Oktoberfest
von Trapp Brewing

Very mild on flavor, not enough marzen gojg on her for me. This one might work for your craft beer shy friends.

Meh

Sent my direction by @WunderLlama during NBS BIF #16.


Very heady on the pour. Lots of wet bubbles in the body as well. Lovely clear caramel body.

Nose is toasty and bright with floral/spicy hop notes. Creamy bready malts and a little bit of caramel sweet.

Bitter up front with that same floral/spicy jump, but also a bit of lemon citrus. Toasty malts and some honey sweetness that meets the floral note from the hops to create a lovely little third act.

Moderate dry body with a finish that builds to be quite bitter in an earthy manner.

This is quite enjoyable, thanks for sending it my way Maynard!

 

 

Clear amber pour with an off white, 2 finger head. The retention is quite good, and there's some lacing on the glass.
Nose is light, but I get a biscuit aroma.
There's a lot of bread/biscuit flavors here, slightly toasted flavor. Some caramel hits on the backside. Slight bitterness comes in also on the back
Clean crisp body.
Solid American Oktoberfest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pour is burnt orange colored with a light amount of carbonation. The taste is toasted malts, caramel, grains, & faint hops. Cheers! B

 

 

 

Pours a coppery-orange color with an off-white head. The smell is of malt, hops, and some caramel. The taste is great but somewhat lighter than expected. Overall, a really nice Octoberfest beer.

 

A: The apperence is perfect for what one would expect from a Marzen. Pours a nice deep amber color with white foam as it's head.

S: Smell is pretty much what one would expect from this style. Hints of toast, baked bread, and floral armoas from the hops are present here.

T: Not bad but it is slightly more hoppy than I would prefer from a Marzen. IBU should be between 20-25 rather than 30.

M: Medium bodied lager. Drinkable but better if you sip rather than crush.

O: Not a bad Marzen, 3.75/5.

 

12oz can purchased from the fridge as a six-pack for $10.99. "Best by 11/21/22"; this may have been canned as recently as 7/21/22 as this just hit stores. In that case, this beer would be just 12 days old.

Look: Pours a beautiful clear copper color. There was a nice off-white head that quickly receded to almost nothing, leaving a faint lace on the edge of the glass.

Smell: This smells really nice. Up front, it's very bready and mildly yeasty with sweet malts and slightly earthy, subtle floral hop notes and orange blossom honey. Caramel toffee, almost chocolate note on the back end. I get this interesting vanilla cream soda type of note on the back end, which is probably an effect of the Munich malts. This sounds weird, but I also get a subtle dry-roasted peanut note on the finish.

Taste: That is a well-made Oktoberfest Marzen Lager. It's bready, malt-forward, with a very mildly bitter finish that has floral hop notes. It has nice caramel malt flavor that is nicely tempered by just the right amount of bitterness. Notes of orange peel and pith on the finish, which linger mildly yet long and ultimately outlast the maltiness. Some of that vanilla cream soda perception from the aroma comes through on the finish on the palate, which is cool.

Feel: The mouthfeel is medium bodied with a bit of chewiness. Carbonation seems appropriate, probably wouldn't hurt if it was just a bit more carbonated as I drank it quickly yet it seems to have gone flat towards the bottom of the glass.

Overall: It's very tasty. This is my first Oktoberfest beer of the season and the first time that I have had von Trapp Oktoberfest. I think that it is also the first time that I have had an Oktoberfest as early as August! For me, it's really good and I enjoy it. However, I'm not sure how sessionable it would be for me (and it's probably not designed to be) because it is so malty. That being said, they made it to be quite balanced and tasty.

Clear amber-bronze with modest effervescence and a finger of off-white head that leaves moderate lacing.

Just a kiss of cherry-and-raisin sweetness in the nose.

Just a hint of that carries over to the taste, which has light bread, mineral water and some nice earthy hop bitterness.

Medium bodied for the style with tight, low-key carbonation.

Excellent balance. Very quaffable.

