Allgäuer Oktoberfest
Allgäuer Brauhaus AG

 

 

My first Marzen of the season, probably my favorite autumn seasonal.

Allgauer's Looks average, both more amber and foam would kelp. A reasonably hard pour does not release many Smells other than malt. Tastes also are mostly malt, with just a tad of hops for balance. Sits fine in the mouth, medium-body and bubbly as in the name, I presume.

A Part of a marzen's appeal to me is the malt tradition, but Allgauer's O-fest could be a bit too traditional.

That was confirmed when I went on Allgäuer website and couldn't find the English button. I suppose I shouldn't be so lazy, but I only spent a few minutes trying to figure out what they are about... then gave up given the language barrier.

Flashback #340

 

 

I poured this average beer into my tumbler at 50 degrees. The beer was a dirty gold color with a fine bubbly head. The smell was of fresh bread and not bad at all. It was also a little on the fruity side. The taste was slighly sweet. The beers head decayed pretty fast and lacing was just average. I will not buy again.

A: A crisp golden with a little body to it. A rich and foamy white head tops it, nice and sticky. It's off to a good start!

S: A strong, toasted malt aroma on this one... there appear to be some light fruit scents that come through, and a touch of subdued leafiness - that little hint of hops.

T: The somewhat fruity sweetness appears in the flavour, as well. It's not quite like any other Oktoberfest beer I've had. It's quite nice and works well with the toasted malt flavours. It's like a light note of apple and a very soft touch of bitter greens. Some little bits of spiciness in there after the finish. Great stuff.

M + D: Good carbonation, medium bodied, and refreshing. Pretty much all it needs to be, and straight-forward. It's an easy drinker, and a personal preference of those tasted this season. A great example of the style, and one I'd recommend.

The appearance was a light amber color with 1-2 finger foam head that took off quickly. Not much in the way of lacing.

The smell was bready and gave off....fruitcake? Interesting smells. This bottle doesn't have a date of drink by or brewed by so don't know if this one is past its prime. The taste was malty as the "Malt Liquor" on the label indicated. There is some decent bitterness and the finish rolls around. In mouth you are left with that good hop bitterness that stays with you for some time. I would really love to try this one from the tap someday. I think it would be really enjoyable.

This poured just as expected, a clear (maybe a bit clearer than expected)golden color with a head that fades pretty quickly as does the lacing. Prominent malt smell with hints of pacans. The taste is of malt and... malt, with no real hoppiness to speak of and a slightly sweet finish. It has a great, smooth mouthfeel with light carbonation. I could drink this with some Brats (no, not my kids)

Poured from the 500ml bottle into a pint glass. Body is a bright golden color, very light for an Oktoberfest. A decent-sized creamy white head flourishes for just a minute, then subsides to a thin ring. Aroma of light sweet malt and a peculiar nutty character. Palate is light malt up front with a touch of hops. A mild astringent quality emerges mid-palate, leading to a finish that's a bit heavier on the hops. Body is pleasantly smooth and just a bit fizzy. Although this looks and tastes a little different than most Oktoberfest beers, it's still pretty damn tasty and easy to drink.

Serving Type: 1pt 9 fl oz Bottle

Appearance: Pours a lovely pale orange w/ a nice 2 finger head. Head dissipates quickly but leaves plenty of lacing and a lovely light head on top

Smell: Caramel...apple....hops. Some sweat malt

Taste/Mouthfeel: A great sweat malt taste w/ a touch of apples. Hoppy dry finish makes this beer very enjoyable. Very creamy feeling that goes well w/ the big malt flavours

Drinkability: If this was available year round you could bet I'd be drinking it year round. Very enjoyable

Edit: Changing my review. After having this beer I can say that I am in beer heaven now. The taste of the beer lingers long after your done drinking it and only makes you want more. Smooth, refreshing, great tasting?!?! What's not to love? This beer is receiving the highest score I have given any beer and I would GLADLY drink these all night long

On-tap at Hollingshead's Delicatessen in Orange, CA,

A: Pours a pale orange color from the tap, a small head initially, but retreats to a few bubbles.

S: Typical Oktoberfest, caramel malt, and some spicy hops, with a bit of apple.

T: Very malty, typical Oktoberfest flavour, caramel malt, toffee, and a snappy hop bitterness.

M: Spritzy, light and easy to drink, very refreshing on the palate.

D: An above average Oktoberfest, I enjoyed it, would be a good choice for a session of drinking, a beer you could stick with for the night.

