Tabernash Oktoberfest
Left Hand Brewing Company

I've had this beer in my fridge for about a year or so now, just never got around to it. The aroma is malty and bready as well as sweet with maybe some figs or spice, or even caramel or nutty overtones, coming through that I like and it is very aromatic. The appearance rich to a red copper in color and almost rustic with a medium-sized head on top that is an off-white in color and diminishes to a thin lacing that coats the glass well. The mouthfeel is medium-bodied and smooth with very nice sweet malt complexity with not much of any hoppy profile with a palate that is rich and almost creamy and damn nice.

The flavor is of sweetness, maltiness, freshly baked bread with maybe a bit of saltiness in the aftertaste with a finish that lingers and is very pleasant with some sweet spice on the very back end. Overall, what a beer this was and I did not expect much from this one but it ended up being a great example of the style and is very smooth and easy to drink even given the 6.5%ABV; awesome beer here for sure! I also would like to add, my bottle says Left Hand Oktoberfest not Tabernash but I do understand these two names are one in the same. "

Copper/brass with dark orange and a tight, off-khaki head. Bready, sugary, cookie malt. Nice if not a bit light. Light cooked veggies and spicy hop aroma. Toasted grainy malt gives way to sweet cookie dough and ripe pears. On the stronger side for an ofest, with some estery notes. Understated hop bitterness into the spicy, malty finish. Medium-bodied, with a slightly syrupy feel. Not bad.

Kind of an uglyish label, brewed in September of '04, pours a copper amber with little lacing to speak of but good head at the start. Smells pretty good, lots of caramel malts and brown sugar. The taste is pretty good, with caramel malts with some brown sugar, but it fades a little fast. Body is good, but not all that fantastic, and this beer is drinkable but not something I'd bay much for or have too often.

I am sampling a 12 oz bottle that is slightly chilled and poured into a pint glass. I purchased the beer to cook with but only used about a 1/3 of the bottle so figured I would drink the rest and write down some notes.
The beer pours a clear chestnut color with a fizzybeige head of about 1 cm foaming up and fading fairly quickly to an edge layer. The aroma is all malt with caramel and brown sugar mixing with a bit of toffee as well. Generally sweet with little to no hop presence. The first sip reveals a lighter body than expected with very fine carbonation. The carbonation is almost non-existent.
The flavor is fairly sweet as well with caramel and toffee and also a bit of maple syrup flavor mixed in. I think I find just a bit of herbal hop character in the finish, but it is mild.
The beer is very esay to drink, but may get a little too sweet after a few. Not a bad brew, glad to have tried it.

Being the beginning of ferbruary I was skeptical of buying this oktoberfest but the local store marking it down to 4 bucks a sixer convinced me. Pours a copper color with a nice beige head that retains alright. The aroma is retrained but has some nice matly character ( toasted bread, caramel), as well as some light floral hops and a hint of esters and alcohol. The flavor begins with some toasted bread, caramel, some spicy and floral hops, fruity esters and a dry, grainy finish. The mouthfeel is chewy and rich (for an oktoberfest), and carbonation is moderate. Drinkability is quite good, and i could definately session this one. A tasty oktoberfest (although probably past its prime), thats extremely drinkable.

Medium dark orange. Clear in tone. Thin whitish cap slips quickly to set as a thin skim and collar. Lacing is drippy with some broken strings sticking.

Aroma is mildy sweet and toasted with toffee, darkly malty, sticky, clean, doughy, and what one would come to know as an O-fest type nose.

Flavors are fairly solid, toffeeish, sweet, brisk, and clean, perhaps a bit understated in the middle but the background of sticky breads and malty finish with light whispering herbal hops really brings it full circle. Standardly good taster.

Feel is medium bodied with a nice malty smooth texture and light sticky nuances. The middle is missing and the finish a bit weak even though the flavors tend to stick around much later after the fact. Could and should be beefier.

A fairly good offering; respectfully to style and drinks easy enough.

Well this is another one I picked up to try in spirit of Oktoberfest beers. I found this one to be less enjoyable than some of the other Oktoberfests that I have sampled this year. It poured a bright orange and tasted very weak on the carbonation which made it kind of silky smooth. It was sweet from the malts with a little hop character. Give it a try

Very dark red bodied beer, clear but much darker than your standard oktoberfest. The head is just a creamy thin layer on top of the beer. Smell is a carmel/bready smell, very malt intensive. Taste is also heavy on the malt, sweet and enhanced by a fullness from the alcohol. Reminiscent to a Dopplebock in some regards, but definitely not what I think of when I think Oktoberfest. Still good, I would not turn down another one.

This beer is darker than the style would indicate, which at least is different for an Oktoberfest. It’s still a pretty young beer, which may account for its grainy taste. Also a little winey. Still, I can't call any of that a distraction, since I've had so many Oktoberfests this past season that I'm looking for something to make it stand out from the crowd.

