Warsteiner Oktoberfest

Brewed by Warsteiner Brauerei
Style: Oktoberfest/Märzen
Warstein, Germany

Pours pale golden with a full spattered froth. Hangtime is good yet lacing is minimal. Aromas of hay and sweet grainy malts. Medium nectar w/ soft residual effers. Nice! Mildly sweet and grainy w/ defined herbs and hay. The finish lingers w/ fruity herbs abd a bit of acid tingle. Overall: I like this specimen. It sets a good example for this style. I recommend this beer.

Appearance: Clear copper body with a small, tight white head. Smell: Mild aroma of toasted grain husks, a drop of honey, and spicy hop. Taste: Toasted grain huskiness and caramel malt flavor. Hint of honey. Fairly subdued sweetness. The spicy hops, while present, never provide much bitterness and drop out somewhat quickly. Finishes with a light honey sweetness. Mouthfeel: Medium-thin body. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: The Warsteiner Oktoberfest is non-offensive, but not very interesting, either. It’s definitely at the lighter end of the Oktoberfest spectrum.

Draft, pours a light copper color, with almost no head, very, very light carmel aroma. A bit of hops on the taste, very light malts a touch of straw, very light and very boring even for a fest bier.

Poured light brown color that had a head that disappeared as soon as I turned my head to talk to a friend. A bit of a bitter smell. Hits the mouth with mild bitterness, then quickly disappears. Let down... and that’s not from "memory" either.

Pours a crystal clear dark gold with a frothy beige head that diminishes fairly quickly. It was slightly skunky, on the pour, despite its brown bottle and a best by date of nearly 10 months from now. I chalk that up to the less than beer-friendly lighting at Royal Liquors. Once the skunk subsides a bit, I’m able to pull out notes of bready malt and a faint "off" smell much like injection molded plastic. The latter is not a good thing, but it faded with time. Light-bodied and slick with subdued carbonation and a clean, smooth finish. The flavor is combination of bready and caramel malts with a mildly lingering sweet finish, Quite quaffable and soft on the tongue, if it weren’t for having been light struck, I would have really enjoyed every aspect of this beer.

$9.49 for a 12 pack at Total Wine. Golden beer with a white head. German lager aroma. Flavor is medium malty with light caramel notes. Not much hops, but they are detectable, and about right for the style. A little light and watery for an Oktoberfest but still drinkable and refreshing. The flavors are good though a bit mild. Not bad for the price.

On-tap, served in a standard bar pint. Pale golden copper in color, crystal clear appearance, foamy white head, decent retention, no sticking that is worth mentioning. Pretty clean nose, just faint scents of toasted husky grain, a light apple fruitiness and bare traces of herbal hops. An easy drinker with a light body, has a macro lager feel, active carbonation, firm crispness and dry finishing. The malts have a lightly toasted grainy taste along with caramelized sugariness. Dry husky towards the end. A subtle apple fruitiness shows up in the middle. Mild herbal hops that turn spicy in the finish. A passable Oktoberfest lager, not bad from the tap, nothing offensive, but one glass and I’m done, moving on to other Oktoberfest offering.

Enjoyed at Oktoberfest Zinzinnati 2007. Pours orangish amber with a fully receding off-white head. Aroma of caramel, husky graininess. The munich malt is pronounced in this festbier, and leans towards emphasizing the malt over the residual sweetness. Very clean and easy to drink, but one of the least remarkable festbiers that I sampled at the fest.