Erlkönig Festbier

Bottle from the Lidl festbeir box. Pours clear golden with a thick white head. Aromas of lemon and grass. Taste is sweet honeyed malt. Grassy bitter finish.

Bottle from Lidl. Appearance - golden and clear, with a fluffy snow white head. Nose - lemon, honey and grassy. Taste - lemon, grassy, a little metallic and still some honey. Palate - light bodied, creamy middle, some dryness on the finish. Overall - good.

Bottled 500ml. -from Lidl Brežice. Wiesn-Tragerl 10 Bayerische Bierspezialitäten box. Pale golden coloured, medium sized white head, malty and light caramel nose. Malty, grainy, touch of caramel and discreet nutty touch in the finish.

50cl Fles van LIDL. Helder diepgouden kleur, witte kraag. Grassig, moutig, appel, degelijk bitter, hint van noten. Lichte body, zacht mondgevoel. Prima.

Märzen intended as an Oktoberfestbier (which is indeed a variant of Märzen), though not one of the 'official' ones poured at the actual Oktoberfest; apparently brewed in a village in southeastern Bavaria and referring to Goethe's famous poem, made even more famous by Schubert's absolutely brilliant musical rendition of it (I still know the lyrics and notes by heart). Swingtop bottle with very 'Bavarian' label celebrating local tradition - it hardly gets more 'German' than this. Thickly moussey, regular, shred-lacing, egg-white, foamy head, gradually thinning and breaking on a crystal clear, pure yellow blonde robe with thin strings of sparkling - frankly looking a tad pale for a Märzen or even an Oktoberfestbier... Aroma of raw grains (chicken food or bird seed), sweetclover, hint of acacia honey even, raw white bread dough, chamomile, young bright green birch leaves in spring, brioche, touches of grass, spring water, yarrow, dry cookies to even toast faraway in the background. Malt-sweet onset, very clear and pure, rounded, with a kind of pear-like malt fruitiness to it, sweetish and smooth, with softish carb adding some minerally details here and there; slick mouthfeel, white-bready and cereally, but also slightly brioche-like pale malt sweetishness at its purest, subtly 'spiced' by floral and very lightly grassy Hallertau, evoking yarrow, sweetclover and chamomile but also a hint of dry hay. The bitterness sits all the way at the back but remains mild and gentle, so as to let the purity of the Pilsener malts speak for itself. In that sense, this Erlkönig remains malt-forward as befits a Märzen, but I do miss a slightly 'deeper' and more biscuity malt factor that I normally find in this genre; yet, in an almost impossibly subtle way, there is this almost toasty sweetishness they managed to get in. Appreciating German Lagers is all about purity and subtlety - this is about the opposite of all those hyped pastry stouts, in that sense - and this one does that in a most sophisticated way. Still, as a Märzen or Festbier, it could have been just a tad maltier even - if it were not for the higher ABV, I would have easily classified this as a Helles in a blind tasting. Then, I am sincerely enamored by the refined subtlety and discretion of this beer and will give an extra point for that. Really refined - too much so, perhaps, in this day and age...

Bottle at home. Clear golden color, white head. Aroma and flavor are moderately malty, hayish, softly bitter. Decent body, soft carbonation. Not bad at all.

Aan de zoete kant

Bottle, 6.1%. Good dusty aroma, hay notes. Almost clear pale yellow colour. Good stable white head. The flavour also has good dusty notes. Mild and pleasant grain notes. Low bitterness. Nicely malty.

500ml bottle from the Oktoberfest box from LIDL in Uxbridge. A golden/yellow coloured pour with a thinnish white head on top. Sweet, bready, honey, citrus, yeasty taste and aroma. Quite pleasant.

Bottle at home in Hackney - picked up from the Lidl festbier super pack. Pours totally clear yellow, lightly effervescent, with a creamy white topping. Light to medium sweet flavour with notes of pale biscuits, a little honey, straw, pale grain. Light bodied with average carbonation. Sweet on the finish though fairly well balanced. Tasty.