Oktoberfest Lager
Smuttynose Brewing Company

12 oz bottle, best before 2/25/18. 6.7% ABV listed on the bottle.

Deep gold color with great clarity. A large, frothy white head shows great retention. Nice looking Festbier.

Heavy toasted malt aroma. The malt is certainly on the strong side, drawing a lot of Bock similarities. But the bitterness is restrained just enough to me to keep it from feeling like a Maibock. Very big on the toasted malt throughout. Medium-full bodied and very clean.

I'm a fan, which is no surprise to me, as I generally hold Smuttynose beers in high regard.

The pour is bronze colored with a fair amount of carbonation. The taste is sweet roasted malt, brown bread crust, caramel, grains, & a hint of honey. Overall, this was a good Oktoberfest but I do agree with it being a tad overly sweet. Cheers! B

 

Poured into a narrow imperial pint glass: color is gold, some chill haze, head is lighter tan with mostly fine bubbles, spotty lacing on the glass sides, solid head top remains.

Smell is sweeter malt, toast, biscuit, munich malt grape nuts notes, very light herbal hops.

Taste is similar - sweeter malt is dominant, some toast, biscuit, munich/grape nuts flavor, crisp hops.

Mouthfeel is low/moderate carbonation, moderate/strong sweetness, low bitterness.

Overall an overly sweet Oktoberfest - base flavors are on point but just bit too much lingering sweetness.

This wasvan October's that had a great look, decent scent, but just didn't have that "it" factor to, well, 'it'. It was enjoyable, just not memorable...

This one pours a light amber-ish color, with a small head, and lots of lacing.

This smells like honey, caramel, and breadiness.

I haven’t had Smuttynose in forever, and I was kinda hoping that this would be better than it was. It’s too sweet, with not enough crispness or balance. There’s some decent breadiness but too much caramel and toffee for the style.

This is medium bodied, reasonably drinkable, and goes down easy enough.

This didn’t really hit the right notes for me, personally.

 

 

Well here’s one I forgot about. I’ve had it since about October but I’m not even sure when it was canned, probably a month or 2 before that. It’s not the best condition for this but I’m in the mood for the style for a warmer winter day. Let’s crack it open and see what it has to offer

Pours a cloudy amber gold with a finger of off white head that slowly fades to a ring and leaves minimal lacing

It still seems fresh in the nose, sweet yet balanced. I’m picking up on aromas of toasted grain, sweet honey, doughy malt, orange zest, black pepper, toffee, and light black tea

It definitely trends sweeter in taste, almost syrupy towards the back end which is quite odd. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting toffee, orange zest, black tea, sweet honey, and brown sugar. The swallow brings notes of sweet honey, black tea, stick caramel, orange marmalade, bready malt, and toasted grain

A light body pairs with gentle carbonation, resulting in a slick and watery beer. Finishes overly sweet and sticky

This doesn’t really feel like a freshness issue but I guess I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt. Probably better fresh but probably not by much

 

 

2022 canning (released on 8/29/22, so presumably canned within a few days of that date); consumed on 10/19/22

Pours a clear, bronzed copper body capped with two fingers of fluffy, off-white foam; decent head retention leaves a creamy sliver of cap, a thin, frothy collar, and a moderate display of webby lacing encompassing the walls of the glass.

Aroma opens to a strong minerality easing to fresh toffee as an expansive marzipan peak washes over the bouquet; spritzy yeast undertones develop over time, while sweet bread accents the mildest roast prodding the close.

Taste features a dominant minerality upfront accented with doughy yeast subtleties and deepening caramel into the mid-palate, while tinges of roast are enmeshed in brown sugar and overarching notes of honeyed toast mark the finishing impressions.

Mouthfeel shows a medium-light body and a moderate carbonation, drying over the mid-palate to a flaky crispness consistent as wispy roast grazes the back end to a brief and quenching finish.

A robust wave of malt sensation defines this flashy Märzen, opting for temporary peaks of indulgent, pseudo-sweet richness in favor of a more uniform construction; the end result is neither impressive nor obtuse, instead presenting simply and bluntly.

 

Oktoberfest

Smuttynose Brewing Co.

Märzen

A sweet and toasty malt headiness. Slick, yet smooth with a bit of spice and pepper. Tangy green hops are very, very subtle as it should be. Clean finish with a slightly earthy, bitter finish.

I was expecting more from this one. 16 oz can poured an amber dark gold color, small head that receded quickly. Smell was very faint toast malt, almost smelled flat. Taste confirms the flatness, almost like a flat cola taste. Not sure if something went wrong with the canning here, it just tastes really weak and watery, definitely undercarbonated. It was worth a shot, just strange because I’ve had this one a few years back and it tasted much different (better) than this. Also the abv dropped about a whole percentage, was 6.3% now 5.4%.

 

 

12/9/18...Pours clean clear copper, light fizzed foam. Malty nose - breads, caramels. Quick fast peppery malt. Toffees too. Disrupting bitter in the back. Overall, very clean. Malty lager.

Poured from 12oz bottle into Seidel mug. Best before February 3rd, 2019.

L: Honey gold, thing off white head has below average retention.

S: A bit too grainy, almost Adjunct-ish, with a corny note. Not enough honey.

T: A bit better here, still follows the nose closely.

F: Light, below average carbonation, clean.

O: Meh Oktoberfest.

Poured into a glass mug.
The appearance was a nice looking semi-hazed dark orange color with a decent transparency about it. Some carbonation could be seen rising at an adequate pace. Slight lace ran around the glass nicely.
The aroma had some toast, diacetyl, nuts, floral hops and a touch of yeasty/doughiness.
The flavor mildly leaned into the sweetness of the prior mentioned aromas. Diacetyl comes back for an acceptable level. Mild aftertaste of toast, nuts and diacetyl.
The mouthfeel was about medium bodied with a fair sessionability about it. Diacetyl maintains an adequate backing but not providing enough distractibility to burden my palate. Carbonation and ABV felt on par. Very nice smooth finish with some yeastiness and nuts.
Overall, though the diacetyl is noticeable throughout the beer, it stayed at a decent enough level to not harbor anything bad about the beer. Maybe again.