Ayinger Oktober Fest-Märzen

Pours a subtle cloudy golden amber color with an aggressive head of white. Nice lacing. Aromas are quite pleasing with a toasty grain scent and a firm bready note. Herbal tea hop notes detected. Entertaining biscuit flavors liven up the palate, along with a snap of herbal hop tones. Toasty aftertaste. Clean and dry. Three 500ml bottles were promptly dispatched in a sitting; the drinkability was amazing.

On tap 9/7/07, a little lighter in color than I like in an Oktoberfest, big fluffy white foam. Flavor is good and balanced from what I could get from it, way too carbonated. Damn shame about the carbonation, tonight was about perfect for enjoying a good Oktoberfest on the deck.

Rated while drinking: Pours golden copper with a nice fluffy off-white head. Not much lacing, but the head remains intact as it moves around. Lots of malts on the nose. Caramel almost sweet smelling, followed up by biscuits and warm bread. Near the end you can pick up herbal notes as well. Complex and sweet malts on the tongue. More bread-like character that I noticed in the aroma. Well-blended flavor, but complex on every other sip. Smooth and crisp on the palate. As some other people mentioned, its a tad bit watery, but doesn’t take away from the face value of the beer. Very drinkable. Pretty sure I’ve had this before with my brother. I’ll have to try some more German beers.

Bottled. ’tis the season! Poured a clear, brilliant lighter orange with a nice cap of rocky white head. The aroma had a soft floral dusting over a a toasty caramel base.. some dry leafy accents and faint peppery notes round it out. The flavor stayed the course with a sweet, toasty caramel core with floral notes, light fruit, and dried leaves providing a mild and complimentary bitterness. Light-medium bodied and really fills out over the middle.. sweet toasty finish was very nice. This was a very well-crafted beer!

Pours clear golden/orange with generous head. Wheaty oats and yeast scents come across with a malty, toffee aroma, which comes through in the taste as well. The body is smooth and a touch watery, but the brew comes out with a wheaty body featuring malts flavors I associate with an Oktoberfest brew.

Clear amber pour with a thick frothy off-white head. Strong semi-sweet aroma of caramel and toffee, with just a touch of hops. Flavor follows the aroma nicely, but a bit more watery than expected. Palate is medium, feels big but very smooth. Very easy drinking, but one-dimensional, although that’s somewhat expected from this style. Certainly one of the better Marzens I’ve had, but highly over-rated in my opinion.

Oct. 2005 - Beer poured golden brown with a decent head. Decent lacing. Decent flavor. Aroma was slightly less than decent (a little skunky smelling, to be honest). The mouthfeel on this was nice and smooth and the taste was similar...buttery. I was expecting more sweet malty goodness and more spiciness from the maker of Celebrator. Disappointing.

Pours a clear caramel colour with a dense white head that fades to a small cap. The aroma is sweet roasted malts, ripe fruit, caramel, light peat, honey and a hint of barnyard funk. The flavour is lightly sweet roasted malts and bready malts with yeasty and peppery overtones. The tingly, thin palate and long, mildly bitter and spicy finish make this one very drinkable. To me, this is what an Oktoberfest should be. It is subtle, refined and reminds me of flavours from the autumn harvest.