DeGroen's Marzen Amber Lager
Baltimore Brewing Company

 

poured a light amber color with scant white head that almost immediately vanished. Smell is a nice mixture of hop and malt and is pleasing to the nose. Taste is dough-like with sweet malt characteristics.Finishes with a nice sweet maltiness, and a dry hop presence is also to be found. Good easy-drinking beer.

Found some DeGroen's on a recent trip to MD. The labels say nothing about the Baltimore Beer Company. The brewer shut down the business and headed back to Europe. Now these are, I am told, contract brewed by Fordham. I wish I had tried them under the original brewery.

Pours a golden color, lighter than I expected. Small white head and some active columns of bubbles. Had a German nose at least, with some floral hoppiness in the background, but nothing outrageous. Malts hit early and remained throughout, the hops added a slightly off bitterness, not zesty or drying, more like accidentally biting the white of a citrus rind. The mouthfeel was a bit thin and unsatisfying. Drinkable? Sure. But why?

Recently, Marzen has become one of my favorite styles. This one just didn’t stand up to expectations. It’s a cloudy, hazy, amber color with only the shadow of a head. The foam quickly disappears, leaving a water, unappealing liquid behind. The aroma is mildly doughy, with a characteristic caramel and bread smell. It’s faint, however, and there’s also a metallic and acid-like smell that seems completely misplaced. Taste is moderately sweet, and the beer is under-carbonated and light in body. It’s drinkable enough, but overall was still a disappointment.

Poured an nice amber hue with a large fluffy head dissapating quickly leaving decent lace.
Spices including some choriander first hit the nose followed by citrus and a tiny malt nose.
Sweet taste, distinct maltiness with apple and maybe plum followed by a fair portion of hops. Pretty great!

Tasted at DeGroen's on 6/6/06.

Appearance: Reddish/orange hue with a bit of a thick off white head.

Smell: Malty sweet, with a sprinkling of spice and a touch of floral hops.

Taste: Caramel malt and fruity up front. Slightly bready and spicy as it flows into a dry finish.

Mouthfeel: Light bodied, nice carbonation. Nothing too heavy.

Drinkability: Good solid session brew.

This is my first beer from BBC. Appearance is bright orangeish gold with a thin white head.
Aroma is of sweet buttery malt.
Taste is like a light bodied oktoberfest. Sweet caramel like malt with little bitterness. Crisp and refreshing, this one is an easy drinking beer, with some good malt character, just a little light for the style.

12ozer bottle bought as a single from Spirit Haus, Amherst, MA.

Poured into an imperial pint, formed a 1/2" slightly off-white head over the orangey-amber hued brew. Couple floaties in there, don't know what that's about. Acceptable lacing, and this offering has a sweet, malty aroma, with a touch of something fruity. Flavor is is all at once about malts and that fruity essense battling for dominance, kind of tart tasting overall. Mouthfeel and drinkability okay, but nothing really reaches out and grabs me.

Pours with a two-finger off-white head that leaves a good lace. Cloudy amber color. Light bodied almost watery. Vaguely spicy nose. Starts hoppy and finishes slightly hoppy, I was expecting some sweetness since this is a marzen but didn't find any. $1.65 for a 12oz. bottle from Colonial Spirits Acton, Ma.

The draught version is outstanding so I had high expectations for this beer.

Pours copper color with little or virtually no head. Can't figure out why since this is not an old beer.

On the palate you'll find good malt notes with some toffee, butterscotchy, almost malt-extract flavors (I mean that in a good way). Hops are there but you find yourself drawn to the malt. Yep, it's the malt.

Medium to light bodied. It's a local beer for me, good inexpensive choice for kicking back a few in the early Fall months. Otherwise I would not seek out this beer at all.

A rather non-descript 12 ounce bottle awaited me...

It poured a rather pleasing amber-copper colour. Sitting there with a subtle head, that eventually laced the side of the glass from time to time.

The flavor was a good mix of malt and some sweetness. Not heavy on the palate, this bier could pair with just about any kind of pub grub. This is a very intriguing brew, as ambers to me are a bit of a "tweener."

I would definately have this one again.

Prost!

Poured a lightly coppered color and was topped off with a thin white head of foam. The aroma is deep and rich, with caramel, butter toffee, figs and other fruits. The aroma makes you think this will be a rich and luscious beer, but I was disappointed with its watery body and complete lack of depth. This is a lightly flavored, light bodied beer that has a slightly fruity sweet finish. Not bad, but nothing to write home about.

