Waddle
Off Color Brewing

16 fl oz. can, no date. Was excited to spot this one at the local beer spot, a little late, but better late than never. One of my favorite seasonal styles, and from a brewery who consistently puts out top notch beer.

Pours a burnt copper orange body, finger of off-white head falls to a surface skimming. Appears sticky & well carbonated.
Fresh, malty, nutty aroma - tons of roasted nuttiness, brown bread, bread crust, caramel malt, a slightly herbal leafy hop note resides in there as well. Smells exceptional. Perhaps just a slightly phenolic note on the end with some hints of mineral / well water.
Taste follows: deliciously dark & nutty malt blend - tons of caramel, roast, brown bread, crust.
Feel is exceptionally smooth, crisp, & easy-drinking. Excellent carbonation.
An extremely classic interpretation of the Oktoberfest style from Off Color, probably one of my favorite Oktoberfests ever.

Off Color Brewing Waddle -----4/5.

Brief Review:

O: As far as Oktoberfests go, this one leans more towards what I like. It's full bodied, malty but not too sweet, nice smooth finish. Think it could maybe use a teeny tiny extra hop addition for a touch more crispness, but other than that it's pretty well rounded and true to style.

Recommendation: Slowly becoming one of my favorite annual Oktoberfests, this is a must-try if you like the style.

Rich caramel malt leading the way with malt profile going towards a lightly toasted cereal grain. A lager yeast note intermixing with that glorious complex malt profile. Light earthy hop finish. Big creamy texture with a crisp finish that is just right for this beer. This over exceed my expectations and impressed the heck out of me. I feel like this beer is what you would be getting to drink when ordering a Marzen from any proper brewery in Germany that knows how to brew great lager.

Clear amber brown body, big khaki head, spotted lacing. Sweet caramel malt leads powerfully, brown bread, nuts and general yeast make up the smell. Taste makes the caramel malt more subtle, which is good to allow the brown bread and rising grainy yeast in particular to shine. Cool, malty, full bodied, and sneaky crisp. Could see how this is polarizing, but I found it to be enjoyable

 

 

 

 

Poured from a can. Caramel in color with a tan head. Smells of bread, toffee, caramel and malt. Flavors of caramel, bread and ends with an earthiness.

 

Off Color Brewing - Waddle 16 oz can

No apparent date on the can.

Poured into a pint glass, has copper coloring, verging on Ruby.

Smell is caramel-adjacent with soft hints of bread.

Taste is of caramel, and baked bread and butter, however, the butter lingers a bit too long for my liking.

There isn’t much carbonation which makes this beer seem slightly oily.

Overall, I think that the malt is prominent in this brew, but may be overshadowed by the butteriness for some. I enjoyed it, but I probably will not purchase again.

16oz can
no apparent freshness date
L: hazy amber-brown body, foamy ivory head
S: bread crust, caramel, earthy hops
T: bready malt, caramel, toffee; earthy/spicy hops provide modest bitterness
F: fuller body, lower carbonation, finishes more sweet than bitter
O: pretty average Oktoberfestbier.

16oz can. Poured out a clear, golden copper color with a small, khaki-colored head of foam. It left no lacing. It smelled of biscuity malt, toasted bread and some floral notes. Nice cereal and bready malt backbone with caramel sweetness and a mild bitterness.

 

 

Pours a dark rust color with a fizzy off-white head that appears and then disappears quite quickly. Absolutely no residual head remains on the beer. Initially displays some chill-haze but that eventually clears up.

Aroma is somewhat muted, but there are notes of rustic grain, caramel malts and a touch of nutty earthy notes. Overall the aroma is somewhat more in line with what I would expect from a brown ale rather than a märzen.

The taste largely bears out the impressions from the aroma. The taste has strong rustic grainy notes, with some nutty malt flavors and a touch of sweet caramel malt. There is an earthy, almost woodsy hop flavor on the back end. Again, there is a slight sweetness to the profile, but there is also, balancing it out, a spiciness to the profile. Seems like something coming from the yeast, but I am not 100% sure on that. There is really no breadiness to this at all. The mat is all very grainy with just light notes of caramel malt peaking through.

