BJ's Oktoberfest

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

had another word in the name, but that might be different at each location... decent marzen, and i was in the mood for this. Nothing that stands out. Carmel and nutty malts, underlying sweetness and a touch of hops. i'd like it a little more robust but not bad.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 5

Nice orange/amber hue lots of lace left by a good frothy cap. Aroma and flavors were a bit subdued consisting of some bread and caramel malts, and not much else. Overall it wasnt bad, it just wasnt that good. Pearland, TX location.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

Sampled at the Newark Ca location on 10/11/2010. The marzen pours a medium orange gold color. Small to medium sized white foamy head. The aroma is caramel, fruity and sweet with a bunch of ice tea. A medium bodied October fest beer. The malts are caramel, fruity and sweet. The hops are herbal. Decent carbonation. A little on the sweet side and the bready malts seem a little subdued. A touch of orange at the finish. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Brewed at BJ's Chandler AZ
Arrives with no head to speak of, with a clear amber color and of course way to cold from both the frozen glass and the too cold tap. The aroma has notes of caramel, a touch of toast character towards the finish and even a bit of fruity hop / malt character to it (seems to produce a mix of berry and currant notes).

The beer is of course quite cold (despite efforts to warm the glass up to this point), which accents the lingering hop bite and a significantly herbal hop character (significant by Oktoberfest standards). There are some berry notes here in the flavor too; these seem hop derived, though they are certainly accentuated by the caramelized malt flavors also found in this beer. The malt has a light toastiness to it and even a touch of nuttiness, though the caramelized grain notes are the most significant malt component. This is nice and clean with a chewy malt heft that produces a touch of viscous character.

I like that this is a hop focused example of an Oktoberfest herbal / berry notes add a solid, extra dimension to the more typical malt character.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

After having a horrible beer experience at Coach's in Norman, OK we headed up the road to BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse. BJ's is nationally known and it has been my experience that the beer is crafted very consistent from location to location. This night I had the freshly brewed Oktoberfest.

The beer has a very nice, warm orangy brown color to it. There was a great looking head on it that was about a finger thick. It actually stuck around for a bit leaving some nice dimples behind on top of the head and lacing on the side of the glass. The beer had a toasty malt aroma to it with a hint of sweetness emitting from the glass.

Things continued in the right direction with this beer in the flavor department. My mouth was treated to a well crafted Oktoberfest style beer with the maltiness really shining though and mixing with a light caramel taste that really hit the spot. The beer really was crisp, fresh and tasty. Needless to say this one didn't sit in the glass for very long.

Tis the season for good Oktoberfest beers and if you are looking for something good without paying the import prices, BJ's Oktoberfest will do a great job filling in.