12oz. bottle poured into a pint glass. It pours a medium amber color with one finger of head. There is almost no lacing left on the glass. The smell is a good balance of what seems to be vienna malt, and hops. Just a little light though. The taste starts sweet and malty with a good caramel background, and ends fairly hoppy. A very well balanced taste, and the flavors are really great. The mouthfeel is fairly good for a Marzen, and the drinkability is good as well. Probably the best Marzen out there as far as taste goes.

Aroma isnt malty or hoppy. More of a butter smell. As the beer warmed I could get more malt.
Appearance is nice with a a clear copper/red hue and bright head which lasts.
Malty and bread dominate. No hop pressence but there is a "twang" I cant put my finger on. Almost like chewing on the grains themselves. A yeasty/lager/butter aspect follows. Perhaps diacytel from the yeast choice. The finish does clean out though making the palate ready for more.
This was a hard one for me to put my finger on. Its tasty, but there are better Okt-Fests out there. Its nice however that this is a year-round selection. So if you want a Marzen in February you can get one.

The beer pours a ruddy caramel brown, topped with a huge off-white froth that billows out of the glass. The head settles into a short foam, keeping throughout the pint. Loads of belgian lacing.
The aroma is very pleasant, with a soft, clean caramel maltiness atop a balancing layer of floral german hops. Well balanced, with a faint appley fruitiness I don't normally expect from a lager beer. Still clean feeling and well lagered.
The flavor starts immediately with a mild mannered caramel maltiness. A touch toasty, with an undercurrent of apple fruitiness. The malt dominates throughout, although a strong floral hopping takes some precedence, working well with the malty finish. A bit of breadiness in the aftertaste, dropping out quickly. Clean overall, with assertive, small bubbled carbonation supporting a sizeable medium body.
A very well done marzen, similar to Wurzburger or Lowenbrau, in the traditional hoppier, lighter style. Everything these folks make is really top notch.

Appearance: Amber colored, clear beer. Fizzy looking beer without any noticeable head or lacing.

Smell: Citrusy hop smell at first, malty smell is more pronounced as this beer warms a bit.

Taste: Mostly a fruity hop taste, malty taste isn't really noticeable until this one has a chance to warm a bit.

Mouthfeel: Carbonation is way too high for this style. More closely resembles one of the Unibroue fizzbombs than a marzen style of beer.

Drinkability: Not a good Marzen. This one might be better if it were labeled as a different style, but falls way short for what it's labelled.

The beer pours a dark golden color with a thin white head that fades to lacing. The aroma is outstanding. It is sweet with malts and yeast. It has a sort of wheaty smell that is very pleasant to the nose. The taste is also great. It is smooth and refreshing. It has the pale malt taste with a sweet wheat zing that tantilizes the tongue. The mouthfeel is damn near perfect. It is a low bodied beer with perfect carbonation. It drinks well. I have to say, this is a great tasting beer. I coould drink about a hundred of these.

A clean, crisp tasty beer. Color was a light caramel with a sweet smell of malt and spices. Very smooth to the taste and just enough complexity to leave your tongue busy. A great beer to start with before some German fare. Not too malty sweet and very refreshing on a fall day in the Lower Harbor.

My rating is based more on my enjoyment of the product than its adherence to what I'd expect the taste profile of a Marzen might be. It had a definite maltiness yet at times it seemed to have some of the flavor of a strong wheat beer - quite different from any other Marzen I've tasted and very different from the German Octoberfests I've tried this year. Poured a nice amber with a decent head and a pleasant smell. The taste didn't disappoint at all and I could enjoy it as a session beer. I was surprised to see 6-packs of DeGroen products showing up in Massachusetts but I hope at laest this one continues to be marketed in that state. I believe it's produced year-round rather than as a seasonal - all the better.

Appearance: beer arrived sporting a dark amber color with some deep orange tones with a thin head.

Smell: the aroma was nothing too exciting, some sweetness was detected.

Taste: this is a nice balanced beer, and there seemed to be so slight fruitiness riding on top of the sweet malts in this marzen.

Mouthfeel: smooth. The malt lasts lingers gently on the tongue.

Drinkability: an enjoyable brew for a long session.