Ballast Point Dead Ringer Oktoberfest
Our Dead Ringer Oktoberfest lager is inspired by old-style Marzen brews customarily enjoyed during Bavaria’s world-famous beer festival. Thanks to an abundance of toasted malt and a lower hop bitterness, this dark reddish brown lager is loaded with sweet, caramel toffee flavors and aromas. All the taste and celebration of Oktoberfest packed into one bottle; no lederhosen required.
3.4
274 reviews
San Diego, United States
Community reviews
I had it from the bottle. The aroma is caramel, nuts, and toast. The taste is the same with grain and toffee. There's nice, subtle sweetness and a toasty bitterness. This was tasty and very drinkable. I liked this one.
355ml bottle. Pours a clear red-mahogany with a medium, foamy, long lasting, beige head that laces. Aroma of toasted grainy malt, caramel and nuts. Sweet flavour of toasted grainy malt, bread, caramel, toffee, brown sugar, nuts and light spice with a dry, bitter earth finish. Light to medium body with an oily texture and soft carbonation. A very nice Marzen.
Dark super rich color. much darker than most oktos. aroma is decent, mild slightly boozy, feint. body is pretty thick and oily for the style. prickly carb, very strong but sort of stale flavor. too much booze coming through. not balanced enough. other flavors get cut out by the alcohol. price is decent considering ballast point ipas are like 12.99 a sixer. this was 8.49
Bottle sample from notes. Pours a clear dark amber color with a medium sized off white head. The aroma and flavor have toasted bread, caramel, a hint of fruit, toffee, mild bitterness, decent.
Tap at Beer Hunters. Amber-copper colour, small beige head. Caramel, bready aroma. Medium-bodied. Malty, caramelly, minty hoppy. Robust, tasty sweetish Märzen.
Toasted malt aroma and taste...quite clean. Pours a rich copper color with thick suds of off-white head.
Notes: Bottle, '17
My Bottom Line:
This deeply caramelized lager benefits from some toast and light oranges, but winds up too heavy to be truly drinkable.
Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam covers the misty deep copper.
-Sugar levels are too high for my tastes in lager.
-Diacetyl is found within the caramel.
-A brewery of this magnitude should brew better lagers.
Bottle.
Dark malt and fruity aroma. Clear amber color with a small tan head. Mild sweet flavor throughout. Good palate.
bottle - Clear amber pour. Caramel malt aroma. Flavor is of sweet caramel and bready malts. Medium bodied. It's a little bit toasty. Good.
Pours a dark amber color with an off-white head. Aroma is sweet with dark fruits, caramel malts, and a hint of citrus. Flavor is similar with a little more thickness than most oktoberfests.
335ml bottle at True Bearing Alehouse, Xiamen. In a dark bar pours reddish brown with an off white head. Aroma of malt and sugar. Sweetish malty taste. Some bitterness.
Shared a sample of this Oktoberfest a few weeks ago with my fellow South Carolina Beer Scouts, had no recollection of seeing this beer on the shelves in SC prior to this year, but I've been told it's a longstanding seasonal. Anyhow, this poured a darker-than-usual reddish brown color with a foamy top, notes of red fruit maltiness and other sugary caramel notes, lots of complexity from the burnt/caramelized malt. No hops discernible in the flavor, predominantly caramel and fruity malt flavors more akin to a German Dunkel. The palate is surprisingly thick, chewy, and heavy for the style, although it does pack a lot of flavor intensity. By far the most full-bodied Oktoberfest I've ever had, and for that reason I'm not sure if it would be my go-to for a session of traditional Bavarian partying.
Nice could drink on a session Nice could drink on a session Nice could drink on a session Nice could drink on a session
Draft at Craft Brewed. Pours a clear amber with a finger of foam that dissipates. Bready, malt-forward nose, light grain and toasted caramel. Dry, caramel, clean and crisp. Dry finish. Solid.
