For a while it seemed like the Oktoberfest/marzen style was losing a lot of steam in American craft beer. Pumpkin beers were all the rage and wet-hopped beers were appealing to hop-heads, so many breweries were passing the idea of brewing Oktoberfests as their fall seasonals. Fortunately for all of us who love the marzen style, there has been a substantial resurgence. This isn’t surprising, pumpkin beers have a niche but aren’t popular enough for every brewery to make one, and there has been a renewed interest in craft lager styles over the last few years. While many breweries are just making small, brewery-only batches of their Oktoberfest beers, I’ve seen a number of new-to-me examples available in distribution. One such beer is Zero Gravity Oktoberfest out of Burlington, VT. Zero Gravity Oktoberfest is brewed with German malts and hops, and is available on draft and in 16 oz cans in the fall.
Zero Gravity Oktoberfest pours clear deep amber with a solid white head. The aroma features some rich malt and noble hops. The malts also lead the flavor, notes of bread dough, biscuits and caramel. These rich malts are balanced by some old world hops, hints of herbs and grass along with just a little bitter bite. Zero Gravity Oktoberfest is lighter bodied and very smooth, not overly boozy at 5.4% ABV. The finish is crisp and clean with just a hint of residual malt flavor. This is an excellent Oktoberfest, you just want to sip a nice full stein on a crisp fall day. Prost! Hoppy Boston score: 4.5/5.
Previous Zero Gravity Reviews:
Hoppy Boston 
