Red Baron Octoberfest
Bristol Brewing Company

Clear burnt gold with a moderately short white head that leaves bumpy mounds of lace on the glass.

A nutty, leafy yet semi-bitter expression of wild herbs is contrasted by lightly sweet butterscotch before a semi-dry finish.

This was a refreshing post-hike brew with a rounded, medium-full body and a smooth froth.

 

 

12 oz. Bottle

Pours a nice orangy color, pretty nice carbonation, with a nice small thick/creamy off-white head, which leaves some sticky lacing behind. The nose is malty, with some caramel. The taste is malty, caramel. Medium body, with a nice little dry/bitter finish. Overall, a tasty brew.

 

Look:
Not very much foam after pouring from a 12oz bottle. 1 finger head that vacates quicly, but lacing continues for a bit. Hazy deep orange color.

Smell:
Not much of an aroma. Some caramel malt and fall "harvest" scents. Slight fruity notes.

Taste:
First hit is some hop bitterness that leads you to a strong yeasty/grainy/biscuit flavor. Some sweet caramel and malt flavors follow. It starts to fade into a dry and fruity (slight grape hints) and earthy hop flavors.

Feel:
Medium bodied, but closer to the lighter side. It feels a bit flat and thin.

Overall:
Decent Oktoberfest. Better than some American ones that claim to be authentic. This, to me, had an authentic taste closer to Paulaner and Hacker Pschorr.

A: Not great looking kind of bland. Hits the marketing crowd. S: bitter smelling around the edges not appealing to me personally T: bitter but not bad. There are hints of outside sweetness. F: goes down quick kind of glad for that. O: not something I would buy nothing to do with Germany

Poured into a snifter from a 12 oz bottle.

Smells of light caramel and a slightly toasty caramel malt, backed by a slightly higher than average hop presence. A bit "darker" in aroma than the typical Vienna Lager, rather more like the wider style of Marzen. Either way, it traditional enough and quite pleasing.

The malts take a slightly more caramel-y take, but are toasty and crackery enough to be well within the lager guidelines. The hops add a lightly earthy and moderately spicy lift to the flavor, and contribute a nice heft to teh flavor.

This is good this year, and I would gladly drink it again. Better than I remember from previous years. A very nice local lager.

 

A - Copper-gold, with a half inch of off-white foam. Good lacing.

S - Aroma of slightly sweet malts combined with dry toast and faint caramel. Very inviting!

T - Lightly caramel, and slightly dry. Plenty of lingering hop bitterness in the aftertaste. You have to try the 2022 version!

M - Low to moderate carbonation. Medium bodied overall. A little more dry than I'm used to for an
Octoberfest but excellent nonetheless!

O - 2022 - One of the best batches of Bristol Red Baron Octoberfest ever produced!

 

 

 

 

 

 

From a 355 ml bottle (label notch says bottled in fourth week of August 2014) into a tulip.

A-The head builds slowly to a creamy, nearly white finger of foam. The head fades to a cap after a minute and leaves some fine lacing on the glass. The beer is brassy, dark amber and mostly clear. Not much visible carbonation.

S-The aroma opens with malted barley grain and stays malty throughout. The beer is somewhat earthy instead of sweet, however. I sniff some cocoa powder, hints of dry grass, and dusty barley grain.

T-The taste is similar with earthy, malted barley grain being the dominant flavor. There is a bit of molasses sweetness, but this beer is still dry and earthy for the style. The finish has just a hint of hoppy, dried grass bitterness.

M-The feel is robust with lower levels of carbonation.

O-This is not a bad fall/marzen style, but not my favorite. It lacks the tinge of sweetness that I enjoy in a marzen and the earthy flavor is just a bit dull for my preference. That being said, the beer has a good, hearty body that feels right at home on a crisp fall evening.