Brooklyn Oktoberfest | Brooklyn Brewery
Brewed by:
Brooklyn Brewery
New York, United States
brooklynbrewery.com
Style: Märzen / Oktoberfest
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 5.50%
Availability: Fall
Notes / Commercial Description:
When Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria wanted to celebrate his wedding engagement in 1810, he did what any good Bavarian prince would – he threw a beer festival. Both the festival and the special beer served there became known as Oktoberfest. Brewed from the finest German malt and hops, Brooklyn Oktoberfest is true to the original style, fullbodied and malty, with a bready aroma and light, brisk hop bitterness.
Added by BeerAdvocate on 09-30-2001
HISTOGRAM
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Ratings: 1,748 | Reviews: 788
4/5 rDev +10.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
pretty good
11 characters
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
pretty good
11 characters
3.66/5 rDev +0.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
1.64/5 rDev -54.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 1 | taste: 1 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 2
Loaded with DMS.
Smelled like asparagus with a background note of orange and caramel (which is inappropriate though not unpleasant).
It's not clear if they were going for a Marzen or a Festbier or neither. Either way it's a watery, vegetal beer lacking in complexity or charm.
Garret Oliver is an exceptional brewer but this is what happens when computers make beers.
369 characters
look: 3.75 | smell: 1 | taste: 1 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 2
Loaded with DMS.
Smelled like asparagus with a background note of orange and caramel (which is inappropriate though not unpleasant).
It's not clear if they were going for a Marzen or a Festbier or neither. Either way it's a watery, vegetal beer lacking in complexity or charm.
Garret Oliver is an exceptional brewer but this is what happens when computers make beers.
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3.77/5 rDev +3.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.88/5 rDev +6.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
3.56/5 rDev -1.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
From the 12 oz bottle in a snifter. This rather nice fest brew pours a
nice clear copper tinged amber with a nice head of off white foam that settles
to a thin ring, light thin pool, and showcases light sudsy lacing. Nose of toasted
malts and subtle grain notes. Flavors hit the right point for a session style fest
with toasted malts, subtle orange zest, and lightly assertive pine and herbal
hop notes. Decent mouth feel; medium light body, medium high carbonation
that is lively, and a crisp lightly sweet and almost clean finish.
Overall, a highly sessionable brew worth trying. Not my favorite from this
stellar brewery, but far from not worth picking up when it comes around.
Cheers
699 characters
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
From the 12 oz bottle in a snifter. This rather nice fest brew pours a
nice clear copper tinged amber with a nice head of off white foam that settles
to a thin ring, light thin pool, and showcases light sudsy lacing. Nose of toasted
malts and subtle grain notes. Flavors hit the right point for a session style fest
with toasted malts, subtle orange zest, and lightly assertive pine and herbal
hop notes. Decent mouth feel; medium light body, medium high carbonation
that is lively, and a crisp lightly sweet and almost clean finish.
Overall, a highly sessionable brew worth trying. Not my favorite from this
stellar brewery, but far from not worth picking up when it comes around.
Cheers
699 characters
4.25/5 rDev +17.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Brooklyn Oktoberfest | Brooklyn Brewery. Poured from the bottle into a pint glass, the head's three fingers thick, with lateral lacing, and a brownish amber body.
I smell classic caramelized malts and hearty grains.
The taste is similar, with a crisp, clean finish.
Medium-light mouthfeel with mild carbonation.
I'll go ahead and rate Brooklyn Oktoberfest | Brooklyn Brewery with an overall 4.25.
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look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Brooklyn Oktoberfest | Brooklyn Brewery. Poured from the bottle into a pint glass, the head's three fingers thick, with lateral lacing, and a brownish amber body.
I smell classic caramelized malts and hearty grains.
The taste is similar, with a crisp, clean finish.
Medium-light mouthfeel with mild carbonation.
I'll go ahead and rate Brooklyn Oktoberfest | Brooklyn Brewery with an overall 4.25.
