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Oktöberface
Solemn Oath Brewery
- From:
- Solemn Oath Brewery
- Illinois, United States
- Style:
- Märzen
Ranked #225 - ABV:
- 6.2%
- Score:
- 84
Ranked #21,961 - Avg:
- 3.72 | pDev: 13.17%
- Reviews:
- 15
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Aug 21, 2023
- Added:
- Sep 23, 2012
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 3
Rich caramel and toasted malt flavors are balanced by a bright grassy hop character in this full-bodied, smooth American version of the traditional German-style lager.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by harrylee773:
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by GuyFawkes from Illinois
3.99/5 rDev +7.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
3.99/5 rDev +7.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Canned 7/26/23; drank 8/20/23 @ the Yarchives.
Semi-opaque dark orange appearance.
A violent pour yielded a huge khaki head; strong, frothy lacing remained.
Acorn, mild caramel & faint orange peel notes in the nose.
Creamy medium thick mouthfeel.
Acorn, mild caramel & faint banana flavors up front; faint brown sugar notes on the finish.
Not sure this is "to style", but it's a nice fall sipper.
Aug 21, 2023Semi-opaque dark orange appearance.
A violent pour yielded a huge khaki head; strong, frothy lacing remained.
Acorn, mild caramel & faint orange peel notes in the nose.
Creamy medium thick mouthfeel.
Acorn, mild caramel & faint banana flavors up front; faint brown sugar notes on the finish.
Not sure this is "to style", but it's a nice fall sipper.
Reviewed by illtexzona from Illinois
2.3/5 rDev -38.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5
2.3/5 rDev -38.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5
Complete and utter trash. Nothing Marzen about it. It's all hops no malt. Don't label it as American style, put hoppy. Add a description or something. Someone looking for a Marzen will be disappointed.
Aug 20, 2022Reviewed by dano213 from Pennsylvania
4.25/5 rDev +14.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.25/5 rDev +14.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
12oz can purchased from the fridge for $2.49 as a single. Canned on 7/23/2021, so this is more than 2 1/2 months old.
Look: Very nice appearance - pours a very pretty golden orange color with a slightly cloudy haze and effervescent bubbles rising up the glass. Has a nice off-white head that receded to a thin layer with some signs of lacing.
Smell: The aroma is very interesting. Right off the bat, I get strong spice notes including clove and cinnamon perhaps, with some other floral notes. There are some nice citrus notes as well. Underneath those perfumy notes, there is a nice bread crust aroma with some sweet caramel maltiness.
Taste: Very tasty. This is probably not a very traditional marzen-style lager but I don't really care because it's delicious. It's crisp and refreshing with a very nice balance of malt up front and hoppiness on the back end. The spice flavors from the nose also come through prominently in the taste and they give a nice warm feel. Nice, moderately bitter finish. I think that this is probably much more aggressively hopped than traditional Marzen-style lagers. A pleasant, lingering maltiness that is reminiscent of molasses and mildly spiced gingerbread cookies.
Feel: The mouthfeel is medium and full-bodied for its weight class, a bit chewy. Nicely carbonated.
Overall: My first Solemn Oath beer, never heard of this brewery before. This is a nice American take on a Marzen lager. I like this a lot, enough to pick up a four pack when I go back. There's something that's just really enjoyable about this beer. It's a bit of a hybrid that reminds me of a cross between a malty Oktoberfest lager and an American style Maibock like Rogue Dead Guy Ale and a hoppy lager like Bitburger/Sierra Nevada Triple Hop'd Lager. I think that this beer would be an awesome beer to use in my beer bread recipe!
Oct 12, 2021Look: Very nice appearance - pours a very pretty golden orange color with a slightly cloudy haze and effervescent bubbles rising up the glass. Has a nice off-white head that receded to a thin layer with some signs of lacing.
Smell: The aroma is very interesting. Right off the bat, I get strong spice notes including clove and cinnamon perhaps, with some other floral notes. There are some nice citrus notes as well. Underneath those perfumy notes, there is a nice bread crust aroma with some sweet caramel maltiness.
