A bit of a hazy copper beer, with a fizzy head that disappears completely - slightly tangy aroma, yeasty/bready character, some tart qualities that seem to be indicative of the beginning stages of an infection - yea, it tastes like it’s at the first stages of infection, too - a bit of acidity and vegetal character - underneath that, you have the semi-sweet, smooth maltiness of your standard o-fest, along with some apparent hop bitterness and buttery character - some tangy, fruity notes (is that "almost infected" quality intentional?) - light notes of toast in the finish - not terrible, but you’d figure a brewery that’s been around this long would have better quality control.

Bottle from John’s Market in Portland, OR. Light amber color with a decent off-white head. Lightly spicy and roasted caramel aromas. Medium body with frothy carbonation. Flavor is lightly spiced caramel, with some balancing grassy bitter. A light, tasty lager.

Pours clear gold with thin white head. The aroma is sweet sugary malts, some biscuit, a little corn and mild floral hops. The taste is a cut of floral and spice hop bitterness accentuated by the initial burst of carbonation. Then the sweet and grainy malts enter in an attempt to reign in the hops. The hop bitterness control the flavor and take it to the finish and beyond with hints of sweetness. A bit on the hoppy side for the style.

Pour is brown with no head showing up. Aroma is a nice dose of heavy malts. Flavor is weaker that the aroma. Some malts and some brown sugar is about all that is showing up. Finish is sweet but bitter.

I’m going against the grain (pardon my pun) on this one. What I really liked about this Oktoberfest was due to a suspected flaw- the dominant nature of the body was partially fermented malt syrup. This gave the beer a very sweet, toasted cereal flavor that reminded me of honey graham crackers. Also had a sweetened iced tea aroma with hints of fruit juice. I suspect if this was more fully fermented the sweetness would be toned down...but maybe then I’d rate it closer to its 2.74 average! Tasty but I could only drink one or two as it stands. Thanks Matt (MrFacto) for the bottle!