Zepptemberfest
French Broad River Brewing

 

 

22oz bottle. Poured out a clear, golden amber color with a small, off-white head of foam. It smelled of toasted caramel, toffee and grasses. Sweet maltiness with caramel and a nice bitter bite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

22 oz bottle into a pint glass. Pours a dark orange/copper with virtually no head. Mild carbonation. Lots of sweet corn, grass, some funk on the nose. First taste impressions: This is a sugary beer, with lots of corn; some apple flavors, mineral bitterness (which is needed to offset the cloying sugars). Thankfully it is not over carbonated and has some heft to it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

22 oz bottle served in a snifter.

Pours a clear orange-amber with a short-lived, sudsy head. Only a little bit of spotty lacing is left on the glass.

The aroma is simple but appealing: a soft, medium-roast malt.

The taste is a bit richer. There's a very nice blend of earthiness and spiciness from the light hops that mixes well with the solid

M: crisp with a light dryness in the finish. Near-medium body.

O: Not one of my favorite styles, but I found this version appealing and highly drinkable. Recommended for fans of Marzens.

 

Bought a 1 PT., 6 FL. OZ. bottle of this from the Bearden Beer Market in Knoxville, TN for $5.99. Poured from the Bright Orange/ Purple colored bottle w/ Blimps taking captives almost like a Classic "horror alien scene" into my 16oz Grand Teton Au Naturale Pint Glass. Has no freshness date on the bottle.

Aroma- A nice rich, vienna malt based aroma with tons of sweetness. Very clean and lager like but almost a caramel background.

Appearance- Pours a 1 finger head that has average retention. Has a dark copper colored body that is clear. Leaves thick lacing behind.

Flavor- Tons of malt and sweetness in the beginning. Has a medium amount of hop but finishes light in bitterness. Semi-dry finish as well.

Mouthfeel- Medium Bodied, Light-Medium Carbonation, Smooth, Creamy, and has a nice textured finish with sweet malts.

Overall Impression- Enjoying many from French Broad over the past month (on the trip to Asheville, NC), this one was a change of pace from them. For an Oktoberfest, very light, smooth, and had great character. Would definitely recommend for this style but there are better brews from French Broad I would tell you to hit up before this one.

Had on tap. Arrived a clear medium brown with a small head. Good lacing, though. Smelled quite citrusy with pineapple and grapefruit being noticeable. Flavor had touches of caramel malt with quite a bit of fruity esters. There was a tartness present as well. I saw that they brew this with a kolsch yeast which explains the fruityness. Not really my cup of tea.

 

 

 

bright amber with a good hint of orange. The ample carbonation led to the formation of a nice thick white head of lace about two inches tall. Good retention left behind some nice concentric rings of side glass lace and a nice frothy film on top. The aroma was very crisp, fresh with a nice grassy tone, some bready malts lingering in the back. The flavor followed right along, coming through with a big backbone of bread like malts with a very nice grassy kind of twang to it. Some nice little nuances of spice hiding in the back and a good little dry hoppy like finish to it. Nice light to medium body and ample carbonation gave a great smooth feel

Another one, I've been sitting on for far too long. As a big fan of a solid Marzen, I look forward to this...

a - opened the bottle and filled my capt lawrence taster tulip. classic caramel color, but the head was HUGE...and kept growing in the glass...super bubbly.

s - real malty, real nutmeggy...brown sugar...all the usual suspects.

t - taste follows the nose. nutmeg. brown sugar. caramel malts. biscutis. very toasted.

m - a bit fizzy and overcarbonated. biscuity.

o - overall not a bad marzen, but not the best. if you are in NC you'll have access to the Duck Rabbit marzen which is superior in my opinion, but this one is worth a try if you enjoy this fine style.

Comes out of the tap a semi-transparent coppery amber with a frothy, fine-bubbled, pale buttery-tan head. Aroma is fairly strong and malty with hints of spice and herbs. Malty flavor has clove, herbal and caramel hints for a well-rounded and satisfying taste. Texture is fairly smooth with an average tingle to it. Although this is advertised as an autumn beer, it is fine any time of year.