Taste: Very tasty. This is probably not a very traditional marzen-style lager but I don't really care because it's delicious. It's crisp and refreshing with a very nice balance of malt up front and hoppiness on the back end. The spice flavors from the nose also come through prominently in the taste and they give a nice warm feel. Nice, moderately bitter finish. I think that this is probably much more aggressively hopped than traditional Marzen-style lagers. A pleasant, lingering maltiness that is reminiscent of molasses and mildly spiced gingerbread cookies.
Feel: The mouthfeel is medium and full-bodied for its weight class, a bit chewy. Nicely carbonated.
Overall: My first Solemn Oath beer, never heard of this brewery before. This is a nice American take on a Marzen lager. I like this a lot, enough to pick up a four pack when I go back. There's something that's just really enjoyable about this beer. It's a bit of a hybrid that reminds me of a cross between a malty Oktoberfest lager and an American style Maibock like Rogue Dead Guy Ale and a hoppy lager like Bitburger/Sierra Nevada Triple Hop'd Lager. I think that this beer would be an awesome beer to use in my beer bread recipe!
Reviewed by ZebulonXZogg from Illinois
3.67/5 rDev -1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.67/5 rDev -1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
L: Pours a hazy copper color, nice white head, nice lacing.
S: Aroma of fresh bread, honey and a hint of citrus.
T: Some honey sweetness, bread crust. Some funk.
F: Medium bodied, nicely carbonated.
O: Not a bad beer, but ain't my go to Oktoberfest.
Oct 06, 2021S: Aroma of fresh bread, honey and a hint of citrus.
T: Some honey sweetness, bread crust. Some funk.
F: Medium bodied, nicely carbonated.
O: Not a bad beer, but ain't my go to Oktoberfest.
Reviewed by thebeers from Pennsylvania
3.74/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
3.74/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Pours a clear golden-bronze color with a finger of light tan head that leaves nice rings of lacing.
Sweet aroma with hints of candied orange and bread. That breadiness lends a certain dryness to the nose, despite the overall impression being sweet.
The taste follows. Candied orange strikes first, almost like a float on top of what’s really quite light breadiness and the earthy bitterness of the base. That candied orange and a touch of bergamot-heavy Earl Gray tea linger in the aftertaste. Tasted blind, I’d probably take this for a dry-hopped ESB or some other British style given its earthiness.
Light to medium bodied with somewhat prickly carbonation that keeps things lively.
Definitely not something I’d want to drink all day by the liter, but tasty and enjoyable in a 12-ounce serving.
Sep 19, 2021Sweet aroma with hints of candied orange and bread. That breadiness lends a certain dryness to the nose, despite the overall impression being sweet.
The taste follows. Candied orange strikes first, almost like a float on top of what’s really quite light breadiness and the earthy bitterness of the base. That candied orange and a touch of bergamot-heavy Earl Gray tea linger in the aftertaste. Tasted blind, I’d probably take this for a dry-hopped ESB or some other British style given its earthiness.
Light to medium bodied with somewhat prickly carbonation that keeps things lively.
Definitely not something I’d want to drink all day by the liter, but tasty and enjoyable in a 12-ounce serving.
Rated by Eyedoc27 from Illinois
3.52/5 rDev -5.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.52/5 rDev -5.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Not typical of the Oktoberfest beers that I’m used to. Makes me think of an Oktoberfest mixed with an IPA
Aug 29, 2020Reviewed by woodychandler from Pennsylvania
4/5 rDev +7.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
4/5 rDev +7.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
About once a month, I head to a friend's place in KofP/Gulph MIlls, PA for a massive beer share. Because I do not drive, I come in on public trans, usually on Friday evening, he picks me up & we head out for beer. A frequent haunt is Flanagan's Boat House in CANshohocken with an Underground Beer Shop/Store, which I where I recently found this CAN for The CANQuest (tm).
From the CAN: "American-style Märzen Lager".
I have a glass stein from the neighborhood church's rummage sale which I used for this review. "Stein" is German for "stone", but I like to look at my biers, so I have gotten rid of a LOT of true steins in favor of clear glass ones.
