Chopping Wood - Festbier
Mountains Walking Brewery

From a 16oz can, no date on the can.

This is a beer that pours a darker golden color. There's a slight bit of murkiness to the beer. There's a 1 finger white head that has a nice frothy look to it. The head retention is great and there's some lacing on the glass.
There's a nice biscuit aroma to this beer. I get an earthy and grassy aroma as well. It reminds me of fresh cut grass almost.
Taste - First off, this is a hoppy beer. I am getting a lot of hop bitterness in it, that's pleasing. The beer has a very earthy/grassy flavor to it. I do get hints of a malty sweetness to it.
I am really digging the hop bitter feeling to this beer. Very nice full bodied.
This beer is downright delicious overall. A huge pleasure to try.

picked up at Big Head's in Missoula, MT
16oz can poured into a Sierra Nevada imperial pint

P clear chestnut; 1-2f off-white head
N bold; sweet nuttiness, grassy and earthy notes; inviting; notable
T delicious profile of sweet toasted malt, dashed with grassy and earthy hops; some nuttiness as well; moderate earthy bitterness in the finish; really good
Mf med to med-full bodied; med to med-high carb
O a nicely done festbier; tasty and super drinkable; Mountains Walking does a broad range of styles well, and this one is no exception imo

review date: 10.22.22
can date: 09.14.22

 

 

 

Review 1693
Chopping Wood Festbier
Mountains Walking brewing
Date: 27 Auge 2021
Festbier
One of the few styles of beer that I enjoy. I used a traditional german mug; the temperature was 42 degrees. A frothy and airy white two-fingered with okay retention was created. The quick dissipation left gobs of lacing the glass. The color charts around SRM 8, amber color, with dark golden hues. The beer is clear with a few carbonation bubbles.
Huge malty aromas of lightly toasted malts, caramel, and crackers. Nosing further, I detected a touch of floral, earthiness, and subtle malty sweetness. The beer smells like a festbier.
The flavors are lightly toasted malts, caramel, crackers, a hint of herbal, a touch of floral esters, a skosh of phenols, and earthiness.
The mouthfeel is creamy. The body is medium-light, medium carbonation, a has a quick finish.
The beer is clean, crisp, and easy to drink. Tasty beer, I enjoyed the other I had. I would not mind several more.

tasty stuff, a well refined lager, paler and lighter than a lot of the marzen types this time of year, but in that vein, with some crystal malt still evident, a european vibe to the grain as well as the yeast, and a crispness from the lager yeast that is spot on, makes this super dry for the style, drinkable, and refreshing even, not a common attribute for fall lagers most of the time. its like a vienna lager in some ways, especially on the grain side, but its quite hoppy as these go too, and i just love the yeast, super well refined and professionally done. i think these guys have gotten better since the last time i was in. this has some body but stays light on the palate, has some relevant water chemistry, and seems like noble hops just in higher than normal proportion to me. crisp but not at the expense of flavor, and this paired super well with one of their in house pizzas. this place has come on quick, but they have it down, good vibes in here and quality food and drink. this seasonal lager works on a number of levels, could have sat here and had five of them if i had nowhere to be...

Clear golden amber pour with two fingers of white foam. Aromas of caramel malt, german yeast, honey and a delicate earthy hop kiss. Taste has white bread emerging from the yeast, toast from the malt interaction, caramel is reduced and honey is strengthened, end is lightly bitter. Feel is malty and smooth yet clean and sneaky crisp. Good festbier!

Crystal clean light golden? brew with a decent white head that went to a ring fairly quick. Interesting. Almost sweet malty nose with some German type hops. This has some depth on the aroma here. Pretty even tasting but not sure it’s completely representative of the style as it leans bitter without that sweet malt flavor I want. Thinner and with some carbonation, not bad but not was I was looking for.

Poured from 16oz can into a dimpled mug. Canned 8/27/21.

Appearance: medium orange hue with a dash of haze and a thin finger of frothy ivory foam atop. Not too bad; very autumnal.

Smell: lightly toasty, lightly bready malt aroma, which is a little bit sweet but not too much so. I like the balance, although I feel like the volume could be turned up a little bit.

Taste: the malt is a little on the sweet side but has a really good flavor and a nicely balanced bitterness. It's not as heavy as a Märzen, which is appropriate for a modern Festbier. I dig it.

Mouthfeel: medium body with a big carbonation and a good creaminess. Capital!

Overall: I rather like this beer. Although the aroma could be kicked up a notch, overall it's an eminently quaffable treat.

Revisited October 04th, 2024

Honey amber color, clear; full carbonation; big, fat head, soft and billowy, very long lasting. Rich aroma; toasted grains with a toffee sweetness; mildly charred sugar. Great flavor; repeats the impression from the smell but to a lesser intensity; nice hop bitterness balance; light brown sugar. Lager smooth yet rich and seemingly dense on the palate; excellent residual sugar presence.

While not as rich and full tasting as I seemed to sense from my September 2021 tasting, this is still a fine American example of a festbier.

ABV: 6.0%: pouring temperature: 43 °F; canning info: n/a
Source: local purchase

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Original September 18th, 2021 ratings, scores, and review:

4.0 3.75 4.0 4.0 4.0; BA weighted overall score: 3.94; rDev: +1.3%

Golden amber body, crystal clear; fine carbonation; thick and frothy white head. Bright caramel scent; lightly sweet; toasted grain with a touch of honey. Excellent toasted malt base; light toffee; light to moderate hop bitterness; clean. Medium body; crisp; great malt warmth with a deft touch of hop dryness.

This is a fine late summer, early autumn lager. It's not too intense in any department which makes for an easy drinking experience. It has some overall rustic seasonal qualities, relatively light yet with some robust hints of agedness.

Poured at 47.8 ℉; canning data from the can bottom: PROST! 08/27/21