Tuberfest
Lagunitas Brewing Company

the beer itself is actually excellent, i think this is more of a marketing blunder than a problematic brew, but i think it will probably end up stashed away in the rare miss pile for lagunitas, especially in this onehitter series, which has been fantastic since it started. the name is weird, seems to suggest potatoes, which are not in the recipe, its idaho 7 hops, a bad potato joke that likely didnt land for many. its also a little weird as a marzen, being this strong and this modern on the hops, probably a little too robust for most fans of the classic take on the style, but i kind of dig the experimental play with it, we dont see much of that, but i think the style lends itself well to having a little fun. this is amber colored, rich and frothy headed, and lagered down to fairly dry for what it is. the nose has some generic malt richness to it, less european on the grain side than the best of these, but the idaho 7 hops are cool in it, a little onion thing up front, but then juicy citrus and a sort of herbal clover thing, nice balance, moderate bitterness it seems, minerals all through this, good water chemistry for the style, seems relatively authentic in its spirit at least. the flavor is good, less clash between the new school hops and the old world base beer than anticipated, the hops balance some of the baked heft of the grain, the herbal bitterness aspect of the idaho 7 here is not way off from noble, and the fruitiness in the absence of spiciness on the swallow is fully agreeable, slightly oily and west coasty, almost ipa meets oktoberfest. the extra alcohol isnt really part of the experience in terms of aroma or flavor, but the sessionability the style normally boasts is gone, and after three or four of these you really feel it. i liked this, evidently a little better than most others. i could use a little more german character to the lager yeast, its a little plain there, but overall the beer is clever and well made. they should rename it and bring it back around next fall...

 

 

 

 

It was a year or so ago since I had it, but I remember being disappointed with this beer.

 

 

 

 

 

Pours a clear amber color. 1/2 inch head of an off-white color. Good retention and decent lacing. Smells of strong sweet malt, alcohol, earthiness, hint of citrus hops, and a hint of piney hops. Fits the style of a Marzen / Oktoberfest. Mouth feel is sharp and clean, with an average carbonation level. Tastes of strong sweet malt, alcohol, strong earthiness, hint of citrus hops, and a hint of piney hops. Overall, definitely a malt bomb that is dominated by the earthiness.

 

Poured into a mug, the appearance was a ruddy dark orange somewhat leaning to hazy brown. Nice transparency. Thin white foamy lacing clings nicely all around the glass. The aroma starts off with some sweet to bitter earthy, herbal, grassy, and piney hops. Oktoberfest levels of pure nutty/caramel/toffee sweetness slides in with enough balance to make sure the drinker knows that this is an Oktoberfest beer. The flavor leans a balanced hoppy to malty sweet. Malty rich nutty and toffee/caramel aftertaste leads into a quick sweet finish. On the palate, this one sat about a light to medium on the body with a nice sessionable smooth feel to it. Low carbonation. Acceptable semi-stickiness. Overall, this was a pretty good Oktoberfest that I could have again.

 

 

 

 

 

Dark copper in color with excellent clarity. There's an inch of creamy beige foam on top that subsides to a fingernail after a few minutes. There's a subtle light malt note on the nose. I'm tasting a very malty beer that finishes very sweet. I can definitely taste that cedarlike note from the hops and it seems a bit out of place. The mouth is very dry, smooth and crisp.