Otter Creek Oktoberfest

Brewed by Otter Creek Brewing
Style: Oktoberfest/Märzen
Middlebury, Vermont USA

Malty aromas are somewhat generic. Glassy brown with a disappearing head. Thin on the palate, but longer on the finish. Leaves, plain malt, some nuttiness. Not the best Oktoberfest.

Hazy amber body with a medium creamy off-white head. Dry malty aroma. Dry malt and grain flavor.

Clear honey colored pour with a white head. Decent lacing. Bready aroma. Taste of wheat is the dominant flavor. Wish it was a little hoppier.

Poured a deep amber with medium off white head. Aroma of yeast, bread and fruit. Initial flavor is hops and yeast followed by a mellow malt. It had that autumn feel to it (some kind of earthy taste) but can’t compete with the Germans in this style. Overall a good drinking octoberfest.

Poured an amber orange color with an extremely weak head that didn’t lace. The aroma was bready and yeasty with some hops noted (light pine?). The flavor was malty, bready, and hoppy (resinous hoppy flavors, similar to an altbier). I liked this as a beer, but for an oktoberfest beer, it was lacking the spices I expect in such a beer.

Amber colored with a small white head. Some biscuit and spicy/grassy hops. Buttery flavor with slight nutty notes and some grassy hoppiness. Somewhat thin and fizzy.

I learned my lesson with Harpoon Octoberfest Ale and instead of buying a six pack of Otter Creek Oktoberfest, I went with two singles. This beer suffers from the same problem that Harpoon Octoberfest does, its an ale not a lager, and Octoberfest beers, be it the traditional marzen, or the malty helles that now pours at Oktobefest, should be LAGERS. This beer much like the Harpoon, even more so, is a very poor example of marzen. I can understand these New England ale breweries wanting to put a fall seasonal out there, but calling their beers Oktoberfest or Octoberfest really is misleading. Otter Creek does say it it an ale(in little tiny letters), as did Harpoon, but these beers are not Octoberfest beers. They really should call them Fall or Autumn ales, because that is what they are. I hate to not recommend beers from breweries that I love, and I do love Otter Creek, but in this case I must. For the same reason I did with Harpoon, these ales posing as marzens just won’t do. Like the Harpoon, this is a tasty enough beer, its from a great brewery, but why bother? Go with the German imports and domestic examples that are stylistically accurate if you want a real Oktoberfest bier. Otter Creek "Oktoberfest" pours to an amber color with a nice white head, and good carbonation. Like the Harpoon, the nose is wrong, aromas of fruity esters mingle with a touch of caramel maltiness, and some nice hop aromatics. The palate is fruity as well, with a good bit of chocolate malt flavors, and a touch of nutty malt flavors. That signature toasty malt flavor is to be found no where in this beer. This beer finishes slightly sweet up front, then dries out with a good hop bite. Is this a good beer? Yes it is, I enjoy it, but not as an Oktoberfest/Marzen. Pass on this beer if you want a real Octobefest. Its a good amber ale, but there are plenty of those out there.

Pretty good octoberfest. Much more of a rotten flavor than a sweet flavor, but I liked it that way. It wasn’t very balanced, a bit too bitter, but went down very smooth regardless.