Flying Dog Dogtoberfest

Brewed by Flying Dog Brewery
Style: Oktoberfest/Märzen
Frederick, Maryland USA

Bottled - Criterion, Leicester. A chestnut brown coloured beer with a ruby hue and an off white head. The aroma is malty and sticky sweet. Caramel and bockish alcohol. The taste is more of the same. It’s very heavy within its style, and although tasty is a tad complicated.

From a 12oz Bottle, 2007 Batch. Pours a crystal clear, filtered color of honeyed bronze, topped with a slender finger of quickly dissipating dirty ivory foam. Subtle notes of macadamia nuts, caramel, and soft toffee. It’s got a nice enough Munich malt nose, although I’d like it to be a bit bolder yet. Freshly baked bran muffins and gentle grassy hops. Medium bodied, with a weighty carbonation that melts across the tongue in a stream of shimmering tiny bubbles. There’s quite a bit of malt to chew on, but it has a nice soft mouthfeel and isn’t too sticky. Sweet notes of caramel, graham cracker malt, toasted pecans, and edges of orange blossom honey. A gentle wash of grassy hops rounds out a nice finish. This has an excellent malt character that seems to be balanced appropriately by the hops, but the body is a bit too heavy, which degrades the drinkability. One of the more flavorful o’fests I’ve enjoyed this season, but also one of the least drinkable/refreshing.

Botlle. Amber color with a small white head. Earthy and light grassy aroma. Sweet malt body with a caramel notes. Light dry hop palate. Plain märzen.

bottle. Body is clear amber. Aroma is sweet with notes of caramel. Taste is caramel, and nice. Very nice oktoberfest.

A typical Oktoberfest. Poured light brown with a small quickly diminishing white head. Flavour was light. A good beer.

How tragic that festive beer fans without a way to Germany have to miss all the fanfare and drunken revelry of Oktoberfst. Chances are if you’re an American your stuck somewhere on the yawning North American continent. Fear not, for sympathizing local brewers, at least more local than Germany, are brewing up vats of Oktoberstyle beers to put you in the mood even if you’re not wasting away in Bavaria. Colorado’s proxy Octokerfest style is whipped up by Flying Dog - familiar to the gentry and blue collar drinkers of Denver and a fairly good friend to picky beer drinkers. The Dogtober fest is Flying Dog’s nod to a healthy German tradition. The head is bleached aspen white, with a standard lager lacing. It has a grip, but loose and limpid. The body is a deep amber, evincing the tangible qualities of a fall turning to winter. The smell is muted, but a few good deep inhales decipher copious honey, tangy apple slices, and a nice savory apple cider. In the true spirit of simple but gamely German lagers, these comprise the total aroma, which is simply a delicious medley of apple in a few of its many forms. The flavor ditches the sweeter apple elements in favor of a more umami based approach. The apple flavor remains, but is more true to an unsweetened apple juice. Bubble gum and cream soda bolster the facade of sugar, but the bubble gun lends its lighter, mouth filling quality rather than its sugary sweets. Same with the cream soda. At no point do the sugars remind the drinker of cloying candy. The distinctive umami detail comes from a tangible taste of buckwheat which, in my mind, is identitical to the taste of soba noodles. It fits well with the sweeter bits, filling the flavor gap with a satisfying "thunk" like the missing piece in a jigsaw puzzle snapped into place.

Bottle from Whole Foods. Medium amber in color. Slightly sweet malty aroma. Pretty full flavored and very malty. Some sweet traces along with a slightly bitter finish. Pretty good.

This was a OK beer. But, being a fan of the Marzen style this on left me with a wissbeer taste and feeling, did not remind me of a Oktoberfest.