Ayinger Oktober Fest-Märzen
Ayinger Privatbrauerei

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A: Pours up a golden amber with a fluffy, three-finger, off-white head
S: immediately grainy, bready and sweet, reminiscent of grain in the mash
T: immediately sweetness followed by flavors or cereal grain as the sweetness fades, there is a subtle toastiness that creeps in immediately after. There is a slight minerality and tartness here as well. Unfortunately there is little to no hop bite in the finish.
M: Crisp, but with a rather full body.
0: I’m not an expert or a huge fan of this style to be honest, but when I looked at this beer and smelled it I was really excited, that final note of mashing grain was just exquisite. Then I tasted it and was super disappointed. I’m not a fan of sweet beer as a general rule, and I find this beer to be too sweet for my taste. I know the style leans sweet but to me this could really use some hops to balance that sweetness out, it wouldn’t even need much, but it needs some. This is probably an ignorant take for an Oktoberfest, but it’s my take and I’m sticking with it.

Purchased as a 500mL bottle from The Blue Door for $5.25. Poured into a stange glass.

L - Clear rust-copper, with a fantastically foamy three-finger off-white head. Laces well.
S - Freshly-baked honey-wheat bread. Toffee. Walnut. Clean.
T - Follows nose; heavy on bread crust! Toasty. Well-balanced. Finish is pretzel dough & white pepper.
F - Light-medium in body, with plenty of carbonation. Super drinkable. Refreshing. Satisfying.
O - One of the better of the style, and another must-try from Ayinger! I've had this one before, and it feels good to review it. It's just complex enough to be interesting, while knocking out all the familiar notes you want in a proper Marzen. Definitely worth a try (maybe not worth the price).

Appearance: Pours a clear, orange to bright bronzed color with a strong off-white head. SRM of 14.

Aroma: Moderate to relatively strong aromas of smooth caramel, toffee, brown bread, butter, and smooth malty finish

Flavor: Moderate flavors of brown bread toast, smooth caramel, toffee with a malty body. Some lightly floral and spice underneath. Rich and smooth caramel finish.

Feel: Medium to heavier bodied. Moderate carbonation. Caramel lingers on the palate.

Overall: A fantastic Oktoberfest Marzen. Works in all aspects. Nice color and head. Stronger aromas and flavors than most. A nice and rich caramel profile. Strong, robust, and flavorful, yet authentically German. This is one of the best. (Final Rating: 4.25)

Bright bronze with a steady clingy head of creamy white froth; golden crust white loaf, honey, and flowers on the nose; honeycomb cookie, set honey on country loaf, hay, a bit of yeast starter and an end of grassy spice; soft, some bitterness, crisp.

4.5 4.25 4.25 4.25 4.5

Tough to count all the things this does right.
The maltiness is bang on for malty lager that is not at all dark or sweet - discrete doses of what I’ve read is Munich, Crystal and Caras -Munich and -Vienna bring this through bread and pastry right up to the edge of blonde caramel, but no further.
There’s no burn or cloy in the body, the IBUs clean up quietly, the carb levels is gently scrubbing - session or sipping, with food or itself, this is a beer for all settings.

Yards ahead of the sweet-and-strong Hofbrau festbier stuff - possibly the best Marzen out there.

Pours a clear coppery orange with abundant foam in the big Stout glass. Lush and sudsy on the tongue. Aroma of roasted grain. Caramel flavor with a nice hoppy balance. Not bitter, but a woodsy, stemmy aftertaste to go with the residual sugar. Rather sweet and rich, but quite sippable rather than for quaffing. Overall a pleasant a pleasant and more robust sort of Festbier. From the 500 ml bottle. An apparently fresh batch purchased at the local Community Co-op.

 

I got a 6pck of bottles of this beer from my local meijer store. It poured a clear caramel amber with off white head that is not leaving much lace. The scent had grain and malt notes. The taste was nicely balanced and easy to drink with sweet malt base and grain presence with subtle finish with bittering hops. The mouthfeel was lighter in body with good carbonation. Overall it is a great beer.

 

Look: light amber color with a white head

Smell: bready malt smell, with some floral hops too

Taste: malt, bread, nice hop notes too

Feel: smooth bubbles

Very solid.
My only gripe is the price.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm re-rating this beer because it has been more than a decade since I last reviewed it, and I don’t think my old review quite captured its nuances as accurately as I would have liked.

500mL bottle (code L2081) poured into a weizen glass. Deep amber color, crystal clear liquid, with a rich, off-white head that leaves behind some nice sticky lacing. Lively carbonation ascends from the bottom of the glass.

Aroma is fruity and rich: dark bread and caramel malt, a hint of fruit and peppery spice.

Taste follows nose. Malty but not overly sweet with wonderful balance. Again the subtle spice notes, reminiscent of rye whiskey, give this beer wonderful depth and dimension. Old World hops provide delicate floral presence and just enough bitterness to enhance drinkability. And it’s worth noting that the quality of this beer’s primary ingredient—water—is excellent; without clean, pure, perfectly balanced water most great beers would not be nearly as good.

Mouthfeel is crisp and dry, medium body. Goes down effortlessly.

Overall an outstanding beer, representative of the style, perfectly and consistently executed. There's nothing I don't love about this one. Also, it pairs well with almost any food you can think of.
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Previous review (preserved for posterity)

9/1/2011

4.08/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
500mL bottle (no dates or codes) poured into a weizen glass. Nice amber color, crystal clear, with a rich foamy head that leaves some nice sticky lacing. Carbonation is great.

Aroma is fruity and rich - bread and caramel malt. Smells delicious.

Taste follows nose. Malty but not sweet with a great balance. Mouthfeel is crisp and dry, medium body.

I could drink this all day long. This is one of my favorite Märzen/Oktoberfest biers; nothing flashy, just rock-solid good. Really puts me in the mood for fall and I want another one immediately. Prost!

On tap at Sabatinis in Exeter pa earlier this evening.

Looks good, faintly hazy dark auburn body with a persistent white head leaving some lacing.

Clean malty aroma, bready.

On tasting, quite sweet, clean, hops show themselves towards the end.

Mouth above medium, finish a faint lasting dry bitterness to balance off the malt.

Overall, well made beer, quite simple, but highlights both malt and hop.

 

 

 

 

Nice big head, direct pour into pilsner urquell .5l mug. Clean, clean, and clean. Almost too clean. Pretty good but i just don't appreciate the high price for the small shipping size. Haven't had a beer outisde of the celebrator that was "WORLD CLASS" from this brewery. And to add something to a reviewer below, if this beer aint got good head retention or lacing, the glass aint clean or the tap line is dirty. OR another of the various ways individuals can alter the product.

 

 

 

A dark, but bright and somewhat translucent amber brew, drawn from a tap and delivered in a clear pint glass has arrived. The head is white, spotty and minimal. The malt dominate aroma is complex and not overly sweet. Is it vaguely nutty? Well, there seems to be a nut-like quality here to taste, likely a combination of the hops and malts. This drinks richly and incredibly smoothly malty, but not close to being overly sweet. The lack of a head and subsequent lack of lacing doesn’t indicate anything, as this is just about perfectly carbonated. The finish is wet, but clean. This will be one of the best Marzens you'll ever have.

Nice amber color with light head. Smelled of a toasted yeast bread. Feels light and smooth with good malt flavor typical of a German Marzen. This a very good Oktoberfest and stays true to the German style.