JosephsBrau Oktoberfest
5.3% alcohol by volume & 25 bitterness units.
2.8
186 reviews
Monrovia, United States
Community reviews
Has a nice, candy-caramel-malt aroma with just a little implied spice. Then the beer hits the skids, pretty much. Standard longneck, rather plain branding. Clear, light rusty color with a thin, ringing white head. Grainy astringency, dark syrups and sugars, spargewater. Tinny/tangy, moderately sweet, low bittering. Medium body. Meh. Trader Joe’s, Tallahassee.
JoesephsBrau Oktoberfest has a thick, creamy, off-white head, a hazy, fairly bubbly, copper appearance, and a bit of lacing left behind. The aroma is of sweet bread crust, and the flavor is the same, with sweet syrup and low bitterness. Mouthfeel is medium, and JosephsBrau Oktoberfest finishes crisp and refreshing. RJT
From 12 oz bottle, about $1.07 from Trader Joe’s, poured into 14 oz tulip glass
Aroma: bread, caramel, floral
Appearance: orange, clear, minimal head
Taste: light sweetness
Palate: light body, creamy, average carbonation, bitter finish
Overall: Something weird going on here. The aroma and appearance is good, but the taste/palate is quite off. A strange taste that I can’t put my finger on, but it tastes almost like a bandaid or something that’s not right. Has a somewhat strange lingering after taste as well that tastes nearly metallic (maybe?) or coppery (is that a taste?).
Bottle, Ann Arbor, MI. Medium amber. Thin head. Peppery caramel aroma. Metallic caramel flavor. Some spice, maybe clove. More lingering metallicness on the finish.
12 ounce bottle. Pours a clear copper color with a medium white head. A sweet malty toffee nose. The flavor is big toffee, caramel, but pretty dry. Not much there.
12 ounce bottle. Deep orange, copper color. Medium sized foamy beige head. Caramel malt nose. flavor is tangy toasted malt with a slight metallic note. Some bready malt notes with grassy hops in midtaste. Lackluster tart chewy finish.
Dark amber, clear, with off white head. Aroma of caramel malt, very slight hint of skunk. Smooth. Not bad.
Bottle from a mix six pack.
A: Semi-clear copper with a foamy off-white head and some lacing.
N: Toast, biscuit, low levels of hops adding some earthiness and loam, very much on the bready side of things.
T: Medium sweet with a slight, but balancing bitterness.
M: Light body, foamy carbonation, no alcohol presence.
O: A solid Oktoberfest. I prefer this to the Dunkelweiss, and in fact, I could see myself having it again. Not nearly as complex as Ayinger, but I expect that’s a rarity.
Medium Amber pour - nose of caramel, light esters, light floral hope - not as rich in nose of flavor as I want in the style, but fairly clean overall - soft carbonation, decent froth in the mouth - flavor is medium sweet, lightly toasty, lightly fruity - there is a very mild vegetal character - back end is moderate bitterness and floral hops, a touch of mineral - decent.
Tallahassee, Fl - Trader Joe’s - 12 oz bottle. Medium copper pour, quickly fading light off-white head. Aroma of ripening vegetables, a touch of toffee. Flavor has some caramel sweetness, some ripening vegetables, a hint of sweet toffee. Mouthfeel has a nice decent thickness to it. Good everyday Oktoberfest.
Light bronze pour, thin off white head. Nose is malt and a touch of some spice. More bitter than sweet. Middle is medium roasted grain, slightly earth and woody. Finish is a little bitter. Finish seems somewhat off, but not bad.
Pours a golden amber color with a white head. Malt, caramel and biscuit aroma and flavors. Medium light body and average carbonation. Caramel and biscuit finish.
Type: 12-oz. glass
Glass: Modern Times pint glass
From: Trader Joe’s in La Mesa (San Diego), Calif.
Price: $9.99 for a variety 12-pack
Purchased: Nov. 25, 2014
Consumed: Nov. 25, 2014
Misc.: Best by Feb. 10, 2014
Poured a caramel, amber color with three fingers of off-white, rocky head. Good amount of bubble streams coming up from the bottom. Very few spots of foamy lacing on the sides of the glass. Average retention on the top all the way down. (Sight - 3.88)
Smelled roasty malts, dark nuts, caramel, light hazelnut, honey, light buttery malts, dark toffee and maple walnut. (Smell - 3.63)
Taste wasn’t quite as good as the nose. Roasty nuts, earthy, grainy malts, caramel, honey nuts, light hazelnut and maple walnut. (Taste - 3.38)
Medium body. Thin texture. Average carbonatio0n. Abrupt, nutty finish. (Feel - 3.38)
Not too bad overall for the style. Nothing spectacular, but nothing horrible. (Overall - 3.50)
3.48 79 B-
355ml bottle. Maybe the last ofest of the year. Light amber pour, foamy nice head. It has a surprisingly hoppy aroma for an oktoberfest, also some brown sugar and herbs. Bit of almost riesling or cidre too. Flavor is sweet and again with some fruit notes that seem off for a lager, some sulphur notes, sweetness, this is a messy oktoberfestbier.