I Crack!ed open the vent & beCAN a slow, gentle Glug into the awaiting stein. It fizzed & foamed to form a brief finger of rolling, fizzy, foamy, tawny head that fell to wisps almost as quickly as I could pour. 8=( Color was a gorgeous Amber to Deep-Amber/Light-Copper (SRM = > 9, < 13) with NE-quality clarity. Nose was on the sweet side of the style, not necessarily my bag, but certainly within spec. Mouthfeel was medium-to-full, not quite creamy, but big for a Lager of any stripe. The taste was very bready, very malty, very evocative of pie crust, especially in the Fall. When I was a kid, I loved to bake! I was a whiz with the oven, making casseroles, desserts, pizzas & anything else that I could find to throw in there. I really dug working with dough & pies were among my faves. This was like drinking liquefied pie dough! Mmm. It was nowhere near as sweet as the nose had led me to gird myself for/against. Instead, it was lightly sweet with a subtle maltiness that actually made it rather thirst-quenching. Finish was surprisingly semi-dry since I was not getting a lot of sweetness from it. I think that this might have been my first Oktoberfest of the season and it was a good one! YMMV.
Sep 10, 2019From the CAN: "American-style Märzen Lager".
I have a glass stein from the neighborhood church's rummage sale which I used for this review. "Stein" is German for "stone", but I like to look at my biers, so I have gotten rid of a LOT of true steins in favor of clear glass ones.
I Crack!ed open the vent & beCAN a slow, gentle Glug into the awaiting stein. It fizzed & foamed to form a brief finger of rolling, fizzy, foamy, tawny head that fell to wisps almost as quickly as I could pour. 8=( Color was a gorgeous Amber to Deep-Amber/Light-Copper (SRM = > 9, < 13) with NE-quality clarity. Nose was on the sweet side of the style, not necessarily my bag, but certainly within spec. Mouthfeel was medium-to-full, not quite creamy, but big for a Lager of any stripe. The taste was very bready, very malty, very evocative of pie crust, especially in the Fall. When I was a kid, I loved to bake! I was a whiz with the oven, making casseroles, desserts, pizzas & anything else that I could find to throw in there. I really dug working with dough & pies were among my faves. This was like drinking liquefied pie dough! Mmm. It was nowhere near as sweet as the nose had led me to gird myself for/against. Instead, it was lightly sweet with a subtle maltiness that actually made it rather thirst-quenching. Finish was surprisingly semi-dry since I was not getting a lot of sweetness from it. I think that this might have been my first Oktoberfest of the season and it was a good one! YMMV.
Reviewed by PatrickCT from Connecticut
3.51/5 rDev -5.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
3.51/5 rDev -5.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
Thanks, Matt!
Brilliant copper body, a bit hazy. Two fingers of pillowy white head dies down slowly leaving a slight cap and a bit of lacing.
The aroma is faint bread and some honey sweetness. Big wafts of pine and grapefruit from the hops.
Bready, grainy in the taste. Some good honey sweetness up front before the hops show up. Grapefruit rind, pine and resin in full force here.
On the heavy side of medium with medium carbonation. Soft lager mouth feel up front, resin in the finish.
Unorthodox for sure but a good spin on the style. There is a marzen here for people that like the style and hops for people who don't. A very well made beer.
Oct 14, 2018Brilliant copper body, a bit hazy. Two fingers of pillowy white head dies down slowly leaving a slight cap and a bit of lacing.
The aroma is faint bread and some honey sweetness. Big wafts of pine and grapefruit from the hops.
Bready, grainy in the taste. Some good honey sweetness up front before the hops show up. Grapefruit rind, pine and resin in full force here.
On the heavy side of medium with medium carbonation. Soft lager mouth feel up front, resin in the finish.
Unorthodox for sure but a good spin on the style. There is a marzen here for people that like the style and hops for people who don't. A very well made beer.
Oktöberface from Solemn Oath Brewery
Beer rating:
84 out of
100 with
55 ratings
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