Vermont is known for many things, maple syrup, crazy ice cream flavors, jam bands, nature, and of course lots of quality beer. Vermont still has the most breweries per capita of any state in the country, ranging from larger operations with regional distribution to tiny startups selling pints and growlers on site. Many of the […]
I had every intention of spending September and October drinking and reviewing more malty beers, especially marzen/Oktoberfest styles, brown ales and bocks. It hasn’t panned out exactly as I planned. First, I stopped at Industrial Way in Portland, Maine at the end of August and most of the available beers were hoppy (delicious, but very […]
Seasonal beers played a major role in my transition from macro lagers to more flavorful beer, I loved how certain beer styles fit perfectly with the seasons. One of my favorites has always beer the marzen/Oktoberfest, the rich malt flavors pair perfectly with crisp fall weather. One criticism of many American Oktoberfest beers was that they could be overdone, cloyingly sweet and overly […]
When you mention fall seasonals there are usually two styles that come to the forefront, pumpkin beers and marzen/oktoberfests. I am normally not a huge fan of pumpkin beers, although I did a blind tasting hosted by the Mass Brew Brothers last weekend and actually found more than a few that I enjoyed. On the […]
I know that the true German Oktoberfest celebration occurs in September, but in my opinion right now is peak time for fall beers. I’ve cleared most of the summer beers out of my beer fridge and stocked up on some darker and maltier styles. One new-to-me beer that I grabbed was Brocktoberfest, a marzen from […]
I was really glad when I heard that Spencer Brewing, the only Trappist brewery in the US, ditched their plan to brew only one beer style and started branching out. I really enjoyed their Holiday Ale and looked forward to trying some of their new releases. I was a hoping that they would focus on […]
Now that we are fully into the fall I’ve finally turned over my beer fridge, the lighter summer beers are mostly gone and the fridge is stocked with darker, heavier and maltier offerings. Marzen/Oktoberfest beers aren’t the kind of beers I want to drink year round, but it’s nice to go on a run of […]
We are into October and I am finally (almost) finished with the backlog of beer reviews that had piled up over some late summer travels. This means I can focus some of my effort on fall beers. As many long-time readers know I am not a fan of pumpkin beers, not an attack on the style just not […]
I can’t believe October is almost over. I really can’t believe it is late October and I’ve yet to review an Oktoberfest beer. One of the most popular fall seasonal beers is the marzen, the malty lager that is one of the traditional beers of the German Oktoberfest celebration. Marzen beers used to be a fall […]
Outside of the now ever-present pumpkin beers, there are a couple other trends that seem to predominate craft beer fall releases. An always popular fall style is the malty German marzen/Octoberfest style lagers. A newer trend is wet hopped beers, brewing with the freshest possible hops right after the fall harvest. I guess it should come as no surprise that at […]
