Not this beer’s fault, but something is missing here.
Reviewed by impossiblyjacob from Virginia
2.23/5 rDev -30.1%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.25
2.23/5 rDev -30.1%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.25
I've been drinking a lot of this style of beer lately, and this one really doesn't cut it, sorry to say. Tastes watery with lemon. Which seems not right.
Nov 14, 2023Reviewed by BeerAndGasMasks from Virginia
3.28/5 rDev +2.8%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25
3.28/5 rDev +2.8%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25
From the bottle, it pours a clear amber color with a modest white head that soon diminishes to a ring. The nose gets caramel and malt. The mouth gets a sweetish malt brew with roasted malt notes and some caramel.
Oct 05, 2021
Reviewed by BJB13 from Maryland
3.22/5 rDev +0.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3
3.22/5 rDev +0.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3
12 ounce bottle poured into a tumbler style pint glass.
Bottled 9/14/20
L: Mostly cear light amber, slow-rising bubbles, head is off-white, less than one finger and only lasts about a minute.
S: Nose is weak, limited spicy hop and rain water aromas.
T: Starting more malty and finishing dry and bitter, toast, spicy and floral hops.
F: High-ish carbonation, medium-light body, crisp, finishes with a bite, no creaminess.
O: OK, average at best.
Nov 01, 2020Bottled 9/14/20
L: Mostly cear light amber, slow-rising bubbles, head is off-white, less than one finger and only lasts about a minute.
S: Nose is weak, limited spicy hop and rain water aromas.
T: Starting more malty and finishing dry and bitter, toast, spicy and floral hops.
F: High-ish carbonation, medium-light body, crisp, finishes with a bite, no creaminess.
O: OK, average at best.
Reviewed by milkshakebeersucks from Maryland
3.09/5 rDev -3.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
3.09/5 rDev -3.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Bright, mildly hazed amber appearance with an average size white head and modest lacing. Aroma of cereal grains and toasted malts turned sweeter as it warmed. Sweet, vegetal flavors with little depth or complexity.. Thin palate, well carbonated, with a metallic aftertaste and a short lived finish. Had higher expectations.
Oct 26, 2020
Reviewed by akaizer from Illinois
3.27/5 rDev +2.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
3.27/5 rDev +2.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
From a bottle. Poured a very light amber and clear amber with an inch of foam head. Scent is on the subtle side with a touch of caramel maltiness but generally unassuming. Taste is a bit unexpected, not quite malty or slightly hoppy enough. Feel is on the weaker side with a slightly bitter aftertaste. Overall it is not a bad beer, but not quite what I am looking for in an oktoberfest.
Sep 09, 2020
Reviewed by PhilHeinricke from Virginia
1.62/5 rDev -49.2%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 1 | feel: 2 | overall: 1.5
1.62/5 rDev -49.2%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 1 | feel: 2 | overall: 1.5
Sewage
One of the few things to look forward to as the summer approaches its end is the release of the Oktoberfest beers. These are my favorite beers. I love the Oktoberfest. Samuel Adams is my favorite, but in mid-August I saw this Starr Hill Festie Oktoberfest Lager on the shelf at TJ's. I figured, hey, it's Oktoberfest. It's gotta be good. right?
Wrong. This was awful. I wish I could say that it tasted "blah", but it just had an unpleasant and offensive taste like cooked spinach. I also wish I could say that it made me sick. Then at least I could purge it. One of the worse beers I've ever had.
Aug 25, 2020One of the few things to look forward to as the summer approaches its end is the release of the Oktoberfest beers. These are my favorite beers. I love the Oktoberfest. Samuel Adams is my favorite, but in mid-August I saw this Starr Hill Festie Oktoberfest Lager on the shelf at TJ's. I figured, hey, it's Oktoberfest. It's gotta be good. right?
Wrong. This was awful. I wish I could say that it tasted "blah", but it just had an unpleasant and offensive taste like cooked spinach. I also wish I could say that it made me sick. Then at least I could purge it. One of the worse beers I've ever had.
Reviewed by WickedBeer from Alabama
3.79/5 rDev +18.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75
3.79/5 rDev +18.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75
Took home bronze at GABF this year, so I had to give it a go.
