Unter Dog
Yards Brewing Co.

 

 

A decent very drinkable Oktoberfest that pours very well with a luxurious head and maintains some lacing throughout. Flavors are on the interesting side for the style with graham cracker and honey malts leading the way as a soft floral hop kiss finishes each sip. Not exactly true to style and a tad thin, but it's a crushable take and one I wouldn't hesitate to drink again

Not much head, quickly fading atop a very nice clear orange brass liquid.
Very drinkable and well balanced.
Pretty decent seasonal offering.

Poured from 12-ounce bottle into a stemless wine glass. Copper-amber in color, with a tan head. Good retention, a little nice lacing. Good depth of malt flavor, with a fruity, almost cidery, note. Medium-light in body, good carbonation, and a crisp finish. This screams fall, so pull up a bratwurst and sauerkraut and enjoy!

Had on tap. Murky brown body with a khaki head, sporadic trace lacing. Caramel malt, biscuit, lager yeast is the trinity of the nose. Taste is driven by the sweeter malts in a fuller way, frothy yeast finishes as an accent to the yeast. Clean, malty, simple, warming.

12 oz bottle here in NJ. Should be fresh but this one has a hint of infection, a little acid cutting into what should be the typical malty backbone of an Oktoberfest style beer. Obviously this is no good going to have to dump the 6 pack. A shame as I've never had this problem with a Yard's beer before.

 

Drawn from a tap, it arrived in a nearly full clear pint glass, save for a Victory Brewing label. Go figure. Safe to say this wasn't at the Yards' brewhouse, which is nearby. There was almost no off-white head, as that's the way we pour beer in Philly. The color is lovely dark golden-amber and it's bright and relatively translucent. A mild wholegrain aroma greets the nose. Like the aroma, the taste is on the mild side. There are plenty of Marzens more fully flavored. At least it's not too sweet and as it's light bodied, it can go down quickly. The hop bite is gentle and in balance with the maltiness. The wee head didn't last long and there was no glass lacing. At best, this is OK. Certainly, there are much better brews in this style. The best to be said is it does capture the style, just lightly. That makes it very drinkable, but not necessarily tasty. In fairness, there was more flavor as it warmed.

A - Dark caramel gold colored pour with very slow, minimal carbonation and no lacing.

S - Toasted caramel and bread crust aroma.

T - Biscuity bread crust malt base with minimal hop bitterness on the back side.

M - Big medium body with a little bit of thinness around the edges.

O - Middle of the road.

 

 

Bottle into pint glass. Pours a gorgeous crystal-clear dark gold with a nice off-white head. Good lacing. Initial impression is bready malts and a touch of floral hops. Mouthfeel is clean, medium-weight, and very smooth. Finish is clean and dry. Overall, a very enjoyable festbier.

Pours a clear golden copper color with a sudsy white head that provides nice lacing. Nice caramel note on the nose and some biscuity malt notes as well.

The taste mirrors the nose and is accompanied by a very crisp, clean mouthfeel. Very nice Marzen, IMHO.

 

Clear amber appearance with a small bone colored head that left light lacing. Muted aroma of toasted malts dancing around with toffee. Floral, herbal hops step up in the taste, maybe a bit more than other recently sampled marzens. Still has a solid, rich malt backbone that frames the overall product.

 

Glassware: 0.5 L Festmug
Temp at Pour: 52.1 F
ABV: 5.6%


Look:
The color is a clear golden copper with an off-white head. The head starts at an initial 1-finger thickness and is very fizzy. The head dissolved quite quickly leaving no cover and little lacing.

Smell:
Light sweet bready malts with some caramel. Notes of grassy and herbal hops clash with the caramel, yielding an odd fruity or perhaps a vinous characteristic.

Taste:
Very sweet caramel leads off and stays around. This is joined by some sweet bread dough and that vinous or white grape note. A light bitterness does show up towards the end along with some notes of grass and hay, but these don't quite cut through the sweetness.

Feel:
Smooth. The body is medium.

Overall:
A drinkable beer, but not what I expect in a Marzen. This does hew to (or try to hew to) the caramelly-sweet American Okto standard, but that grapey or vinous note throws things out of whack. Maybe I have a bad sample here?

 

L - Poured dark amber with a two finger frothy cream head. Moderate lacing.

S - Faint caramel malt.

T - Caramel, malt, vanilla, grain but sweetness stands out.

F - Moderate body and light carbonation. A bit thinner than expected.

O - Good but not close to the German brews.