Von Trapp Brewing "Oktoberfest"
12 fl. oz. can "BEST BY 12/02/21 10:26"

Notes via stream of consciousness: It's poured a hazy deep amber/copper colored body beneath a full head of off-white foam. Normally a hazy Märzen would be an issue but no one seems to care anymore. The aroma is as expected: sweetish, bready, and caramelish with some floral and spicy noble hops in the background. The taste is also as expected given the aroma. The hops remain floral and spicy... perhaps more peppery than spicy; I doubt these include any Saazer, Tettnanger is more like it. That peppery spiciness helps to balance the sweetish, bready malt along with a median bitterness that's somewhere between 30 on 40 IUBs. In the mouth it's medium bodied and crisp. The head held up really well and I still have a solid surface covering beneath walls of lace. It ticks all of the boxes for the style (except for the clarity) so it's just a matter of the intangibles, or the overall qualities that make a beer great or not. I think it's pretty damned good but not a classic.
Review #7,825

 

 

12oz can into a pint glass. Best by 12/2/21, so a couple weeks inside the wire here.

Looks very good in the glass. Medium amber body with a full white head. This persists in good form throughout leaving scattered lacing.

Sweet caramel malt aroma.

On tasting, fair amount going on. Solid caramel malt base. Out of this a burgeoning bitterness arises.

Mouth above medium, finish a lasting bitterness, and a little drying.

Overall, and I understand bitterness is not what you want in a Marzen, this is actually a pleasant touch, cuts the sweet. Well, smashes, not cuts. Marzen purists might not want to go here.

 

 

Dropped off at our table just as some autumnal storm clouds were rolling in, the appearance is chill hazed amber to brown with a khaki foam head that retains well as a thick, lumpy blanket curled at the ridges and leaving spongy lacing.

Uniquely hoppy, herbal and yeasty, exhibiting notes of butterscotch, pine and toastiness, it's crushable, yet almost astringent, with a touch of metal in the hops.

The fluffy medium-full body finishes semi-dry, where a hint of molasses comes out.

Had two cans shipped from Half Time
Pale amber/golden color with a fantastic head, great retention.
Toasted malts aroma with a good hop note.
Taste is very much toasted malt forward with spicy hops kicking in mid palate finishing semi sweet with some bitterness.
Light to medium body with moderate carbonation.
This is a nice one!

 

Clear amber appearance with a large off white head and little lacing. Subdued aroma of baked bread and a light touch of sweetness. Earthy, spicy flavors meet up with a toasty malt presence. Sweetness is still evident but not a major factor. Some spice in the aftertaste. Dry, medium bodied, moderately carbonated, short lived finish.

It is hard for me to be enthusiastic about non-traditional recipe in a very traditional style like the O-Fest. Von Trapp's is at 35 IBU which is in the non-traditional range. But, it is a well-structured beer.

Von Trapp's Looks the traditional O-Fest amber and a respectable foam. First Smells are the malts, quickly followed by grassy hops (OK, but not traditional) and, then, some faint lingering spicy hops which do more than linger throughout the Taste. Drying, bitter hops take over what could still be a sweet, malty drink. Good bubbles and festive in my mouth.

As for my micro review, there are things to like about von Trapp: a taproom in picturesque Vermont, family multi-generational business, finding a good recipe and gradually expanding to share it. They also focus on lagers, which not enough micros do. I may even have reason to visit Stowe and, if I do, I will visit von Trapp.

Pours golden copper red with a nice head. Smells bready and fruit. Tasted of carmaly toast and fruit. Beer is light bodied and very easy drinking, I do recommend highly

 

Best by 12/29/21

We’ve arrived at the last day of the Oktoberfest tasting, finishing off with a beer from one of the lager kings, von Trapp. Yet another beer provided by Half Time, the last of the beers in their mixed pack. I’ve only had 2 other beers from them so far, but if those were anything to go by then this will also be great. Let’s crack it open

Pours a cloudy amber gold with 2 fingers of soapy white head that slowly fades to a thin cap and leaves decent lacing

Oh yeah, there's some definite bite in the nose on this one, pushing it closer to a Festbier. I'm picking up on aromas of earthy hops, white pepper, pale malt, light toast, toffee, and some honey to smooth it out a bit

In taste, It absolutely keeps up the promise of the aroma, bringing a super firm bitterness. On the front end of the sip I'm tasting spicy hops, white pepper, crackery malt, lemon peel, and light caramel. The swallow carries on with its bitterness, bringing notes of peppery hops, pale malt, toasted grain, and light caramel

A medium light body pairs with gentle carbonation, resulting in a crisp and zesty beer. Finishes mostly dry with a firm bitterness

This one was very good, though from von Trapp I expect nothing less. A nice way to end off the tasting thread

 

 

Poured from a can into a pint glass. Pours orange red with a fluffy white head. Smells of bright fruit and caramelized grain. Tastes of caramelized grain with bright fruitiness. Beer is light bodied and very easy drinking, good carbonation. Overall, a very good beer.