Bottle. Poured a reddish brown color. Lots of caramel and some roasted malt flavors. Medium body. Average carbonation. A thicker Heavier Octoberfest than most. Roasted malt and caramel flavors. Good stuff.
I thought I rated this last week... This is an Oktoberfest beer as you can tell by the amusing label. Deep reddish brown, clear as a bell with a beige head that didn't last.
A malty biscuit aroma with a herbal peppery edge to it. Medium bodied and smooth, the beer starts off sweet caramel then bitter, a bit acrid, biscuit (hardtack?) malty and alright.
Bottle from Seijo Ishii. Pours a ruby-tinged brown, half finger of dark beige head, ok lacing. Toasty aroma, earthy, sweet caramel toffee malt, baked apple, gentle spice, decent. Flavour almost gets there, same kind of notes, lingering burnt pan caramelised sugar, dirt, and spicy hop. Feel doesn't work for me, macro-esque fizz on a lightish body. Not very refreshing, those lingering notes coat the tongue too heavily by the end. Kinda average stuff.
Bottle from Boise Co-op. Dark, clear amber, small skin if beige head. Malty notes dominate aroma and taste. Dry, bready, hint of sweetness. Halfway between a Lager and a brown, which is about right.
Malty! If you like red trolley this is similar but better. My favorite beer at BP
12oz bottle from Woodmans in Waukesha. A rite of the season -- October baseball playoffs, and an attempt to find a good marzen. Amber brown pour. Little head.. Sour fruits in the taste to go with sweet tangy malts. Nose sweeter and lighter than the taste. Maybe some vanilla, which shows more in the nose, but in the end of the taste. Medium bodied. Some alcohol. Blend is ok. Finishes malty sweet fruity. Shrug, always hoping. 13.2
dark color with red tint and frothy head that dissipates. strong malty aroma with caramel and bread. slightly sweet. easy drinking and much better than a lot of German marzens. Very good for style.
Tap at Pikkulintu, Helsinki. Color is clear reddish copper with small white head. Aromas and flavors: Caramel, some toffee, some biscuits, dryness and malts. Very dry.
(Keg at Pikkulintu, 20171007) The beer poured dark reddish brown and clear. Its head was medium sized and white. Aroma had malts, caramel and molasses. Palate was medium bodied with medium carbonation. Flavours were malts, caramel, molasses and bitterness. Aftertaste was sweet, malty and bitter. A decent malty brew but drinkability could have been better.
Draught @ Pikkulintu.
Poured mahogany color with a thin white head.
Sweet malty bready aroma. Some rye.
Flavor has rye, bready malts, sweetness. Malty, sweet, but pretty ok.
Tap@pikkis. Reddish akber.malty nose, slight metallics, red ahtumny dry fruity, slight earthy herbal nose. Med bldied, smooth, clean lagery. Good bitters, red fruity finish. Ok, feels bit stale tho, hard to drink in masses.
-- bb/a
Dead Ringer has a fairly thick, ivory head, a mostly clear, deep copper appearance, some bubbles, and minimal glass lacing. Aroma is of sweet, brown bread crust, some cherry, and some syrup. Taste is of those elements, with a noticeable and pleasing hop bitterness, helping to round things out. Nice roasted qualities, here. Mouthfeel is medium, and Dead Ringer finishes crisp and refreshing. RJT
Bottle from local Seijo Ishii store. Light toasted malt aroma, with caramel, and sugared dark bread. Dark amber/brown color, thin tan head. Gentle roast malt flavor, caramel, thin bit of spice, and cookies. Thin-medium body. Top 50??? Really? Pretty ordinary stuff.
nice copper color, off white head. rich malty profile. what I expect from a Marzen.
Dead Ringer is a great malty Martzen. Copper color and a great finish. Much better than other Oktoberfest beers
On tap. Pours a clear mahogany with little head. Aromas of burnt sugar and biscuity malts. Flavors of toasted malts, acrid brown sugar, grass and copper.