Holy crap, thanks MuenchenerKindl!

This is quite possibly the finest Oktoberfest I've ever had. It managed to combine the multi-layered complexity of Ayinger's product with the raw drinkability of Paulaner's: truly the best of all worlds.

It managed to be rich and bready, with a beautiful mixture of nutty munich malt with rich, sweet vienna malt, rich in delicious melanoidins . . .all wrapped up with a nice caramel malt finish. Then the beer peters out into a nice, clean, dry finish.


One of the best beers I've ever had.

I love this bottle with it's happy oompah band. Makes me want to go to Oktoberfest in Munich! Hazy orange brew with a 1/4 finger white head and some nice lacing.

Nice tasty scent. Clean and lightly hopped with a big malty carrot cake smell. Could stand to be a little more pungent though. Very nice smell, but not very assertive.

Wow! Great malty taste that is very "to style." Spiced carrot cake flavor with a lightly hopped dry finish.

Creamy and medium in body. Refreshing and highly drinkable (as a fest beer should be). This is a great Oktoberfest brew! One of my favorites so far this fall.

Poured from a big .5L bottle to a Tall O'Fest style mug. This beer looks right. Medium carmel color, with nice carbonation. The head is big, 2 fingers, off white, leaves nice lace.

The smell is lightly toasty, semi sweet, and hops included. I'm smelling good old fashion Marzen here folks.

The taste is great, Good lightly toasted carmel malt, and lots of it, this beer is jam packed with big malt. Good hopy tone adds character and balance.

The mouthfeel is also good, could use just a slight bit more carbonation to lift up the bigger then medium body.

The drinkability is great, this is the beer we have been waiting for this fall season. Prosit und Zum Wohl, MK

16.9 oz. bottle

Pours a hazy orange-amber with a small white head that thins. Mild lacing on the glass.

Aroma is a slightly sweet caramel malt with just a hint of hops.

Taste is lightly sweet and malty upfront with just a touch of hop flavor midway. Finishes rather clean and malty.

Body is slightly thin, mild carbonation.

Overall, a drinkable marzen but little more than average for the style.

I'm having a 16.9 oz bottle of this beer in a 3-way taste test against Beck's Oktoberfest, and Otter Creek's Oktoberfest. As is probably unnecessary to state, this one wins the gold.

Great bleached-white head on this one that dies down but never fully goes away. This is the lightest-colored of the 3 oktoberfests I tried.

Full malty sweetness in the nose. Very appetizing.

This is a great tasting German oktoberfest. Round malt sweetness all throughout. Definitely a great beer to have before a meal. It will undoubtedly kick-start your appetite.

Extremely smooth and pleasing in the mouth. Hardly any carbonation stands out. I like this.

So flavorful and smooth, one could easily have several Allgauer Oktoberfests in a row. I'll be going back to the store for another bottle.

Pours a hazy orange gold colored beer with a little head.

Smell is a little sweet and a little spicy with a fair herbal hops aroma.

Taste is a little sweet with a mild malt and grain flavor. Fair level of herbal taste from the hops here but nothing spectacular. Tastes like an Oktoberfest but I can't help thinking this has to taste better in Germany than here in California.

Mouthfeel is OK.

An OK Oktoberfest but I can't say it is exceptional. This probably doesn't travel all that well I can't imagine this brewery settling for an OK beer. Will have to try this again next year.

Allgauer's Oktoberfest pours a hazy (it's bottle-conditioned) golden-orange bdoy beneath a tall head of white froth that holds well, slowly dropping to a solid 1/4" of creamy foam. The lacing is excellent as well, and it leaves a craggy ring of lace with each sip.

The nose delivers a lightly sweet, bready maltiness backed by some mild floral and spicy hops and a touch of yeasty sulphur.

In the mouth it's delicately crisp and then smooth due to it's very fine bubbled natural carbonation and dextrinous medium body.

The flavor is exactly as the nose represents it, with an enticing, lightly sweet and caramel-edged bready maltiness that's accented by spicy and floral hops; and balanced by a solid bitterness that keeps it in check and leads to a dry, spicy, and lightly chalky finish.

It's an excellent Maerzen, even if it's a little bit lighter in nature than might be expected; and in comparison to some of the even lighter mass-market Oktoberfests that are coming out of Munich these days, this is quite appealing! Very drinkable!