Feel is rather light bodied. Bright, prickly carbonation. mild bitterness on the back end is palpable on the palate. Mildly drier on the finish.

Overall I know my score is really low, but this is a decent beer on its own. The biggest issue I have with it is that its far more reminiscent of a brown ale than it is a märzen.

 

 

 

 

From a twelve ounce bottle, this brew is clear and caramel in color....clear and effervescent. The head is slim and white. Nice aroma...bready and malty. Lots of malty sweetness with a little herbal hop balance. Full in body and enjoyably.

 

Bottled 8/21/18; drank 9/9/18 @ the Yarchives.

See-through orange/red rust appearance.

A rough pour yielded a nice eggshell head; frothy lace.

Wheat bread, caramel & faint raspberry notes in the nose.

Medium thick mouthfeel.

Caramel & oak flavors up front; lager yeast & faint clove notes on the finish.

This smelled great but didn't have quite the same impact on the tongue. Good.

I got this off the single shelf from the Montgomery Binnys and tried it at my old neighbor house. It poured a clear amber with no head and no lace. The scent had sweet malt. The taste was nicely balanced and easy to drink. The mouthfeel is lighter in body with good carbonation. Overall it is a good beer.

 

 

 

 

Tasted in pint glass from draft at the Vine on October 7, 2017. Look is clear amber with an off-white head and spotty lacing. A decent Marzen but not my favorite.

 

 

 

 

 

In the interest of science and support of local breweries, I decided to chance a six-pack of an Off Color beer brewed in my favorite style. The price point ($10) as well as the 12 IBU pointed out on the label, convinced me to take a chance.

Best by 05 Dec 17 clearly stamped on the brown long neck's neck. 6.5 ABV also clearly marked.

L -- Pours a clear, deep amber-orange with a dense and firm off-white head that's holding up well.

S -- Nutty, earthy character coming through with a light DMS to vegetal character.

T -- Same nutty sort of flavor as the aroma right up front. Some sweet, bready malts fighting through the middle along with that vegetal character. Finish is spicy hops, but not overdone.

F -- Mouthfeel is soft to spritzy with a medium body.

O -- Another Ami Okto brewed more like a Brown Ale. The nuttiness in the flavor gets a little distracting, the subtle sweetness paired with the nut character starts to make me think of peanut butter. The saving grace being some nicely spicy hops, not Pac Northwest citrus bombs.

 

 

This is the 2017 rendition, just bought from Off Color bottle shop at the brewery. (Fresh as it gets.)
Label indicates that one secret ingredient is Polka lagering. Please explain. (Off Color's site is hilarious, but "Polka lagering" is probably a joke that went over my head.)

Looks give me an interesting amber. Smells are mostly malts, caramel-like. Tastes balanced with just enough hops, but it lingers longer than I prefer with a session. So, we had pizza and it went fine. Enough hops and bubbles cut the grease. I look forward to seeing Waddle's food versatility.

October: finished the 6-pack in due course, but it is such a pleasant session beer that I didn't have it with anything other than appetizers. As we used to say about the Chicago Cubs "There is always next year." Then, I'm having Waddle with real food.

10/31/18 Halloween. In my annual O-fest tasting contest (stretched over two months) to determine my favorite, we have a new champion ! Waddle triumphs over the previous reigning champ, Staghorn. I'm not sure how a young (7 years) Belgian-inspired brewer beat an accomplished craft-brewer (28 years) who is best in in the German tradition... but it at least is a draw. I will just have to wait until next year to make sure.

2019, somehow skipped... probably I didn't organize the O-fest competition well enough.

10/6/20 Covid quarantine prevented me from getting Staghorn this year. (True, can't cross the border to Kenosha... so a straight-arrow like me stayed home.) But, let's say that the competition is still a draw and will be continued next year. In the meantime, I'm keeping count over at UnTappd.