418 characters
2.75/5 rDev -24.2%
look: 2.75 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.75
Not a bad beer per say, but really misses the mark as an Oktoberfest. Way too thin, way too light, and way too watery. It looks the part, with a rich amber hue, but it sure misses on the execution beyond the look. Where are the malty, toffee, nutty, toasted notes? All are woefully absent from this offering. This is more of a slightly amber appearing lager with prominent hops, but not much else.
Would drink again: No
Would purchase again: No
445 characters
look: 2.75 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.75
Not a bad beer per say, but really misses the mark as an Oktoberfest. Way too thin, way too light, and way too watery. It looks the part, with a rich amber hue, but it sure misses on the execution beyond the look. Where are the malty, toffee, nutty, toasted notes? All are woefully absent from this offering. This is more of a slightly amber appearing lager with prominent hops, but not much else.
Would drink again: No
Would purchase again: No
445 characters
3.72/5 rDev +2.5%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.49/5 rDev -3.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
3.83/5 rDev +5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Poured from 12-ounce bottle into a straight-sided mug. Crystal-clear deep amber color, with a short-lived off-white head that left virtually no lacing. Aromas and flavors of light roasted malt, biscuit, and caramel, with a little tart apple on the palate. There is some pleasant bitterness on the palate as well. Finishes dry and crisp. Very good O-fest beer.
359 characters
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Poured from 12-ounce bottle into a straight-sided mug. Crystal-clear deep amber color, with a short-lived off-white head that left virtually no lacing. Aromas and flavors of light roasted malt, biscuit, and caramel, with a little tart apple on the palate. There is some pleasant bitterness on the palate as well. Finishes dry and crisp. Very good O-fest beer.
359 characters
4.08/5 rDev +12.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
This beer pours a deep ruby amber with an average head. The aroma features a bit of fig, with sweet red malt, sweet bread, a hint of roastiness, caramel, and a dusky grain quality. The flavor is less sweet than the aroma would suggest, it starts with slightly sweet malts, then a roasty, bitter hint with a touch of pine and resin, orange peel, dried cranberry and fig, and squash. Overall this is a very nice oktoberfest - definitely American in styling, but rich a full flavored.
481 characters
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
This beer pours a deep ruby amber with an average head. The aroma features a bit of fig, with sweet red malt, sweet bread, a hint of roastiness, caramel, and a dusky grain quality. The flavor is less sweet than the aroma would suggest, it starts with slightly sweet malts, then a roasty, bitter hint with a touch of pine and resin, orange peel, dried cranberry and fig, and squash. Overall this is a very nice oktoberfest - definitely American in styling, but rich a full flavored.
481 characters
3.64/5 rDev +0.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75
Pours a very dark red color with a thin head. All I smell is toasted malts and some spices. Taste isn't too bad but, it's very light and too easy to drink to be called an Oktoberfest in my opinion. I wish it had more spices and a bit more of a malt backbone. This beer is just too light.
287 characters
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75
Pours a very dark red color with a thin head. All I smell is toasted malts and some spices. Taste isn't too bad but, it's very light and too easy to drink to be called an Oktoberfest in my opinion. I wish it had more spices and a bit more of a malt backbone. This beer is just too light.
287 characters
4.23/5 rDev +16.5%
look: 4.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4
look: 4.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4
2.77/5 rDev -23.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.75
12 ounce bottle in to a tulip.
a: Flat brown body with a 2 finger beige head that dissipated immediately.
s: Faint malts. Cider.
t: Not malty enough for the style. It has an apple raisin taste. Metallic finish. Thankfully no after taste.
mf: Thin and watery. A bit of sourness on the finish.
o: Glad I pulled this out of the 6pk and bought it as a single.
363 characters
look: 3 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.75
12 ounce bottle in to a tulip.
a: Flat brown body with a 2 finger beige head that dissipated immediately.
s: Faint malts. Cider.
t: Not malty enough for the style. It has an apple raisin taste. Metallic finish. Thankfully no after taste.
mf: Thin and watery. A bit of sourness on the finish.
o: Glad I pulled this out of the 6pk and bought it as a single.
