Oktoberfest
Barbarian Brewing

Draft at Garden City taproom. Clear, dark amber, minimal head. Malty aroma, brown bread, woody. Taste is malty, tannins, sweet, dark rye. Finishes a bit dry.

its rare that these guys do traditional style beers, well maybe thats not true, they do everything, but its not what they are known for, so i was quite impressed with this when the execution was so solid. perhaps a little stronger than is common, but other than that this is pretty old worldy. the malt profile of this deep bronze hued brew is impressive and complex, its bready and warm like its been baked, but its neither overly sweet not overly concentrated and dense, and the mineral profile of the water works in well here. light honey character, a toasted biscuit heartiness, and a hint of fallen leaves and straw, autumnal in that way, seems sort of organic to me. the yeast is german and authentic and well used, seems robust in both aroma and flavor, and pretty complete in its work, not much leftover sugar in this at all. a hint of maple, maybe almond too, fuller body but nicely carbonated, hearty almost healthful feeling to me too, with a cleaner finish than a lot of these have, and pretty high drinkability despite it being as sturdy as it is. really expertly done, and for all the whacky experimental stuff they do, its comforting to know they can crush this sort of thing too. their fall seasonals were all fire this year!