Sierra Nevada / Mahrs Bräu Oktoberfest (2016)
We’ve partnered with Mahrs Bräu, one of Germany’s most highly regarded brewers, to create a golden-hued festival beer right here in the USA. Using traditional techniques, heritage German barley, and the Record hop varietal - a nearly forgotten German-grown hop - we’ve created the most authentic take on the style this side of the Atlantic.
3.5
205 reviews
Chico, United States
Community reviews
Good but not as good as the 2015 take. Golden, toasted malts, semisweet, lightly grainy. Milder hopping, but balanced and has a nice bit of spicy-hop (pepper) to it.
Draft at Oktoberfest Cincinnati festival on September 18, 2016. Nice gold color, good malty nose, fine malty flavor. I remember when I first had a golden hued Oktoberfest at this same festival a number of years ago. Kegs of Konig-Ludwig Oktoberfest were sent in just for the festival. The Konig-Ludwig was and is the best oktoberfest I’ve ever had. The Sierra Nevada is not quite as good but is still very worthwhile.
On tap @ Torpedo Room. Has a bit of haze to this light amber beer. A nice fluffy white head. This has a really excellent malt character of freshly baked french bread, pie crust, and just a touch of saltine cracker. Light fruit character of pear, baked apple, and stone fruits. Has a subtle hop flavor and bitterness, particularly dried flowers and some spice qualities. Nice full carbonation and a snappy finish. Really liked this.
Pale orange golden with a nice white head. A nice lightly spicy hop profile over a toasted malt backbone. Medium bodied. Finish has a nice hop bite. An enjoyable fest beer that I’d enjoy many liter steins of.
Bottle. Clear golden color with medium white head. Mild bready aroma with grass hints. Medium-light sweet taste. Light body, balanced finish with light dry bitterness. Pretty good.
Aroma is a medium white head with clear yellow color. Aroma is malts and spices. Aroma is a really good blend of hops and malts. Overall not my style, but this is a good one.
Rated on 9-11-2016 at Black Dog Pub, Fort Wayne, IN. The appearance of this draft beer is a very small off-white head that is fully lasting, pale yellow transparent body, no carbonation observed, and a fair amount of lacing adorns the glass. The aroma presents some lemon, light spice, sweet, and malt. The flavor mimics the aroma. The mouthfeel is light-moderate carbonation and this is a light-medium bodied beer. This is an easy drinking beer, but nothing very special about it overall.
Good German lager aroma from a beautiful absolutely crystal clear medium yellow body with a medium foamy white head. The German lager aroma and yeastiness follows into the taste nicely. A fairly sharp earthy, black pepper bitter hop bite follows that isn’t really in line with a true Oktoberfest, but I’m guessing that’s SN’s signature here. Good medium creamy texture with some floral notes near the end of the sip. Finishes with a good Oktoberfest taste and lasting bitterness. I think I preferred last year’s version since it was closer to style, but this is an excellent beer on it’s own regardless. I drank quite a bit of this during the season (and at Oktoberfest at SN in Chico!) and this was the last bottle. Looking forward to next year’s version!
Bottle from Sprout’s: Poured a clear golden blonde with a minimal formation of foam head. Aroma was subtle and had minor elements of grain and wheat like malting with the right pinch of hops. Drink is easy to quaff down and is rather simple with basic light malt profile while a bitter hop balances the marzen beer out. One of those forgettable releases.
Poured 12oz brown bottle into a nucleated schooner glass, a clear orange colour with beige foam, lasting with lace. Rich German candy-sweet maltbill, Record hops have noble and modern traits: black pepper, floral, grassy, melon, strawberry, apricot, bergamot. Medium body, strong carbonation, perfectly balanced bittersweet aftertaste which never fully dried out. True to style, yet with a twist. Delicious.
Poured from the tap into a 20 OZ mug at the Taco Mac in Atlanta. The appearance is a clear golden color with a medium sized white head. The aroma is a slight hop and malt blend. an average Oktoberfest style beer.
12 ounce bottle, 8/10/16. Clear golden, large foamy white head, good retention. Aroma of toasted malt and a little lemony citrus. The taste is toasted malt, caramel, lemony hops and a tiny bit of earth. Medium bodied, well balanced, crisp. Nice.
Bottle at my uncle’s house in Lander, WY. Pours a slightly hazy golden yellow appearance with a big, rocky, off-white head. Aroma has herbal notes, toasted cracker, some slightly spicy hops, and straw. Medium light body. Off dry. Nice carbonation. Delicious and clean flavor despite being a couple of months old. Lightly sweet, cracker, lightly toasted barley, and a bit of hop spiciness. This is excellent and frankly, it’s on another level than most German-inspired American brews. I hope I’m not disappointed when I buy a case of this back in Foco.
