Märzen from Biermanufaktur Engel, rooted in the 18th century, run by the Fach family since 1877 and located in Crailsheim northeast of Stuttgart. Comes from a 50 cl bottle with screw cap - weirdly; apparently the label, though still as old-fashionedly naive as before with the same angel on it, has also been slightly updated since the picture above was taken. Thick and frothy, snow white, foamy, papery lacing, small-bubbled, regular and very stable head remaining closed forever on a 'filtered clear', amberish-tinged orange-golden beer with lively, visible sparkling. Aroma of hard caramel candy without the sweetness, unsalted peanuts, the unmistakable 'cooked cloth' effect of pasteurization, dry tea bags, green tree leaves, iron (quite pronounced - and unambiguously confirmed by the 'hand test', which accounts for the head stability as well), sugarfree bubblegum, subtle notes of nutmeg, floor polish, dry bayleaf, bitter field herbs, dry earth, moist white pepper. Clean, rounded, dryish and non-fruity onset, typically 'pasteurized lager'-like and immediately going to 'malt fruitiness' if anything, medium carbonated with still quite some minerally accents throughout - making room for a more metallic feel as the middle phase unfolds, bringing a slick caramelly and peanutty maltiness with brown bread crust-like touches, restrainedly sweetish at first but developing a soft and gentle toasty bitterishness further on, connecting with a mild herbal hop bitterness, tea- and dried field flower-like. Retronasally, apart from these herbal and nutty effects, that cooked smell of pasteurisation returns, will down below, the flavour 'parcours' ends gradually and silently, fading into soft bitterishness and nutty sweetishness but not really adding anything that has not been present in the earlier stage. Unassuming, industrial interpretation of the good old German Märzen, a bit thin and clearly too metallic, lacking a bit in character but still offering the essential nutty-malty features and slickness associated with the style. I had better Märzens, though, one of which was very atypically brewed in my hometown of Ghent (Dok's Oktoberfestbi3r), the others in Bavaria; this brewery clearly opts for 19th- and 20th-century industrial methods but I think Märzen is one of those classic German Lager styles that deserve a more artisanal and 'pure' approach. Well, the screw cap was an ominous sign here, I guess...

Hazy, golden color and a nice white head. Grainy malty nose,little yeasty. Taste starts faint sweet, grainy, smooth.

50 cl. bottle @ home, bought @ Kulenborgse Bierhandel.
Clear golden with a white head. Malty aroma with some faint grassy hops. Sweet taste with an alcohol warming sweet finish. Solid heller bock.

50 cl. bottle @ home, bought @ Kulenborgse Bierhandel.
Slight hazy golden with a big white head. Malty grainy aroma with some cooked cabbage. Sweet taste with a low-bitter finish. Tastes a bit oxidized but at the same time I think it's intentional. Decent but strange.

50 cl. bottle @ home, bought @ Kulenborgse Bierhandel.
Dark brown with an off-white head. Nutty malty aroma. Sweet taste with a full low-bitter finish. Nice one.

Bottle at the flat in Sofia - picked up from Bismarck, downtown Sofia. Pours clear honey-yellow-gold with a small, creamy white head. Lightly sweet, some crispy cereal, papery notes, hay. Light bodied with fine, massaging carbonation. Finishes with notes of biscuits, pale bread, more straw. Very basic but just about drinkable.