JosephsBrau Oktoberfest

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

Copper coloured body with a light amber glow and a very small slightly off-white head. Aroma of nice caramel malt, fresh hops, nuts and a bit of spices. Medium-bodied; Sharp metallic and very bitter taste with malt and nuts most noticeable. Aftertaste stays pungent for quite a while with the bitter twang of metal in the palate. Overall, a decent beer - but that metallic taste needs to go QUICKLY! I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from Trader Joe’s in Falls Church (Tyson’s Corner), Virginia on 02-October-2006.

Sampled on 11/1/08. This Marzen pours a medium amber color from a 12oz bottle. Small to medium sized white foamy head. The aroma is caramel and sweet but kind of mild. Light to medium bodied Marzen. The malts are caramel, bready and sweet. The hops are earthy and spicy. Touch of tobacco and some tea. Lively carbonation. It’s a little thin and watery and there is an off flavor I can’t quite place. Its not really unpleasant, but I do not think I ant to drink this one very often. Mouthfeel is thin. Finish is clean and crisp. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.

From a 12 oz bottle purchased locally. Aroma is malty, bready and a little caramely. Clear amber with a rocky inch thick off white head. Flavor is malty, grainy, and toasty with just a touch of sweetness like toffee. Bittered toward the malt side. Easy drinking. More traditional than what passes for Oktoberfest beers now that are lighter in color, body, and flavor.

12 oz. bottle. Pours a thin head, minimal duration, no lacing, over a clear orangy-brown body....nose of thin malts, no hops....tastes of malts, minimal complexity, no hop finish....somewhat light in mouthfeel, but carbonation gives it a nice feel and finish. This is generally style true, but perhaps could have done with a bit more malt complexity.

Thanks...I think....to Rustychiles for sharing the bottle. Pours a luminescent orange with a head that quickly falls. Very, very hop-forward. Smells a little oxidized and skunky. The noble hops that come through remind me very much of the first beer I helped make (an Oktoberfest, go figure). Taste is quite thin and unsatisfying. Also tastes oxidized/cardboardy and a bit off. Aroma was better than the taste surprisingly. Drain pour.

Pours an amber color with a small white head. Aroma of malt, caramel, bread, hops. Flavor is malt, caramel and hop bitterness. A bit off balance, but not overly terrible.

Orange amber, roasted malts, caramel, bready, little honey, light hop finish.

12 oz Bottle. Slight roasted, caramel aroma. Pours a burnt amber with a slight head, that dissipated in a couple minutes, with some lacing and sheeting on the glass. Flavor of roasted malt, some caramel, and a tobacco note. Had a slightly unpleasent bitter after-taste. Not bad, just not real good either.