Highland Clawhammer Oktoberfest

Brewed by Highland Brewing Company
Style: Oktoberfest/Märzen
Asheville, North Carolina USA

Thanks OldGrowth. Looks like tea with lots o honey in it. Light orange brown, clear, with almost no head. Aroma is spice with cinnamon, applesauce, nutty malt, and floral hop. An interesting Oktoerfest. It is musty and spicy with a bitterness that comes in waves after the sip. Flavor also offers spices and a nice hop bite. Pepper, nutmeg, nuts, cinnamon, wood, and apple are all tasted. Finish is sweet. Feel is effervescent. A nice beer with a a variety of flavors and a bit of attitude.

From a 12oz bottle this beer pours an orange copper with a white head. Aroma of malt, citrus and grain - I did not detect that typical smell from a lot of the Octoberfests out there. This one came off a little different to me and I liked it. Nice clean, hop, malt and caramel taste. Good finish. A lot of the Octoberfests I have had I could only drink 1 or 2 of but I could make this one a nice session beer.

Bottle—Nice light amber, almost orange coloring with a medium size head. The aroma was the dominate malty smell you expect from an Oktoberfest beer. At times, the beer could be a bit thin, however, beer “thickens’ as it warms. Lots of wonderful maltiness leads out followed by some biscuit flavor, but the surprise was the nice balance of hops at the end of the drink. Nice. Ingles.

Bottle in trade from ROBORB. Thanks man. Pours an orange amber color with a light beige head. Smell is slightly dusty and earthy hops. Not malty in the way I would expect and almost is like its spiced or bretty and lightly funky. Taste is lightly hoppy with a biscuity dusty malt to it and some definite but light tartness and lager yeast flavor. Some lingering sweetness in the end. Medium to thin body and normal carbonation. A bit strange.

12 oz bottle courtesy of Suttree. Pour is clear golden amber with a one inch dirty white head. Visible carbonation bubbles. Aroma of slightly burnt toasted malt. A bit of a soapy smell behind that. Taste is the toasty malt with a hay grassines. There is also a citrus bitterness to the finish which is noce, though surprised me a bit. Palate has carbonation and is on the thin watery side. As this warmed, it really came into its own. Nice layers of flavor to this one, along with good drinkability. Thanks Phil.

Pours a translucent copper orange gold with a one finger frothy yellowish head. The nose is malty, sweet, earthy and bready malt, no precursor to the bitterness in the flavor. The flavor is sweet, grainy, mild astringent bitterness, more than a traditional marzen, earthy, lager characters, sharp. Very sharp biting bitterness on the mouthfeel. Not too hot.

A little brighter looking than other o fest beers. This is just another super sweet oktoberfest lager with a bit of apple juice and a very slight hop bite at the end. Solid but not my thing.

Bottle. Pours a see through dark gold with a very nice tall, white head. The aroma has hints of peppers, grass, sourdough, and corn with a decent hop presence. The palate is medium with low carbonation. Clawhammer is pretty light with subtle hints at dough and leaves, though I suppose it’s peppery and spicy enough to hold my interest. It’s an easy quaff and very good for a style I don’t usually like. My only real complaint is the light corn flavors that become apparent towards the end of the glass.