Highland Clawhammer Oktoberfest

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

On draft at O’Malley’s in Sylva, NC. Amber colored with a creamy white head. Nice, full bodied flavor for an Octoberfest/Marzen. Highland again comes through with another tasty seasonal offering. Smooth, silky and full of fall flavor.

Pours a clear coppery-reddish with a decent slightly off-white head. Aroma is malty and just a little spicy, mainly cinnamon and cloves. Flavor is rather strong and malty with an undertone of cloves and cinnamon and just a hint of caramel. Smooth, tingly, fizzy texture leaves a spicy and fizzy finish.

12 oz. bottle. Pours deep, clear amber-red with a finger thick white head with moderate retention and some decent lacing. Aroma is rich with German malts...very clean and all lager. Flavor is crisp, clean, dry and slightly spicy. Medium bodied with a smooth, clean palate; very drinkable. Overall, a really nice example of an Oktoberfest - another good seasonal from Highland.

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. Clear amber/orange pour with minimal head. Aroma is fruity; hints of orange, sweet corn, minor other citrus notes as well as caramel and toffee. Smells inviting and refreshing... and the taste confirms it. Light-bodied with minor hop notes, sweet malt and a touch of spice. I think it’s pretty true to what I think of the style, and I could drink this all autumn long. Another good brew from this high-quality Asheville brewery.

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.

Sampled at the Knoxville 2008 Brewer’s Jam. Orangey copper,. Simple grainy and caramelly aroma. Clean and crisp, with some sweet caramel notes up front and a mildly crisp hop bite. Tasty session brew.

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.