Label Lingo and bottle babble: Hand holding up a Hefeweisen glass over a background of checkerboard Bavarian motif. Bottled on 8.31.04 stamp. “Our passion is brewing.”

Dark amber orange hues with steady carbonation bubbles rising and a quickly settling thin khaki collar ring.

Slightly smoky leafy malt front aroma and honey notes.

First Swigs: Caramel malt and grainy husk flavors. Slight lingering aftertaste of nutty pecan, nutmeg and maple syrup sugar. Some wet cardboard flavors. As this warmed, the honey was more pronounced.

Syrupy medium body. Sudy carbonation holds firm. One dimensional. Cloying ending.

Last Swigs: Slightly easy caramel cocoa tastes for a Marzen. Better American Marzen’s are available. Picked up in a 12 x 2 mixed case for $26 at Big Top and at 6.5% ABV, it’s so-so. 34/3.53

Beer is good. Happy beering.

Paid $0.94 for a single on a seasonal sale...

This beer pours a somewhat hazy amber-brown base with a small light-brown colored head, ok retention and a few signs of lacing. The aroma is very malty and thats about it.

The taste is like a weak barleywine versus a traditional Oktoberfest. It's very grainy and very mild. The beer is nice all the way down throughout the mouth, aftertaste is nowhere, but the palette is not complaining. The drinkability wins here, a 6.5% that feels almost like a light beer, this one is a clear session beer that will put you to bed.

Final Thought: I'm impressed by this one, but it's not like any Oktoberfest I've had before, very grainy beer.

Pours a dark amber color with a small head that falls fast and doesn't leave much lacing on the glass. The aroma is of coffee and caramel. The flavor is bready. Some caramel in there, but not in an enjoyable way. I didn't care much for this beer. The bready taste mixed with the burned caramel just didn't do it for me.

The beer pours a nice deep amber color without much headthat falls to ring the top of the beer. The nose gives me a lit of bread notes. The flavor does the same. I relly don't like it a lot. The feel is somewhat thin, without much body. Drinkability is not good either. I'm splitting this one and its hard to get through half of it. One of the worst O-fest beers I've had this year.

Presentation: 12 oz brown long neck bottle with a bottled on date on the label (083104).

Appearance: Patchy lacing with a bright orange amber hue.

Smell: Caramel and hint of coffee from the malts, fresh at that.

Taste & Mouth Feel: A little light on the carbonation with a slick and creamy mouth feel. Sweet malt meets toasted grain with a kiss of hops. Finishes a tad sweet with an underlying hop flavor.

Drinkability & Notes: Nearly balanced and tasty, on par with most of the American Oktoberfest beers. Worth a try.

Another one of the O-fests I sampled at Goose Island's Beer Academy. Pours a dark, organe brown color with a medium brown head. The scent is quite nutty, and the taste is surprisngly sweet, yet balanced with an equally surpisringly bitter finish. Nice, though not quite as clean (for lack of a better word) as I feel an O-fest should be.

Clear deep amber-copper color, nice off white foamy head that doesn't last long not much lacing either. Has a light fruity and malty caramel aromas, sweet, nutty and clean tasting, medium body, nice rounded and soft mouthfeel, finishes a bit on the sweet side.

Bocky Oktoberfest of deep, complex malt in symbiosis with clean, noble hops. No astringency, no aggressive bitterness, and an almost tartaric finishing dryness. Big toast and plummy chocolate from Vienna and Munich malts so strong they actually come out on the muddy, milky nose. Prickly carbonation keeps the malt from every being cloying and accentuates the otherwise timid hops.

Relax, relax.
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Crystal clear auburn body with a nice cream colored head. Mild malty aroma. Sweet and bready. Fairly well balanced and clean tasting. Moderate body with medium carbonation.

A solid if not spectacular Octoberfest. This would be a good choice for your non-BA friends. It is a very drinkable beer.

12 oz brown bottle, capped, with bottled-on date on the label (083104).

This oktoberfest beer poured a clear, deep amber color with creamy, light tan foam that settled but clung to the glass a bit. The smell was malty with notes of Munich malt. The taste was richly malty with very light hops in the finish. There were notes of caramel and cocoa as well as Munich malt, and overall there was a very light sweetness. The mouthfeel was smooth and rich in flavor though only medium-light in body, with low carbonation feel. Overall this beer was dry, but there was a malty aftertaste. This was a good and easy-drinking beer.

Pours a brilliant orange-amber with a nice tan head. A vert nice looking beer.

There is a strong malt presence in the nose that is just a touch too mild for my liking.

There is a burnt malt taste that is understated in the mouth. I did notice that, as the beer warms, it does gain more flavor. A bitter finish punctuates the taste.

There are definite hops in this brew as they grab the back of the tongue. This has a firm bitterness that almost overwhlems the malty sweetness. It is a smooth and easy to drink beer.

I must confess, I didn't like this beer to start. But, as it warmed, it gained more complexity and character. Not bad.