363 characters
3.78/5 rDev +4.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
a: super-clear dark amber caramel color. dark enough that it is almost crossing into a ruby red-like color. head poured 1/2 finger & tan. bubbles are continuing to stream up as i type now
s: sweet caramel malt, grass, some earthy hops, and a hint of lemongrass
t: sweet, crisp, and clean caramel malt upfront. there is a big hit of fresh dough behind that, followed by a mild earthy hop presence that just is in there to balance out the sweetness. not much beyond that, but pleasant still
m: medium mouthfeel. carbonation is low-mid, and while sweet its not really sticky
o: a solid offering. as with many of the American versions of the style, it's on the sweeter side. a fair offering, but nothing mindblowing
724 characters
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
a: super-clear dark amber caramel color. dark enough that it is almost crossing into a ruby red-like color. head poured 1/2 finger & tan. bubbles are continuing to stream up as i type now
s: sweet caramel malt, grass, some earthy hops, and a hint of lemongrass
t: sweet, crisp, and clean caramel malt upfront. there is a big hit of fresh dough behind that, followed by a mild earthy hop presence that just is in there to balance out the sweetness. not much beyond that, but pleasant still
m: medium mouthfeel. carbonation is low-mid, and while sweet its not really sticky
o: a solid offering. as with many of the American versions of the style, it's on the sweeter side. a fair offering, but nothing mindblowing
724 characters
3.52/5 rDev -3%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
3.56/5 rDev -1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
3.5/5 rDev -3.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.38/5 rDev -6.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.25
Dark tawny amber, pretty hazy. Small white head that dies rather quickly. Kind of a limp pour for the style.
Smells rather tame for the style. Like, Michelob Amber Bock-level tame, where there's like the smallest hint of malt complexity there, and it might have seemed bold to un-initiated back in 1998, but now it just don't cut it. That's not fair, I realize. Brooklyn's are OG, so far as American craft is concerned. They've been bringing it for a long long while and they probably feel like they can't bolden up their classic recipes. I get that. But... I've also had American-made marzens that are older than this, such as Millstream's, that have either evolved over time or were just that freakin' bold that freakin' long ago, so I can't give this one a full pass.
Anyhow, digression aside, this tastes okay. Livelier than the aroma, certainly more interesting than Amber Bock, but still pretty darn tame for the style.
Kudos to beers like this starting the wonderful style that is the American marzen. But, even considering the recipe's age, it's too tame.
1,069 characters
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.25
Dark tawny amber, pretty hazy. Small white head that dies rather quickly. Kind of a limp pour for the style.
Smells rather tame for the style. Like, Michelob Amber Bock-level tame, where there's like the smallest hint of malt complexity there, and it might have seemed bold to un-initiated back in 1998, but now it just don't cut it. That's not fair, I realize. Brooklyn's are OG, so far as American craft is concerned. They've been bringing it for a long long while and they probably feel like they can't bolden up their classic recipes. I get that. But... I've also had American-made marzens that are older than this, such as Millstream's, that have either evolved over time or were just that freakin' bold that freakin' long ago, so I can't give this one a full pass.
Anyhow, digression aside, this tastes okay. Livelier than the aroma, certainly more interesting than Amber Bock, but still pretty darn tame for the style.
Kudos to beers like this starting the wonderful style that is the American marzen. But, even considering the recipe's age, it's too tame.
1,069 characters
3.54/5 rDev -2.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Pours a clear, amber color with a little bit of white head that fades to a small amount of lacing. Smells of malts, a little spice, and some toffee. Taste is biscuit and a little bit of caramel. Lighter body, fair amount of carbonation. Solid beer, but one note, fairly average as far as Oktoberfest beers go. Wouldn't turn it down if offered, not sure I'd buy another one though as there are better examples out there.
420 characters
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Pours a clear, amber color with a little bit of white head that fades to a small amount of lacing. Smells of malts, a little spice, and some toffee. Taste is biscuit and a little bit of caramel. Lighter body, fair amount of carbonation. Solid beer, but one note, fairly average as far as Oktoberfest beers go. Wouldn't turn it down if offered, not sure I'd buy another one though as there are better examples out there.
420 characters
Brooklyn Oktoberfest from Brooklyn Brewery
Beer rating:
3.63 out of
5 with
1,748 ratings
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