Presentation: Yet another one of the ample handful of Allgäuer Brauhaus beers that I decided to pick up on a recent beer trip. The Oktoberfest has a very colorful label that is predominantly dark green, gold and white in appearance. It depicts several Lederhosen wearing musicians from a traditional German Ooompah band. Painted white crown cap and a dark green and gold edged V-shaped neck label complete the presentation. Just as the BA Database picture my sample arrived in a 1 Pint 0.9 fluid ounce standard tall looking brown glass bottle. The US-added reverse label lists this one as 5.5& ABV. No freshness date.

[Note: Seems that this is the same beer as Allgäuer Festbier which is also listed here, it has exactly the same label design and strength]

Appearance: A partially hazed dark orange body with some amber traits when held to the light. The head is off-white and has fantastic lasting powers throughout as well as a capable lacing ability. The head is 1” deep on the pour but remains at ½” throughout, a heavy bubbled mass that slowly relaxes. The conditioning is excellent, even a gentle swirl promotes a huge gaseous milky activity and the production of at least an extra 1/8” of head.

Nose: Sweet but pale malt odors intermingle with a light Devon Toffee nose. Has a lovely fresh spicy hop dimension. Erudite smell of a lighter than usual, but nevertheless, common interpretation of the Marzen/Oktoberfest Style.

Taste: Malty start with a subdued caramel tingle that is soon replaced with a spicy thick hop-malt balance. Finishes with some toffee in the back end. Very clean, sweet but far from sickly or overpowering, extremely slick and clean. Hops and spices in the back end balance the sweeter malts and toffee during the latter third.

Mouthfeel: To press the previous Allgäuer brews that I have tried have all had excellent feel, smooth, creamy and dependable. Guess what?? This is no exception, but in addition it benefits from a nice chewy toffee feel and a lick of caramel candy which adds depth a wholesome feel, especially long after the swallow.

Drinkability: I am not a huge fan of German brews to be honest, and I keep trying them (hence the recent Allgäuer Portfolio Style Suarez). Whilst I find German beers can be a “bit by the numbers”, whilst this national trait is admirable in Engineering circles, it can sometimes make for “much of a muchness” when it comes to their Bier. However, I find that this has enough individuality to keep me interested here.

Overall: Cost $1.99 and not a bad drop for the dough. Lighter in appearance and character than most Oktoberfest offerings but a damn tasty drink and one that suited me well tonight.

The second of two obscure Oktoberfests purchased at Liquid Solutions in Tigard, OR. While this one has not travelled perhaps quite as well as the previous one, it's in respectably good condition. And I am the first to review it this season! Cool. It's a nouveau-style Oktoberfest, which, despite American expectations, are commonplace in Germany now. This means, mostly, that it's lighter in color than the brown lagers you are used to from Spaten and Paulaner and the like (which are primarily brewed for the export market and are kind of hard to find in Germany these days). Rest assured the full maltiness and spicy hop interplay are still present, and a paler color does not mean a beer stipped of flavor. It pours a waxy orange-gold, with large poufy head that dwindles to a permanent thin film of foam. Subtle, wonderful aroma, that suggests everything and states nothing. Apples, harvest, roast suckling pig, troubadours, and heavy oaken doors are some images that spring to mind. Warm, nutty, fruity malt flavor, with very little hops, but a slight toffee flavor recognizable from doppelbocks. Sadly, an unintegrated green flavor is also present, which could be a symptom of the dreaded Euroskunk. Oh well, it's not really a distraction provided one has the proper attitude. Mouthfeel mellow, juicy, not at all sticky, with a slight creaminess and relaxing softness. I'm enjoying this beer. Can you tell?

Appearance: Medium golden color, semi-translucent and it looked kind of thick. Aroma- I could smell Germany from here. Nice clean aroma. Flavor: nice crisp flavor of spices (spiced apples?) and very nice mix of sweet and tart. Hops were present, but not overpowering. Mouthfeel is large, with almost a creamy texture. Note: Tasted during the 2004 Super Bowl, so I was a little distracted (i know, I know, the Super Bowl isn't during Octoberfest, either)!

The beer poured pale orange with a sizable lasting head. The aroma is spicy saaz hops with malt in the background. The flavor is pure Oktoberfest with slightly sweet malt and spicy German hops to balance the sweetness. The finish goes quickly to dry slightly bitter, and the body is medium.

I'm ready to Chicken Dance.

16.9 ounce bottle. Bottle plainly says Allgäuer Oktoberfest and has a picture of a man with a tuba marching in a band.