Spaten Oktoberfest Ur-Marzen

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

Pours a dark, clear coppery brown with a fairly thick, off-white, fine-bubbled head. Rich, malty, fruity aroma has a hint of caramel. Mouth-filling malty flavor has an undertone of apple and pear and a hint of hops. Smooth, strongly fizzy texture leaves a tingly and fruity finish.

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

Pours a light copper color with near perfect transparency with a few bubbles that create a small white head which manages to stay intact all the way down the glass and leaves behind a few small blotches of lacing at the bottom of the glass. The aroma has a musty smell of grassy hops and sweet malt. The taste is musty sweet malt upfront. The body is lightly toasted grain with a hint of earthy hops with a tinge of eurolager skunkiness. Flash of earthy hops as the beer passes over the back of the tongue leads to slightly bitter toasted grain finish. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with moderate carbonation.

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

Light amber copper color. Clear. Fluffy 2 finger slightly off white head. A few bubbles coming up from the bottom. The head didn't have a tremendous amount of lacing, but did have some. Head also didn't have a tremendous retention time. The nose had an "earthy" grain mixed with some breadiness. Clean fragrance. Dry malt was subtle and hid more in the background. The taste mimicked the smell with the grain and breadiness. A smidge of bitterness. Only a touch of the maltand a soft impact of butter. I do like that the grain didn't dominate the flavor. Medium to thin in the mouthfeel. Dry at first, but after the brew warms it becomes just a bit watery. Goes down smooth. Covers the palate in an average way. This beer is ok. Nothing I will seek out, but if someone offered this to me at a bar, I would drink it no problem. German brews are a nice change for me from time to time.

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

They tell me that this is the granddaddy of the Oktoberfests. Simply pleasing is the best way to describe this beer. It's quite refreshing and 'light' for a 5.9% beer. Golden-red in colour with a light brown head. Caramel malt, floral hops, and grain come through the nose. Like some other German beers, I find the flavour to be slightly watery (Too many Imperial Stouts/IPAs maybe), although well balamced between the malty sweetness and hoppish bitterness.

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

Virtually identical to the other Spaten Oktoberfest that I had last week, but this one had a different 6-pack carrier and label... same beer? Maybe, maybe not, but I can't tell 'em apart.

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

Purchased on my trip to Nashville. Second of two Oktoberfest rated tonight (the other one being Paulaner). Pours a clean rich orange colour with an off-white head that has average retention and good lacing. The scent is different from the Paulaner, as it does not have all of the dark fruits. More on the pilsner aromas. Soft caramel malt taste and hints of bread. Not much here compared to the Paulaner Oktoberfest.

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

Aroma of biscuits and malt, with a one-finger head that dissipates quickly leaving decent lacing. Medium-bodied, with a malty, slightly bitter flavor and a caramel aftertaste.

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

Good Marzen but tends to get a bit sweet and lacks the depth of better version. I’m trying this beer against Ayinger’s version. This beer pours a darkish brown-amber, completely clear with a small, white head. Bubbles stick around nicely, though. The aroma is malty and clean but quite light. There’s no off note that can creep into lighter German imports. There’s a touch of apples and grapes detectable, as well. The flavor comes through more strongly vinous with a light but fruity malt. It gets just a bit too sweet in the finish, but I’m sure that I’d lose sight of that quickly if I were drinking it any quantity. While both this beer and the Ayinger would be easy to drink all night, I have to give the nod to Ayinger. Still, Spaten puts out a nice marzen with a relatively low price tag.

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 4

A dark reddish tinted brown colored beer. A small tight bubbly off white head. Fades fairly quickly. The clouds left behind look sickly white. I thought of them as lumps of white fungus. A citrus-sweet malt beer on the nose. Pretty straight forward. The body is moderately robust. Moderately carbonated. Smooth. The tasting is bready, citrusy and must unpleasant, metallic. I was disappointed.

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

This beer poured a dark yellow/amber pour with a nice white head. Good lacing on my glass. Smell of hops and hops. Flavor is malts and hops and a little sweet. A decent enough beer to drink again.