REVIEW 55: SAMUEL ADAMS OCTOBERFEST

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  USA

BREWERY:  The Boston Beer Company

STYLE:  Märzen/Oktoberfest

ABV:  5.3%

PURCHASE:  Draught (pint), $5.25

SERVING:  Pint glass. Initial head from the tap: 1/2 inch. Average retention. Ditto for Round 2.

APPEARANCE:  Copper-auburn tint, inching toward ruby. Beige-white head. Moderately transparent with slight bubbling in the body. Scattered, inconsistent lacing.

BOUQUET:  Not overtly complex, though not one-dimensional. Initial aroma seems to be a mix of malted barley, caramel, apple skins, and possibly . . . bitter chocolate. Straining to detect something under the surface yields nothing further, except perhaps a touch of hops.

PALATE:  Moderately to slightly heavy body; this can fill you up quickly. Carbonation starts softly but will snowball if held too long. Malty overall mouthfeel, but becomes a bit oaty at the finish. Roasty aftertaste, with a tease of bitter chocolate--I was right. Mild hop factor, but this is the malt's stage.

MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:  Uneven or sharply increasing carbonation can render a beer merely solid where it could have been spectacular. Such is the case with Sam Octoberfest. This used to be my personal favorite of the Sam Seasonals, but that honor has belonged to the Winter Lager for the past few years, as I find that one more consistent. Last year's Octoberfest offering seemed to improve upon the previous few years' regression, but this one seems to mark a return to said regression.

That said, it remains several notches above your standard macrolager. Bleh plus one, I guess.




GRADE:  B-