Draft, Sharkeys Radford. Clear, light golden color, not much head. Light hop aroma with sweet malt. Taste is similar, fairly dry finish. Aftertaste sweet malt with a bit of bitterness. Pretty good, but doesn’t quite taste German. Missing that sulfury top note you get with 3 months of lager time. On the Hofbrau side of Oktoberfest, no Munich malt I can detect. A lot better than BB’s OK, but that isn’t saying much.
(Bottle) My pick for Gee?s Oktoberfest and personal favorite for this season. This is well crafted and fresh. Traditional in style. Hope it returns for 2017 for an encore.
Bottle. Hazy, golden, rocky head, white foam, medium bitterness, medium sweetness, medium body, oily feel, average carbonation, & bitter finish.
Pours a medium straw color. A little lighter than I would expect. About two fingers white head that lasts and lasts. Good retention, okay lacing.
Aroma is malt. Some caramel, a touch of honey. Very light floral hops.
Taste is light and sweet. Pretty malty, Sweet. Light caramel. Nothing very notable.
Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied. Dry. Very easy drinking. A little lighter in body than I would expect. It’s very smooth and clean. Smooth and silky. Maybe a tiny bit bitter on the finish.
Overall, it’s like a light Oktoberfest. While it’s not bad, it’s just a little short of what I expect. More malt, more body, more aroma. I probably wouldn’t recommend it, and I probably would rush out to buy it again.
Clear copper color, moderate sized tan head, decent lace/retention. Aroma is toasted bread, noble hops, biscuit, hay, light caramel. Medium bodied, relatively hoppy for the style without being overly so, refreshing. This doesn’t taste like a Sierra Nevada style Oktoberfest, it actually comes off genuine.
Bottle pour into shaker pint glass from Greg & Jane’s Beer and Wine. Appearance is clear light yellow with greenish tinge, nice sparkle, minimal white head with fair retention and no lacing. Aroma is subtle cracker malts and European hops. Taste is biscuit malts with earthy hops, light yeast. Palate is light-to-medium bodied with foamy texture, average carbonation and finish as taste. Overall, true to the style, with straightforward aroma/taste and nice, crisp palate.
This is one of the best Oktoberfests that I’ve had in a while. I either like the malty creamy textured ones, or the thinner less malty hoppier kind. The ones in the middle or off balanced I don’t really care for. This is the latter....not much malt but with a good hop balance. Has that German lager flavor and feel to it, which is a result of the collaboration. I hope they continue this in the future, or at least the next few year.
This is a late autumn pinot from a reddish green grape, a bit sweet juice, a bit tart skin, with dough in your cheek. It wants to go down quick as a watered down spritzer on a hot day, but the tongue wants to linger on ghosts of spice and malice. It can’t pour into a glass too tall. The layered close-knit together mash of influences, well-documented all, muddled start to finish into what may seem a bland mess to some... but for me, it tastes how an average beer should, or perhaps the average of the best bits of many average beers stewed for too long and malted some. In the end, this ambrosia is divine cruelty, too soon lost even as it is found. A special reminder that every now is a great moment to be alive.
Bland, too sweet and over hopped, but slightly better than most other American style octoberfest.
I really like this October themed beer. Nothing better for trick or treating!
12oz bottle from Healthy Spirits. Clear golden-copper color with a small white head. Aroma is nutty, grainy, with caramel and earthy hops. Flavor is mildly sweet and finishes quite bitter, with a significant hop kick. Medium-bodied with lively carbonation. Nice for the style.
Sierra Navada working with Germany’s Mahrs brewing has done an awesome job creating another excellent beer. Good malty sweet flavor lightly hopped easy drinking would recommend.
Bottle. Amber beer with a cream head. Bready malt aroma with light spice and light toast. Malt and spice flavor with light caramel. Medium bodied. Caramel and light spice lingers with light earth.
12 oz bottle. Poured a clear golden with a white head. Taste of slight caramel malts, floral, grass, with a lingering bitter finish. Fizzy carbonation, medium body. If this is authentic, then I’d rather enjoy my less hoppy American versions of Oktoberfest lagers.
Pours gold with a white head. Aroma is toast, caramel, toffee and light florals. Taste is sweet with a touch of bitterness. Crisp finish, light bodied and thin mouth feel. Decent.
A 12 fl oz bottle packaged on 14th July 2016 and poured into a Mikkeller pint glass. It poured a clear golden colour with a less than one finger white head that dissipated quickly with minimal sparse lacing. Aromas were grassy, hay, grainy, sweet bready and maybe a touch of honey. Tastes grassy, grainy, slightly sweet honey, pilsner malt, lightly floral and bready. Crisp, light to medium bodied with light to moderate carbonation. Overall slightly sweet for me, and I was expecting more carbonation, but not bad.
Dry. Thin. Bland. Slightly bitter.
2016’s collaboration is weak compared to last year. Go back to working with last year’s brewery. That was a deliciously malty and sweet elixir. This is not. This is basically pale yellow macro-Märzen.
Expected better from Sierra Nevada.