Oktoberfest
Copper State Brewing Company

Pours out of the can a deep rusty brown with a good 2 fingers of head with decent lacing. Smells of bready malts and slight carmel notes. The taste follows the nose with a slight peppery finish and great robust mouthfeel. A very excellent Oktoberfest late in the season but the can still says it's good, so bottoms up!

 

Break out the liederhosen and strike up the oompah bands, Copper State Brewing is ringing in the fall season with a deeper, richer fest beer that fits the occasion particularly well.

Deeper and darker copper amber in color, the bright but nearly garnet pour sees a darker than usual appearance. As its frothy eggshell cap settles down a bit, the nose is surrounded with a toasty, bready, sweet and savory scent that'l akin to fresh beer bread and cracker jacks treats. As those sweeter attributes carry over to the early sips, a deeper caramel, nutty, toasty and savory sweetness is nearly brittle-like and bready.

As the sweetness slowly fades across the middle palate, an early floral scent transitions to a spicy hop balance of grassiness, herb and mint. The beer retains its toasty and nutty elements after the sweetness dissolves to allow for a bold sense of refreshment despite being such a malt-driven beer. A late taste of peppery bitterness from hops is just enough to offset the sweetness to ensure a high sense of drinkability.

Medium bodied and seeming fuller than the usual festbier flavors, the beer is slightly off of the nuanced smoothness and lager elegance of the best German examples, but with festival of fests out there, Copper State's version will wash down those schnitzel just fine.