Oktoberfest
Bayern Brewing, Inc. / Edelweiss Bistro

From a 12oz bottle. Best by October 2025.

Clear brown pour with a white head to the beer. The head retention retention is good, and some lacing on the glass.
The aroma is light. Some caramel notes to it.
Ok, this is strange. I am getting black pepper notes here. There's malty caramel hints here.
Smooth body. Soft feeling.
This is strange as hell. Good, but crazy hints in the flavor.

 

Good not great

BOTTLE:

A bit on the darker side maltwise for a festbier, tending towards caramalt and breadiness/toastiness. Less a quaffer and more of a filling brew. (I'd call this a Marzen, not an Oktoberfest, for those keeping score).

The goal of a festbier in my mind is quaffability...after all, they're brewed to drink by the litre. This attempt at the style isn't one I'd want more than one litre of in a single sitting, but it's a nice enough fault-free brew for those who like 'em bready.

C+ / ABOVE AVERAGE

Thanks, Chris!

Much darker than typical. The nose is sweeter with a lot of caramel, toffee, less bread and a fruity, figgy character. The palate is sweet but also has a harsh edge. Fruity, mildly bready. Drying yet sweet finish. Decent.

Look: Brown with amber hues on the pour with a luscious beige head that slowly settles to a pillow, leaving sheets of lacing behind. This is one beautiful beer
Aroma: Warm and freshly baked brown bread, caramel, melanoidin, toffee, light dried dark fruit notes, and earthy hops
Taste: Kicks off with a full-on brown bread assault (in a good way) with layers of fresh bread, toasted crust, and light dough, with toffee and caramel following close behind. Earthy hops and dark fruit weave in and out throughout until the close, but this is a malt bomb through and through
Mouthfeel: Full, smooth, clean, medium-high carbonation, and lightly soft and clean on the finish
Overall: This beer is outstanding. I’ve had a few of these folks’ offerings and liked them all but this gem here has completely blown my mind and palate. I love old-style Marzens and this is just that with a ton of malt depth throughout, all in balance, and just the right amount of hop and dark fruit presence. Highly recommended

 

2022-01-02
12oz bottle served in a stemless wineglass. Not totally sure, but it looks like it may have been marked as "best before November 2021" -- the tick mark next to 21 is clear, but there is not a clear tick mark next to a month.

Pours very dark, clear, small head that is very dense and is mostly a ring around the glass, though there's a fairly generous dusting through the center of the surface. Smell is fairly muted, burnt toffee, maybe some nuts, roasted grains, a hint of anise.

Taste is strong on dark roasty flavors, and light on most else. Nuts, toffee, and anise make their appearance. Kind of makes me think of overdone toast.

Mouthfeel is light, dry. Overall, it's not exciting, but pretty good.

 

 

this might be the darkest take on a marzen lager i have ever had, and its awesome on these early season cold nights, way more robust than almost all others i have had out there this season. its approaching brown in color but still has the stereotypical underlying orange hue to it, tall headed from both the bottle and the tap, frothy and active looking. it smells like a normal oktoberfest, with the deep nutty malt base, a little long boiled sweetness, and the classic german lager yeast really adding a lot to this, old worldy for sure, and while this is very dark for the style, its definitely a real traditional beer, smells like it came from germany! the flavor is just as good, very fresh for one, clean for how malt driven it is, and really expertly lagered, shockingly drinkable and crisp for what it is, and with just a little more grain depth than most, although not as heavy as it looks like it should be. a faint hint of dark bread, brown sugar, and subtle cocoa on the low end, nice and toasted and cozy too, with some minerals at the finish with the yeast. fuller bodied, brightly carbonated, and really the perfect fall beer, highly suitable for morning/daytime drinking as well. maybe the best one of these i have had this year so far, this is exactly what bayern does best! something a little different here, i really like it!

Not your conventional golden to deep copper body, but it says right there on the label, "dark Märzen lager". And that is exactly what it is. Deep brown bordering black, with a khaki and persistent foam that leaves spotty lacing behind.

Subtle aroma of spiced pumpernickel bread. Caramel and burnt toast.

Flavor follows to a tee. Toasty, not roasty, bread and burnt sugar with a touch of earthy grassiness.

Very light, almost watery feel. Well balanced with light carbonation. Smooth, yet slightly robust.

More in the vein of your Spaten Oktöberfest, which is seldom done, but welcomed, especially as a night cap (in this case). Prost!

Poured fresh on draft into a proper .5L mug. Dark brown and clear with constant bubbles feeding a fluffy mousse like off-white head that persists to the bottom leaving thick lace down the sides

Smells of toasted bread crusts with hints of fresh dough. Light wafts of herbal hops undergird the rich malts.

Tastes like liquid bread crust. Not Wonder bread, but rich and rustic dark bread crust. Mild toast notes and a sweet malt character finishes slightly dry. Bitterness is restrained and the malt gives a very faint raisin flavor mid palate. Finish has a lingering ghost of roast note to it.

Medium full body is deceptive as it gives way to a semi dry finish. Carbonation is medium feeding the head and helping to lift the finish clean on the palate.

This beer is wonderful on a dreary fall like day. The chill in the air with the dark clouds and dumping rain calls for a rich and hearty beer full of malt flavors with a dry and clean finish. Very balanced beer marrying the rich malt notes that finishes crisp begging for another gulp... not sip... mouthful and swallow... gulp.

Poured from 12oz bottle into glass. Best by date marked on label as 'D 18'.
Slight khaki colored head which swells to one finger deep with aggressive pour but rapidly fades away to a skiff and a ring. Leaves behind some strings and spots of lacing.
Not much for aroma. Light mix of the darker malts and the floral, spicy hops.
Taste is quite well balanced with the darker malts and the spicy hops. Sweetness is at a minimum. The end of the taste profile is similar to a cola (dark caramel but not sweet). Like drinking a dark German bread.
Medium to full mouth feel. Good carbonation.
Quite a bit darker than most Oktoberfest beers, and quite light on aroma. The flavors are expressive, but again darker than others in the style. Very easy to drink for session work. I can see picking this beer for a day of festival celebration.

 

 

Pours a light brown, average head, fairly mild aroma. Taste comes across as very mild on the carbonation, lacking much of a distinctive malt profile. Neutral on the sweetness. Subtle hop influence. Disappointing for a style that shouldn't be shy about its malt profile. Reminds me more of a common macro brew light lager.

 

This is one of the worst tasting beer I have ever tried. Ruined my will to try new beers for a month. Awful flavor, not easy to drink. It tasted like I was drinking from a old coffee pot that was left out over night then put in the fridge and passed off as beer.