Vintage Oktoberfest
Brewery Silvaticus

This is my first beer from Silvaticus, an Amesbury based brewing venture in Massachusetts that seems to mostly stick to making old-world and European styles instead of jumping on the hazebro IPA bandwagon like a lot of modern/upstart NE breweries. That alone makes them worthy of distinction, but their announcement on social media that they were going to be putting out a Sauvignon Blanc barrel Brett Oktoberfest (aged one year from their first anniversary), I knew I had to get a bottle. I was about to go grab one myself when I learned a co-worker of mine would be at the fest (on a day I wouldn't have been able to make it, to boot) and was willing to pony up for a bottle. Cheers to my buddy Evan, and on to the review!

The pour of this beer is beautiful... a copper colored Märzen-type Oktoberfestbier with a soapy, consistent ring of foam measuring three fingers upon initial pour. The collar settles down to about three-quarters of a finger after a few minutes in my glass and stays at that height, leaving behind awesome lacing and pretty superb legs. For a Brett beer, this is a surprisingly clear-looking body, and I'm overall just very impressed right now. Hope the rest of this unique offering is as quality as the appearance!

The nose is a really fun and funky combination of the traditional Brett rustic-ness with notes of bready malt, toffee, pear, apricot, light roasted nuts, spice, and oaky vanillins/tannins. There's even a bit of an "apple crisp"-like note in here, and it's just superbly evocative of the fall season without falling into traditional Autumnal tropes or resigning to be a normal seasonal. I know something like this is difficult to make, but if I could regularly get something even remotely as intriguing as this with any amount of regularity, I'd be happy.

First sip is honeyed malts, light white wine grape, notes of mango, pineapple, pear, and funky/earthy spice mixed with some nuttiness and toffee. Absolutely a ton happening, and it's all really great. I feel like I'm getting a different element of this every time I take a subsequent sip. The Brett is hugely characterful and dominates most of what's happening (hence adding this to the database as a Brett beer), but I can feel the base beer's nutty charm and slight herbal bent punching through. As it warms, more of the malt becomes noticeable and I can pick up caramel, biscuit, and more vanilla coming from the barrel. Smooth and delicious with a simple yet incredibly-dense approach that feels at once complex and barebones... unpretentious despite the ridiculous idea behind it. This deserves praise. A fantastic beer that has impressed me greatly. I should make it to this place some day, eh?