Marzen Rover
Great North Aleworks

This has a certain sweet almost cider smell and taste at the front. It’s cool and different.
The rest of the taste is overtly sweet and smooth. Even.
It’s very good, not great.

This can is going on my shelf next to my empty Life On Märzen.

16 oz can acclimated to 45°F and poured into a dimpled stein.

Pours a clear and rich dark amber, beautiful color that looks like it belongs in a home library. Produces a 1.5 finger foamy, cream colored head that sticks around a while and leaves a splotchy ring of lacing.

Initial aroma is caramel, bready malt, hops, and a metallic note. Sniffing further reveals a light buttery note.

After agitating I get some alcohol, but moreso some big bread quality, and some buttermilk or milk solids.

Initial taste before swallowing is heavy malt, and it's good, sort of pretzely? Sort of milk solidy? Some buttery notes strewn throughout, and some noticeable sweetness.

After swallowing it's first sweet and high in malt, a lot like a sweet bread spread with butter and malt syrup. A malty and hoppy bitterness is present in the back of the roof of the mouth. A slight dryness develops, grassy and floral, a little like orange blossom water. It lasts into the aftertaste, accompanied by the malt/hop bitterness that's faded by now but not fully.

Mouthfeel is about average for craft beer? It has some body but feels a tiny bit hollow somehow. It does feel somewhat buttery. Carbonation can easily be restored for each sip by agitating, and adds a little boost to the feel.

Overall I like it a lot, it seemed a coherent and pleasant blend of flavors. The malt proved to be the star, unsurprising, considering the style. I quite enjoyed the malt syrup taste and buttery notes. Definitely a solid representation of the style .

I'm more likely to pick up one I haven't tried before, but I'll absolutely buy it again.

A tad thin and watery with a pinch too much on the hopping. Overall this one's certainly enjoyable tho!

So glad to see many hands attempting one of my fave styles. And pulling it off quite decently. Not easy.

Canned 8/11/20

Quite the late season for a Marzen, but I'm more than happy to indulge. I've had this one for a while and forgot about it until tonight

Pours a cloudy deep amber with a finger of white head that slowly reduces to a thin cap and leaves minimal lacing

The nose is sweet and floral, big notes of honey, whole grain bread, lemongrass, doughy malt, and a touch of pepper

The front end of the sip brings notes of pepper, light general citrus, grassy hops, and a firm bready malt. The swallow brings a flash of honey-like sweetness with an earthy grain character to back it up with more general citrus to close it out

A light medium body pairs with moderate carbonation for a very easy drinking beer. Finishes crisply dry and smooth with a nice balance

A pretty damn good example of the style imo. Even though I have not had very many, I enjoy it more than the others I've had. Definitely worth a try if you like them on the sweeter side but still balanced

16-oz can poured into dimpled glass .5L stein

A: Med-dark amber brightened by bursts of orange, marmalade and yams. Very good clarity, one of the clearest American examples I've had to date. Moderate effervescence holds up a sizable soapy head for ~5 mins before relaxing into a thin film.

S: Moderate malt sweetness. Slight vegetal sweetness along with a bright floral hoppiness.

M: Med feel, light bodied. Very crisp and maybe just a little too much carbonation. Not quite the lush/pillowy texture that I expect. Semi-dry finish. Highly drinkable.

T: Clean malt flavor almost like nibbling on a piece of slightly honeyed 12-grain bread left on the sill. Sunflower seed lead into a floral and mildly spicy hop profile. Well-balanced. Finishes just slightly on the sweet side, but overall impression is dry with crackery malt leaving me wanting another sip.

 

 

 

Had a pour from Great North during their trivia night. Very nicely done. This one is a deep amber color with a nice amount of floral and crackers on the nose. Smooth, tasty, and very effervescent.

 

Can from Bert's
Deep amber color with a good sized off white head that persists. Rich bready crackery pilsner maltiness with bits of spicy floral hops to counter. Pretty tasty beer.