Appearance: Dispensed from the brewery taps a deep copper-hued body (like a newly minted penny) with a wispy, whitish head.

Smell: Faintly sweet-scented malted barley glutted with bready accents and lesser notes of herbal hops and fruity esters.

Taste: Sweet, bready, toasty German maltiness. Small hint of brown sugar and caramel sweetness folds in. Lightly earthy, herbaceous hops with ample bitterness present. Applesque fruitiness. Smidge more bitterness hangs around for the drying finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium-light body. Medium-light carbonation. Reasonably smooth mouthfeel.

Drinkability: A little different, what with the purported use of their Kölsch yeast, in much the same way Weyerbacher's Autumnfest and Magic Hat's Hex takes a less than traditional approach to the style, yeast-wise. With that in mind, it's alright.

22 oz. brown bottle with an outrageously cherry red and pink label and a triad of hovering zeppelins. Or is that 'Zeppelins', as this seems to be a tribute beer to THAT band... Poured to a pint glass.

Label shows: 5.8% Alc/Vol, IBU: 37, SRM: 9.7, O.G. 14.8

A: Pretty copper/auburn, filled with steady carbonation (clear pour, but for a little hazy silt - we'll chalk that up to a slight bit of age - a late summer/early fall release?). Excellent initial head, a mounded 2-fingers of off-white sudsiness. Falls away fairly quickly, but leaves ringing foam in wide bands.

S: Nutty and slightly corny smell, then dried berries and something like mint - all very curious. A hint of oxidation, one that reminds me of the tobacco-sweet decay of my old baseball cards.

T: Malty caramel sugars and grain and roasted nuts - enjoy malty beers and you should enjoy this. Fruitiness like apple skins and raisins, a following hint of tart twang may be a little out of place but isn't derogatory at all. Cocoa powder grows more apparent as the glass warms.

M: Crisp and fully carbonated feel, a springy medium body and lightly sticking, but appropriately coating, caramel malt finish.

D: Could be a little tired and not an outstanding version of the style, but a solid one for certain. Sweetness is held in check, nice fruity esters, curtailed bitterness in the finish. No need to go out of my way for more, but I'd be happy to have more if it landed in my glass.

Thank you to Matt/craytonic for the chance to try this one.

On-tap at Taco Mac Metropolis in Atlanta.

Pours a slightly hazy dark amber color with a one-finger slightly off-white head. The head recedes into a wispy layer on top leaving decent lacing.

Smells of grainy caramel malts with mild amounts of leafy and earthy hop aromas. Also present are very slight hints of bready aromas.

Tastes very similar to how it smells. Moderately dry caramel malt flavors kick things off and are joined quickly by leafy and slightly herbal hop flavors. Midway through the sip the hop flavors dry out the flavor profile further with the addition of more earthy flavors. Finally, as with the aroma, slight bready flavors make a brief appearance near the end of the sip before fading into a moderately bitter ending.

Mouthfeel is good. It's got a nice thickness with solid carbonation.

Drinkability is also good. I finished my glass without a problem and could have another.

Overall I thought this was a good beer, just not a good oktoberfest. The sweet malt and heavy bread-like flavors I look forward to in the style was missing, instead this beer drank like an ESB. A good beer but look elsewhere if you're in the mood for an oktoberfest.

Clear reddish brown colour with about a finger thick sandy coloured head that drops to about an eighth inch.
Smells like sort of cross between an Oktoberfest and an American take on an ESB; sweet and malty, but with a bit of an earthy hoppiness, too.
Taste, too, seems to be a blend of the afore mentioned styles. It isn't bad, I simply wasn't expecting...this.
Mouthfeel seems a bit heavy both for the style and to just be 6,1%.
Overall, not a bad beer, just not what you'd really expect from something calling itself an Oktoberfest.