Beer Review - Real Ale Octoberfest

Brewery: Real Ale (Blanco, TX)

Beer: Octoberfest

Style: Marzen/Octoberfest

ABV: 5.7%

Bitterness: 25 IBUs

Fall has arrived, and so have the Fall Seasonal beers!  We'll be tasting and reviewing Octoberfest beers this week in honor of the German beer festival. Our first selection is Real Ale's Octoberfest.  

Octoberfest beers are lagers and are also referred to as Marzen beer.  Marzen is German for March.  Before refrigeration, brewers were unable to brew beer during the hot summer months - the brewing season lasted October through March.  The beer that was brewed in March was typically brewed darker in color and higher in alcohol content to last through the summer months and it was stored in caves to keep it cool.  Octoberfest is a Bavarian festival that was established from the tradition of people emptying out the caves and drinking the rest of the of Marzen beer to make room for the freshly brewed.  

Here is what Real Ale had to say about the beer:

Our Oktoberfest is brewed with the highest quality German malt, hops, and yeast using traditional Bavarian brewing methods. The Munich and Vienna malts are the real stars of this smooth, copper-colored, medium-bodied brew. Well balanced and satisfying, our first lager is the perfect compliment to your fall festivities. Prosit!!!!

Here is what we thought:

Appearance: Dense off-white colored head.  Or as my friend Seth so aptly described while we were tasting the beer, "The head is the color of and old man's beard if he was a smoker." Translucent.  Burnt-copper in color. 

Smell: Spiced, sweet bread.  Subtle.

Taste: Malty with very little (if any) hop character.  Lacking in flavor. 

Mouthfeel: Silky. Velvety. Creamy.       

Drinkability: Medium bodied

Verdict: No complexity, single-dimensional - which was the malt.  Tastes very much like a Coors version of an Octoberfest.  Mediocre at best - in our opinion there are better Octoberfest beers out there to choose from.

Grade: C

Cheers!