Artoberfest
Art History Brewing
- From:
- Art History Brewing
- Illinois, United States
- Style:
- Festbier / Wiesnbier
Ranked #30 - ABV:
- 5.8%
- Score:
- 89
Ranked #17,093 - Avg:
- 3.98 | pDev: 5.28%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 10
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Oct 17, 2025
- Added:
- Jun 27, 2021
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 0
SCORE
89
Very Good
89
Very Good
Traditional Bavarian style festbier with German, Munich, and Vienna malt. Hallertau Mittelfrüh hops
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Reviewed by Coach99 from Illinois
3.99/5 rDev +0.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
3.99/5 rDev +0.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Amazingly close to an authentic Festbier. Malty and bready, which lingers for a long time, in a good way. Really an excellent brew. If I can’t find a traditional German Festbier, I’m reaching for this. Initially very foamy but that dissipates almost entirely very quickly.
Sep 12, 2025
Reviewed by Beginner2 from Illinois
3.85/5 rDev -3.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
3.85/5 rDev -3.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
While this 2024 seasonal has several ratings ahead of me, I'm the first review. And while I just surveyed reviews of the previous three releases, I'm thinking there have been only a couple of changes worth noting.
One change I detect is the hops linger longer and drier than previous reviews indicate. Admittedly, this is partly my palate. But the lingering is so long, I sense a change in the recipe... after all, we periodically have hop varietal shortages.
Another change is that liveliness seems more muted, both carbonation and foam. Other than those two impressions, this tastes like the modern Oktoberfest. I just bought a 4-pack, so I will enhance this review soon.
Being a fuddy-duddy, I still prefer the marzen. But adding more hops to Artoberfest certainly strikes me as a good move for AHB, given that their quality of their lagers deserves wider distribution than Illinois and the American palate sucks up as much hops as suds.
10/10/24 As the season draws to an end, I'm thinking that only minor tinkering with this recipe is needed. It's got that modern tradition.
Sep 11, 2024One change I detect is the hops linger longer and drier than previous reviews indicate. Admittedly, this is partly my palate. But the lingering is so long, I sense a change in the recipe... after all, we periodically have hop varietal shortages.
Another change is that liveliness seems more muted, both carbonation and foam. Other than those two impressions, this tastes like the modern Oktoberfest. I just bought a 4-pack, so I will enhance this review soon.
Being a fuddy-duddy, I still prefer the marzen. But adding more hops to Artoberfest certainly strikes me as a good move for AHB, given that their quality of their lagers deserves wider distribution than Illinois and the American palate sucks up as much hops as suds.
10/10/24 As the season draws to an end, I'm thinking that only minor tinkering with this recipe is needed. It's got that modern tradition.
Reviewed by Qbert from Illinois
3.75/5 rDev -5.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.75/5 rDev -5.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Golden amber in color. Aroma is sweet malt. Taste is toast, caramel, and a slight fruitiness. Body is medium/thin. The finish is pretty sweet.
A well-made beer but strikes me more as a marzen than a festbier: pretty decent overall but a bit too sweet in the finish to be a great beer.
Mar 05, 2024A well-made beer but strikes me more as a marzen than a festbier: pretty decent overall but a bit too sweet in the finish to be a great beer.
Reviewed by jrc1093 from Connecticut
3.23/5 rDev -18.8%
look: 4 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3
3.23/5 rDev -18.8%
look: 4 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3
Canned on 8/23/23; consumed on 10/27/23
Pours a nearly crystal-clear, pale copper body capped with three fingers of fluffy, off-white foam; decent head retention leaves a slight layer of cap, slim collar, and moderate spread of webby lacing around the walls of the glass.
Aroma wafts a lager yeast trending fruity, overtaking the subtle backing of minerality and slight bread crust edge almost immediately; musty currant jam alongside shreds of caramel and brown toast linger over time.
Taste offers fruity lager yeast settling to robust brown toast and trails of fresh caramel, with tinges of burnt apple peel and toffee past the mid-palate, leaving minerality and an abrupt, airy char to finish.
Mouthfeel shows a light-medium body and a moderate-high carbonation, settling to a flaky fade and a rounded, semi-bitter grit; taut structure belies slick subtext through the back end as a soft crispness eases through the finish.
Sweet, awkwardly charry, and overwhelmingly fruity in spots, the choppy presentation leaves minimal cohesion in this drinkable yet not entirely enjoyable Märzen.
Oct 28, 2023Pours a nearly crystal-clear, pale copper body capped with three fingers of fluffy, off-white foam; decent head retention leaves a slight layer of cap, slim collar, and moderate spread of webby lacing around the walls of the glass.
Aroma wafts a lager yeast trending fruity, overtaking the subtle backing of minerality and slight bread crust edge almost immediately; musty currant jam alongside shreds of caramel and brown toast linger over time.
Taste offers fruity lager yeast settling to robust brown toast and trails of fresh caramel, with tinges of burnt apple peel and toffee past the mid-palate, leaving minerality and an abrupt, airy char to finish.
Mouthfeel shows a light-medium body and a moderate-high carbonation, settling to a flaky fade and a rounded, semi-bitter grit; taut structure belies slick subtext through the back end as a soft crispness eases through the finish.
Sweet, awkwardly charry, and overwhelmingly fruity in spots, the choppy presentation leaves minimal cohesion in this drinkable yet not entirely enjoyable Märzen.
Reviewed by JohnnyHopps from Indiana
4/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Appearance - The beer had a copper color in appearance with a fluffy white head.
Smell - the nose made me think of autumn. The malts were sweet with a pleasant bitterness.
Taste - The profile was very crisp. The hopps lent a grassy bitterness that paralleled of strong, mold profile. The aftertaste allowed those malts to linger.
Mouthfeel - With the notable carbonation the beer had some staying power.
Overall - This was a very drinkable Oktoberfest.
Oct 01, 2023Smell - the nose made me think of autumn. The malts were sweet with a pleasant bitterness.
Taste - The profile was very crisp. The hopps lent a grassy bitterness that paralleled of strong, mold profile. The aftertaste allowed those malts to linger.
Mouthfeel - With the notable carbonation the beer had some staying power.
Overall - This was a very drinkable Oktoberfest.
Reviewed by steveh from Illinois
3.78/5 rDev -5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
3.78/5 rDev -5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
Another local take for the season. "Festbier," but pretty dark.
16 oz. can into my tall Becher. Canned 8-23-2023. 5.8 ABV.
L -- Clear, deep amber-orange with a meager, off-white head.
S -- Herbal hops and doughy malts. Some light DMS and solvent note with warming.
T -- Light toasty, bready malts up front. Sweetish without being cloying. Bitter, herbal hops in good balance without becoming "Americanized." After the bad appearance and nose, this tastes very good.
F -- Mouthfeel is soft to crisp/dry with a medium body.
O -- Great balance of herbal hops against the malts to make for a very drinkable beer. I wish these cans (or canning processes) would yield a better foam cap.
Sep 17, 202316 oz. can into my tall Becher. Canned 8-23-2023. 5.8 ABV.
L -- Clear, deep amber-orange with a meager, off-white head.
S -- Herbal hops and doughy malts. Some light DMS and solvent note with warming.
T -- Light toasty, bready malts up front. Sweetish without being cloying. Bitter, herbal hops in good balance without becoming "Americanized." After the bad appearance and nose, this tastes very good.
F -- Mouthfeel is soft to crisp/dry with a medium body.
O -- Great balance of herbal hops against the malts to make for a very drinkable beer. I wish these cans (or canning processes) would yield a better foam cap.
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