Summit Oktoberfest

Brewed by Summit Brewing Company
Style: Oktoberfest/Märzen
St. Paul, Minnesota USA

At 7.7% this brew can kick some serious butt! Very malty and grainy in the aroma. Some alcohol spice and pepper also detectable in the nose. Flavors of Toffee, light caramel, and hard candy fruit. I think the sweet coating in the mouth would wear after awhile, but still a well crafted beer for sure. I like Summit.

Reddish brown in appearance, small light tan head. Medium body with a sweet malt flavor. There is a presence of hops which I detected immediately, has a slight bite. I am surprised this has an alcohol level of 7.7%, can not taste the high content.

BLBF. No aroma. Nice headstrong amber pour. Malty and sugary, but lacking any decent characteristics, that distingush it as an Oktoberfest. Finish is skanky.

Bottle - mild maltiness in the aroma. A copperish-amber body with a beige head. Medium-bodied. Some malt in the flavor as well. No hops to be found, but that is pretty much to style. Okay, but certainly not a threat to the Germans.

(12oz bottle) Clear amber body with smallish off-white head. Aroma is medium sweet, toffee/caramel, faint earthy. Taste is moderately sweet, caramel, some earthy, floral, cookie, light toffee. Medium body with some stickiness. No alcohol in the flavor, but you can sense its presence. This, and the sweetness, prevent the beer from being especially drinkable, which defeats much of the pleasure of drinking an O-fest.

Unsure of the head. Copper/red hue with a fairly malty aroma with a hint of toffee. Mostly sweet with a nice appearance of german hops. I would have liked it a bit better if it was a little...thicker. Better than average, but for the price I can find better.

12 oz bottle - Pours copper with a decent tan head. Aroma is caramel and toffee and a few German hops. Flavor is quite sweet. Caramel, Toffee, and some German style hops finsh this out. Palate is medium bodied and smooth in the mouth. Alcohol is covered well. I had no idea this had 7.7%. I had this one and Goose Island’s Octoberfest side by side yesterday and this one definitely won. Summit is starting to impress me the more of their beers that I drink. Nice marzen. I liked it.

Aroma is mostly malt; can also detect an alcohol smell. Red in color. Flavor is sweet, toffee flavor, typical for this style. I consider this a step above the Sam Adams version because it is a little less sweet and has more of a bite to offset the sweetness. The only criticism I have is that the alcohol is not well hidden, although I’ve noticed that as you keep drinking it that seems to go away.