Dominion Octoberfest

Brewed by Old Dominion Brewing Co.
Style: Oktoberfest/Märzen
Dover, Delaware USA

Clean aroma, bready malt, and a whiff of typical lager sulfur. Crystal clear amber color, solid white head. Clean bread crust malt flavor, even balance, a little noble hop flavor in the finish. Medium body, smooth. A very drinkable oktoberfest.

On draft at the brewpub, 9/1/05: Dark copper; interestingly hoppy nose ... solid caramel malt flavors without the candy caramel. Excellent.

Bottle: Mostly clear amber body with an off-white head that doesn’t last too long, but doesn’t die right off either. The aroma is filled with malt, bread, toast, a hint of yeast, and just a bit of sourness that comes with the generous usage of medium malts. The taste is all malt, featuring excellent bread/caramel/toast qualities, a light earthy malt & hops flavor, yeast, and just a bit of sourness. Light-medium bodied, moderate carbonation, slick while remaining crisp.

Definitely not my favorite style by any stretch but I had to try the local one at least. This pours out a deep amber body that is bubbling away with about a half-inch of white head. Not much head retention and no lace with here. Aroma is of sweet malt with a bit of spicy hops and earthy notes as well. Taste is similar with sweet caramel malt being the upfront flavor and a light earthy hop spiciness balancing it out. A bit of a bitter spicy aftertaste. Medium body with good carbonation and a clean taste. Drinkability is pretty good, since the sweetness is not overbearing. Definitely one of the beet O-fest beers I have had.

bottle from brickskeller. another one that’s probably been sitting too long (tried this in april from a batch from last fall). flavor is crisp, with initial malt obscured by weird oxidized aftertaste.

(12 oz bottle, obtained in trade with jasonp, thanks Jason!) Every time I’ve tried this beer, my notes point to a fairly obvious sourness, but this time, it’s much less pronounced, though there is still a bit of detracting sourness in the background. My first impression of this beer was the very toasty nose, which I love, but also a slight sourness in the background that detracts from my overall impression. Aside from the aforementioned mild sourness, the flavor is quite toasty, moderately sweet and caramely, and somewhat balanced by a gentle bitterness that prevents the beer from becoming at all cloying. But make no mistakes, this is a malt driven beer. Golden amber color. Pours a smallish off-white head that dissipates rapidly down to nothing. No lacing. Has potential to be outstanding, but dang that sourness!

Quite deep colour - almost ginger. Low carbonation. Very malty aroma - bready and yeasty with hints of caramel and butterscotch. Flavour is malt dominated too, with a sweet and sour edge on the finish. I found it somewhat unbalanced. I didn’t think that the hops came through strongly enough to temper the malt. Interesting, but I don’t really go a bundle on these malty beers. Bottle, courtesy of The_Beer_God. Thanks Mike.

Paid $1.49 for a 12-oz single. Deep amber with a large frothy head. Aroma is sweet malts. Flavor is full of hops, with some intermingling spices... some bittersweetness in there that’s quite tasty.