Sunday, October 2, 2011

Boston Beer Co. - Sam Adams Octoberfest


For my first entry, I thought I would write about a beer that introduced to me to the craft beer world, Sam Adams Octoberfest. This ale is the American Juggernaut's interpretation of the Marzen style. Marzen beer normally has a chestnut, deep-copper color with malty and crisp finish. This finish can be attributed to being traditionally stored at cold temperatures for many months allowing the development of a fuller body.

As far as appearance goes, Sam Adams Octoberfest definitely has traditional color tones for the style. The beer pours a deep-auburn that has a small, but very, bubbly head. The head doesn't stay for very long, quickly dissipating into a thin ring around the interior of the glass.

The aroma from this pint is faint, but that which does escape, is full of malty notes. Caramel dominates the nose with a subtle background of toffee and breadiness.

The taste parallels the aroma nicely. The first part of the taste was full of caramel and a bread-y character. The tastes finishes a little sweet, but not overpowering resulting in a clean, crisp take on a European staple.

It had been sometime since the last time I poured myself an Octoberfest. I was pleasantly surprised with the fullness of its body, not chewy or aqueous, but medium-bodied with a nice level of carbonation.

With an ABV (Alcohol by Volume) of 5.3%, Sam Adams Octoberfest is sessionable during those cool, refreshing fall evenings in New England. It is not the best American interpretation of this style, but is well-made brew that has the ability to open minds to craft beer as it did for me.

Cheers!

PandaMack

2 comments:

  1. Great description of this amazing brew! I only had one this year, but it was surely a memorable one. It's nice to have the picture of the actual beer you drank as well. Keep up the reviews like this, and I'll be coming back for sure.

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  2. Good to see you join the bloggin' ranks.
    -PEI Beer Guy

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