Upland Oktoberfest

Brewed by Upland Brewing Company
Style: Oktoberfest/Märzen
Bloomington, Indiana USA

On Tap at the Great Lakes Brewfest. Cloudy copper/amber with a thin off-white head. Aroma of sweet malt, toffee, mild citrus and caramel. Taste of mild caramel and toffee, fruit and mild citrus. Finish is mildly dry. Not as sweet as recent Oktoberfests I’ve had, so-so at best.

An OK beer. Amber pour with a small white head. Malty aroma and taste. Some hops to temper the malt.

Orange. Nutty, malty, sweet, chewy. Toffee, toast, corn, crackers, bran, honey.

Draft. Small tan head that was mostly lasting, splotchy amount of lacing, transparent, very little carbonation noted, and a golden orange hue. Nose was malty, sweet and lightly hoppy. Ditto for the flavor. Slightly tingly mouthfeel and light in body. Very low key nose and flavor . Lacks character and left me not wanting more. Not a bad beer, just nothing to jump through hoops for or about.

Why all the low ratings big guy? Nice and malty, with mild bitterness had you standing up to some real winners at oktoberfest night. This brew is terribly underappreciated, as the style is underscored and it was somehow placed in the middle of the pack. You’re really very Great.

This draft brew from a beer festival poured a medium sized head of foamy finely sized off-white colored bubbles that were mostly diminishing and left behind a transparent softly carbonated orange brown colored body. The nice aroma was sweet. The crisp mouth feel was tingly at the start with a mellow finish. The mild flavor contained notes of malt and caramel. An OK brew just nothing special.

I don’t know how this one slipped through year after year. This time, I remembered to buy a bottle! (Though it has certainly always been bettr on tap!) Pours a clear reddish amber with a thin though rathr dense heterogeneously smooth offwhite head. The nose is on the sweet side of neutral. Lightly fruity and toasty, like many of Uplands beers. Stronger nose than I remember on tap, and not quite as round. Decent body, perhaps a bit too thick for the style, with slightly higher than average carbonation. Rather substantial matl. A bit fruitier than I remember it. There’s a peppery hop bite that’s always been lacking at the brew pub. A good dash of toast. The alcohol is perceivable, which makes me do a double take on the 4% ABV. Long slightly dry toasty aftertaste.

Pours clear, tan, with a fine, white head. Aroma is lightly sweet, but nothing interesting. Moderate mouth feel with a sweet, malt flavor and a light hop bite. Nothing phenomenal, but not a bad beer.