Fest Märzen

Bottle from a small store in Woodland, CA. As Fest Harvest Lager (7.5%). Pours clear darkish copper with a transient beige head. Malty aroma. Med + body. Flavor is dark roast malt - black or near it , but roasty - with something suggesting earth/herb hop. Seems mildly spicy. Flavor is quite strong, so this is arguably an exceptional marzen.

12oz bottle pours clear amber with copper edges and short lived tan head of loose foam. The light aroma is a mix of caramel, faint mineral notes and even fainter plum and cherry esteriness. The taste isn’t overly sweet, which I like. It offers up a touch of roasted malts, sweet malts and maybe a sweet biscuit note before thin layers of ripe plum, cherry and a slight mineral note come to the surface midway and into the finish. Pretty nice with a tasty balance.

More like a bock to me than a marzen. +++ Sampled from a 12 oz brown bottle this beer poured a red-caramel color with a medium sized foamy tan head that lingered and left a bit of lacing. The aroma was bock like sour caramel and vegetal malts. The flavor was tangy sour caramel with vegetal malts and a vague fruity presence. Medium length tangy caramel and vegetal finish. Medium body and smooth. Ok.

Bottle. Pours with a deep, hazy orange body and a thin, and quick to fade off-white head. Aromas of candy corn, hay and grain. Fresh bagels and caramel. Light iodine on the aroma as well. Flavors of butter, light vegital, grainy, caramel. Not very clean. I do expect a lot better from Sudwerk. I am disappointed (they generally nail a lot of traditional styles). Diacetyl...really no other descriptor. Strong diacetyl. Lively bubbles. Sudwerks can and should do better than this!