Christian Moerlein Oktoberfest

Formerly brewed at Lion Brewery, Inc.
Style: Oktoberfest/Märzen
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania USA

I purchased a case of seven ounce bottles @ Shangy’s (Emmaus, PA) for less than $8. I brought the case to an open house Holiday party and it was a success on many levels. Seven ounce bottles are a novelty, the beer inside the bottles was actually a decent O’Fest, and having a few kept my acohol consumption down. I wish I had bought a few more cases, it would have made great Christmas gifts.

Decent Oktoberfest. Thicker than i expected, dark with a creamy head. Sweet and syrupy with a prounouced alcohol flavor. A bit adjuncty tasting. Pretty decent for an Okt, which is not my favorite style.

Pours with a big, impressive, tan creamy head that lingers till the end. Nice lacing on glass. Dark amber. Aroma weak; mostly of toasted cereal with a slight hop perfume. Big, sweet, creamy malt flavor that chokes out at the finish with an astringent bitterness. Medium body with an oily texture. Pretty good for the style, though this Cincinnati beer really should be brewed in CINCINNATI, not PA!

7 oz bottle. Pours a deep amber with thin tan head that dissipated quickly. Aroma is yeasty with a hint of spices. Nice mixture of hops and caramel malts, although a bit sweet. Not bad though.

From a bottle - This one poured a reddish brown liquid with a light tan, very quickly diminishing thin head and a sweet malt aroma. This truely is an Oktoberfest marzen, and its malty flavor is strong with caramel like sweetness and some complex, spicy undertones. All in all, another fine beer from the Christian Moerlein folks! --- Oh, and just for general info, Christian Moerlein was an old Cincinnati pre-prohibition brewer with a repudation for top-quality beer, and his formulas were (68 years later) reproduced by the Hudepohl Brewing Company - which later merged with Schoenling Brewing - and it’s Moerlein’s likeness on every bottle.

Has a malty aroma and pours an amber color with a nice tan head. The beer has a nice malt flavor with a hop balance.

This is an authentic malty Oktoberfest/Marzen/Vienna-style lager. I’ve enjoyed it from the bottle and on tap. Color is amber. The head is frothy and long-lasting. Rich malt flavors abound (true to the style) with a noticeable flavor of alcohol. This one has a kick! Hops are subdued but they come through in all the right places. I have it on good authority that next fall, this seasonal beer will be available in 12-oz. bottles instead of 7-ounce. This brand is primarily found in Greater Cincinnati.

The malt overpowers any other flavors that might show through on this one. Too sweet, glad it was only a 7oz.