Gordon Biersch Märzen

Brewed by Gordon Biersch Brewing Company
Style: Oktoberfest/Märzen
Palo Alto, California USA

Smells like sweet medium dark, toffee, caramel malt. Brown tinged coppery color with a decent off-white head. Medium bodied, and the carbonation makes it creamy and almost chewy. The flavor is caramel and bread or biscuit, the finish is pretty much the same. Not a very dry finish, and the malt hangs around. Not a hint of bitter.

(Tap) Pours a copper color with a small beige head. Decent body, but rather one-dimensional. Sweet malts in the taste hint at caramel, biscuit, and light toffee. Easy to drink, yet not too exciting.

Rated 7/1/06: Is it just me or is this beer simply boring. After sampling a couple of these I’m tempted to drink the rest just to free up some real estate in my beer fridge. Pours a medium copper color with a slight amber tint. Large head that quickly settles down to a minimal along with minimal lacing. Looks ok but then I close in to smell this beer and I get nothing. A little closer and I am able to detect a faint presence of sweet malt and nothing else. Mouthfeel is decent but borders on thin, finish is sticky and undesireable. The flavor is weak and unimpressive nothing too good worth writing about. Overall I really don’t care for this beer. I bought it on sale and I still overpaid.

Va BF 07 Draft: Hazelneut aroma, but subdued. Cooper color, no head. Weak nutty flavor. Finsihes with walnuit and some hops, still weak though. Average.

(bottle) beautiful copper color, but almost no head. Biscuit malt aroma. Flavor is biscuit malt. A bit of floral hops finish.

On tap at the San Jose location. This marzen is a very clear amber with a barely-there off-white head. Both hops and malt are present in the aroma and they blend well. In the mouth, it is thin and a bit chalky. The flavor starts slightly dry and bitter, but it tapers to a soft, malty sweetness at the finish.

From the tap this pours a bright orange body with a thick, sustained head. The nose is sweet and worty and has some toasted malts. It tastes of honeyed toast, a splash of caramel, and a mild earthy hoppiness. Not bad.

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Pours copper w/ a decent head and lacing. Aromas of malted biscuit dough. Medium nectar w/ ample residual effers. Flavors of malty biscuit dough overshadow w/ a mild hop presence. The finish is too bitter for the style.