Golden amber coloration, very light-bodied. The head is a pleasant off-white, frothing up to a couple fingers in height but settling quickly.
The nose is good, characterized by sweet malt and bread, with milder components of caramel and a touch of yeast on the end. There's a toasted barley quality throughout that really helps bring everything together.
Clear malt character leading the way on the palate. Again, bready like on the nose but with a fuller feel. There's a touch of tannic yeast on the tail that imparts a little bit of lingering bitterness, but it works in the beers favor. A classic flavor profile that did well to keep a couple of unique qualities to it in order to set it apart.
A very smooth-drinking Märzen. That soft bready mouthfeel continues throughout, with a medium carbonation that really softens as the beer approaches ideal serving temperature.
Oct 21, 2019Golden amber coloration, very light-bodied. The head is a pleasant off-white, frothing up to a couple fingers in height but settling quickly.
The nose is good, characterized by sweet malt and bread, with milder components of caramel and a touch of yeast on the end. There's a toasted barley quality throughout that really helps bring everything together.
Clear malt character leading the way on the palate. Again, bready like on the nose but with a fuller feel. There's a touch of tannic yeast on the tail that imparts a little bit of lingering bitterness, but it works in the beers favor. A classic flavor profile that did well to keep a couple of unique qualities to it in order to set it apart.
A very smooth-drinking Märzen. That soft bready mouthfeel continues throughout, with a medium carbonation that really softens as the beer approaches ideal serving temperature.
Reviewed by Pantalones from Virginia
3.59/5 rDev +12.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
3.59/5 rDev +12.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Last bottle of two or three picked up as part of a mixed six-pack; bottling date is August 23rd, 2018.
Poured into a little mug my girlfriend and I snuck out of an Applebee's a month or so ago. Color is a medium orangey-brown; off-white foam on top initially forms a decent little layer but quickly fades to almost nothing but a ring around the edges and a few thin patchy bits in the middle. Quite clear, with an abundance of rising bubbles.
Smell is faint, seems to have a nice slightly sweet bready thing to it though. Slightly toasty. After a sip or two it's almost reminding me a little of bran flake cereal.
Flavor is pretty nice -- brown bread, a bit of sweetness, slightly toasty, similar to the smell but with much more "oomph" to it. Surprisingly dry on the end considering the sweeter malty flavors. Seems like a pretty well-balanced beer. The sweet-malty type flavors do seem to linger a bit longer after a few sips, but just for a few seconds at most. Does seem to linger longer toward the end of the glass, but it's a very nice malt flavor (and it never comes across as leaning too far in the "sweet" direction rather than "semi-dry but malty") so I don't mind that one bit.
Feel is a bit fizzy at first, medium-bodied I'd say. Especially considering it's only 4.8%; feels heftier than most beers in the "light beer to standard cheap lager" range for sure. Pretty nice.
Overall, a pretty nice little beer. Not sure why the ratings for this one are so low.
Nov 28, 2018Poured into a little mug my girlfriend and I snuck out of an Applebee's a month or so ago. Color is a medium orangey-brown; off-white foam on top initially forms a decent little layer but quickly fades to almost nothing but a ring around the edges and a few thin patchy bits in the middle. Quite clear, with an abundance of rising bubbles.
Smell is faint, seems to have a nice slightly sweet bready thing to it though. Slightly toasty. After a sip or two it's almost reminding me a little of bran flake cereal.
Flavor is pretty nice -- brown bread, a bit of sweetness, slightly toasty, similar to the smell but with much more "oomph" to it. Surprisingly dry on the end considering the sweeter malty flavors. Seems like a pretty well-balanced beer. The sweet-malty type flavors do seem to linger a bit longer after a few sips, but just for a few seconds at most. Does seem to linger longer toward the end of the glass, but it's a very nice malt flavor (and it never comes across as leaning too far in the "sweet" direction rather than "semi-dry but malty") so I don't mind that one bit.
Feel is a bit fizzy at first, medium-bodied I'd say. Especially considering it's only 4.8%; feels heftier than most beers in the "light beer to standard cheap lager" range for sure. Pretty nice.
Overall, a pretty nice little beer. Not sure why the ratings for this one are so low.
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