Schell Maifest

Brewed by August Schell Brewing Company
Style: Heller Bock
New Ulm, Minnesota USA

Name: Mai-Fest
Date: 12/22/2007
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party

hazy gold, fine white head, specks of drippy lace, sweet bready malt aroma balanced by earthy hops, lots of sweet malt flavor, big yeasty fresh bread character, nice caramel sweetness, light earthy balance,

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 12/20
Rating: 3.2/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: *4

12oz bottle. Poured a deep and hazy golden color with a large sized off white head. Aromas of fruits, yeast, and toasted malts. Tastes of apples, caramel, and toasted malts. Creamy yet thin body. Light alcohol in the finish.

Pours a mostly clear dark golden bronze with a thin ring of white head. Aroma of sweet toasty caramel and Munich malts with a touch of German lager yeast. Body starts with some sweet viscous maltiness and plenty of carbonation trapped within. Has notes of floral honey and earthy noble hops, but mostly dense and sticky sweet. Has a lightly bitter butterscotch finish. Fairly true to style but not all that drinkable.

It maybe a long shot to call this a dopple, but a heavy maibock yes. Deep golden color with a thick off white head. Aroma of sweet malt and a touch of hops and alcohol. Flavors of munich malt and honey sweetness. Decent noble hops in flavor and bittering to keep the sweetness in check. A poorman's Einbecker.

12 oz bottle; this beer calls itself a doppel, so that’s what I’m expecting... pours clear gold-coppe, minimal head. Lightly smoky, mostly sweet aroma of baked apples, caramel, and a touch of oregano. Alcohol present immediately on the tongue, but not in a bad way; rather, the raspiness of the peppery alcohol balances well the smooth, sugary body and leaves you with a medium-dry, slightly whiskeyish finish. Not amazing, but better than I expected from the atypical appearance.

Light amber color. It is much darker than the picture shown here. The aroma is sweet apples with some sweat socks and cinnamon. The taste is sweet honey with some honey and cinnamon. Fairly decent, but a little sweet to my tastes. However, that is the character of the style, so I cant’ knock it more than others.

Picked up a single 12-oz bottle in the Twin Cities, MN. Pours a light pale amber with a thick, foamy white head. Slowly dissolves and the lacing is nice. Aroma of sweet apples, honey, some citrus and flowery hops. Taste is sweet, candy sugar, some allspice, and caramel. The palate is smooth and a sweet/bitter aftertaste. Well done Schell.

Bottled. Poured a rather ugly medium golden with a head that dissapeared quite quickly. The nose was of sweet, lightly-toasted caramel with some floral hops. Flavor was very sweet, again with the toasted caramel, some toffee, herbal hops, and touches of alcohol. Smooth across the middle, but rather tacky and ugly around the edges. Sticky caramel and alcohol finish. Just OK.