A Pint Half Full

Purchased from: 
Whole Foods, Fair Lakes

ABV: 
5.4%

Type: 
Lager

Color: 
Beautiful dark amber color.

Smell:
 Sweet malt on the bottom and flowery bouquet with some alcohol fragrance.

Taste:
 Malty initial which fades fast. Hops take over and linger to the end but the blend of sweet and bitter remain.

Overall:
 So my Renaissance Festival experience wasn't too far off with this beer. The Sam Adams Octoberfest is a pleasant beer resulting in a sweet, dry flavor with slight bitterness. Due to the use of Noble hops, it does have a different, less harsh bite than other beer and the use of the 5 different malts makes the beer overall pretty sweet tasting.  As seen from a lack of a thick head, the Octoberfest is actually very light and once the flavor fades, it leaves a clean mouthfeel. However, the beer doesn't taste robust enough and rather, tastes "thin". In the end, the beer is pretty smooth and drinkable but I would have liked a little more complexity to the flavor. Unfortunate because I really wanted to like this beer.

2.5/5