Reininghaus Märzen
Brau Union Österreich

Had on tap. Clear golden body, white cap. Floral hops lightly massage the doughy malt and mild yeast. Taste has a sweet bread tone to lead, floral hops, honey, and bloated malts round out. Feel is watery and malty the whole way, bland and uninspired. I need to stop ordering the marzen while in austria

To be honest, I’ve had a few marzens in my life. Some were better, some were worse. This is somewhere in between I must say.
This one missed the hoppy excitement that the usual marzens have, instead it had a slight bitterness that began to taste like a rag after a while. It was not bad per se, but it did not feel satisfying. Guess you could say not all marzens are created equal…

 

 

 

Found in a Vienna supermarket, the standard brown half liter bottle features a gold and red label with lots of frills and a small etching of an Alpine village below the name. No useful ingredient information. Best before 4/30/07, I opened it on 11/30/06.

Pours a clear pale copper under a one finger fairly creamy off-white head with good retention that is fairly sticky but fails to generate much lace. The nice sweet malt nose has a touch of caramel and a bit of floral hops. The mouth is light and quite prickly. Good solid flavor profile of bready malt and sweet caramel, backed by a mild floral and espresso bitter that peaks after the swallow, then dissipates quickly. An excellent example of the style.