Back Road Maple City Gold

12oz bottle, no date. 7.2% for a märzen? Dang. Clear orange brown with a short-lived 1/2 finger beige head that faded to a ring. Nuts, toast, and caramel are the dominant aromas while some hard water mineral notes were in the background. Flavor adds a slightly overbaked sugar cookie and more bitterness than I’d have guessed from the aroma--peaked at a 3 in the dry earthy finish. Light carbonation with a medium body. Not too bad, but nowhere near my favorite for the style.

bottle - Pours dark amber. The aroma is mostly of caramel malts. The flavor has more of the same with a bit of mild hops for balance. Light to medium bodied, it finishes smooth with a hint of bitterness. This one is alright for a session beer. I see the abv is a little higher than I would have guessed. It’s not noticeable.

This pours a dark orange body with a moderate fizzy white head. Little lacing. The aroma is that of toast, slightly burnt, with a bit of caramel. The flavor continues with the burnt toast and caramel and the additional of an earthy, nutty bitterness that builds somewhat in the finish. Okay.

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Draft sample at Back Road Fest. Poured clear dark amber with an average white fizzy head that was mostly lasting with good lacing. Moderate toasted malt and tart citrus aroma. Medium body witha syrupy texture. Medium sweet flavor with a medium bittersweet finish of moderate duration.

Bottle. Sweet maple syrup and raspberry malt aroma. Red amber color with slight head. Maple syrup and malt flavor with a moderate hops finish. An unusual beer for the style - hoppier than most.

Poured a clean dark amber boardering on brown with a beige head. Aroma was subtle caramel and spice. The flavor was over the top caramel/buttery. Very full body. Not really lager like. I guess it will do in a pinch, but Back Road makes much better beers than this.

Ah, nothing beats a nice beer after a hard day of mountainbiking. But I guess this will have to do. Actually, I haven’t had a Back Road in some time and found this to be quite pleasant. Had a nice lemon and orange peel taste -- bitter but with some sweetness, perhaps caramel. Amber hued.

This is a complete re-rate, because I rated first as an amber ale, then saw the confusion of other raters, then looked on the Back Road web-site to find that this is indeed a Marzen style lager which certainly makes more sense. The listed style certainly needs changed and some of the rates re-evaluated by their authors (in my humble opinion). Anyway, this is a deep ruby-amber beer with very sweet malts and very subtle hops. The head is light and the flavors dark and very grape-like with a hint of ripe melon. The palate is smooth, the liquid thick. Deep down is a earthy nutty flavor. All in all, it isn't very well balanced or complete. Perhaps it is the over-sweetness or the strong alcohol tones. While it isn't bad as a lager, it is pathetic as an ale.