Marzen Oktoberfest
Waldmann Brewery & Wurstery

On tap at the brewery 9/27/24.
L: SRM 8 Pours a rusty burnished amber color with a thin white head that recedes to edge foam, low carbonation, random webby lacing.
S: Caramel malts, a hint of pastry dough.
T: A toasty malty blend, gently sweet, a very light fruit taste, a distant brown bread note, raisin, date. Tastes are natural.
F: Fairly smooth medium-heavy bodied feel with a medium length lightly drying finish.
O: Really tasty and easy drinking. Lots of malts. Very well balanced and has an overall profile that hasn't been toyed with. Lower carbonation but has good luster. It's an old-school Marzen that is very good to excellent in its style.

 

 

 

Clear, but dark, amber, nicely carbonated, tall, thick off-white head with decent retention, but little lacing (that last might be the glass's fault; I washed it just before pouring, was perhaps in too much of a hurry and didn't get it properly rinsed...).

Very pleasant aroma, sweet roasty bread, honey, raisins, moderate strength.

Rich flavor. Again with the bread, dark fruits - darker figs, toasty-caramel (melanoidin?, as near as I can tell from the brewer's description, there are no caramel malts used in the recipe, but the description is not definitive on that), semi-sweet malts. Slightly bitter in the middle carrying through to the finish. This beer is simpler than Ayinger, but it is working in the same ballpark. The toasty breadiness and light bitterness lingers in the aftertaste. Excellent.

The mouth feel is smooth, moderate body, long-lasting mouth presence.

Overall, an excellent märzen. This Oktoberfest-Märzen is, to my taste, is at the top of the MN-brewed Oktoberfest-Märzen scale. Excellent.