Aroma is malty, mild, refreshing--very much a German-style lager. Appearance is a beautiful crystal-clear amber with a head that dissipates quickly. The taste lightly sweet and lightly bitter. It’s medium-bodied for lager with soft carbonation. Medium-long clean finish.
Definitely on the thinner side for a beer of this style.... I am in the process of trying a bunch of T.Joes beers at the moment, and needed a new angle after sampling all 3 of their canned beers. Hey, its no Spaten, but I can dig it for the price of a 6-pack.
"You cant really go wrong for a buck, but this beer, while adequately malty, was pretty damn thin and boring. I feel like my average scores for martens don’t reflect my respect for the style, but I’ve just had too many thin, boring ones like this.
12 oz. bottle. Best by 02-02- 2015. Light clean amber color, thin lasting head in a lager glass. Aroma is light toasted grain, caramel malt and hints of lager yeast.
Flavor is mostly true to the style however, very mild. Sweet bread, cereal graininess is found as the backbone. The finish is again sweet with toffee and a weak hint of yeast. It really doesn’t show me any kind of hop and this is a fresh bottle. Uh? Can’t really complain for the $1.17 I spent on the bottle. A cheaper, bargain basement Marzen that isn’t a problem to drink.
Pours a copper amber in color with a nice rocky head. Crystal clear in appearance. Nice peppery flavor (although I just ate so it might be residual flavors from dinner. If so, will rerate) and a basic clean lager notes with a residual sweetness in the aftertaste. Basic lager aroma and some toast. Overall, a nice drinking lager. Nothing special just easy drinking and not a bad price at $5.99 for a 6pak.
This is passably decent to swig out of the bottle but pouring a glass reveals some shortcomings that are hard to overlook. It is a nice clear copper color w/ a small head of fine white bubbles. Its nose is lightly grainy w/ a lemony hint of hops. This is mostly dry w/ just a touch of caramel sweetness. It is medium to light bodied w/ fine carbonation and goes down pretty smooth aside from some metallic bitterness in the finish. As it warms, the caramel maltiness increases to the point where it just starts to cloy. Still, not all that bad and definitely better than buying a dusty German bottle of the shelf if that’s your only other option for this style.
12 oz. bottle. It pours a nice clear orange color with an off white head. The aroma is super malty, grainy sweet with a bit of caramel. Light noble hops. The flavor is toasty and sweet with more caramel and lightly fruity malts. Somewhat toasty dry finish, with some noble hop bitterness. Pretty enjoyable brew if you don’t think about it too much. Nice one to finish off an evening.
12 ounce bottle from a mixed 12 pack purchased at Trader Joe’s in Davis. The aroma is very sweet and full of buttery diacetyl. Almost smells like some sort of pumpkin beer. Light underlying metallic lager hints. Transparent copper body with a small, fairly strong off-yellow head present. Starts with some caramel sweetness, before this becomes a bit nutty in the middle. Finishes with some carbonation and more buttery diacetyl. Scant bitterness late.
Light orange/yellow with a giant durable head on top and lots of rising bubbles. Not much of an aroma at all, maybe of bit of dank hops but more or less just a general ’beer’ smell. The flavor disappoints. Some sweetness that doesn’t mesh well with the hops. Little bit of skunkiness as well. Some lingering bitterness. Decent mouthfeel, but leaves a chalkiness that is unpleasant in an oktoberfest presumably meant to be quaffed in volume.
Pours autumnal orange-red into a shaker. Off-white head with little retention recedes to skim surface. Candy corn aromas. Nasty cooked vegetables and sour earth front to back and through the bitter finish. Are you kidding me? Drain pour.
12oz bottle, from my local Trader Joe’s. Best by: 1/21/14. Clear orange color. Thin khaki head. Caramel, bigger toasty malt aroma. Some spicy hop, hint of orange citrus. Leaves pretty decent ropes of lace. Moderate sweet taste, light bitter. Medium body. Soft, moderate strength carbonation. Sort of dry finish. Solid oktoberfest. Satisfying amount of hop character, reasonably complex flavor profile. Good to enjoy with my sandwich.
Nasty stuff, stale german lager mixed with licking a battery and a touch of butthole.
Poured from 12 oz bottle. Clear light orange color. Slight Soury bitter. Decent white foamy head that reduces to a ring. Mostly grain-wheat flavor.
Mild aroma of caramel and malt. Pale amber color with quickly fading head. First taste is sweet malt, with a flat/stale characteristic. Notes of caramel, and sweet malt, finishes nicely with a quick bitterness burst. Lacks the freshness, and boldness of other examples but o.k. for the price.
Bottle->SA. Copper with medium frothy white head. Lager grains and malt, grass, metal.. Blah.
Copper Color, Long Lasting Huge Foamy Head, Leaves Lots of Lacing. Faint Grainy Aroma. Malt, Nice long lasting bitter Finish. Hardly a Marzen, More like a Lager, just like the label says. Drinkable, Decent. Even if you pass it, you not missing much...