Thomas Hooker Octoberfest
Originally brewed to celebrate the beginning of the German brewing season and the 1810 wedding of crown prince Ludwig of Bavaria and his bride-to-be, princess Therese of Saxon-Hildburghausen. This amber beer was brewed in March ("Marzenbier") and left to age in cool lagering caves during the heat of the summer. Our rich and satisfying Bavarian-style OctoberFest comes from a special blend of imported German malts that creates a full-bodied brew and stresses a malty flavor and lingering aroma. Gently hopped and delicately balanced, its true-to-style, slow fermentation and long, cold maturation produces a luxuriously smooth, award-winning brew.
3.3
183 reviews
Bloomfield, United States
Community reviews
Bottle. Poured an amber color, notes of amber/orange, white, small head. Aroma was notes of light malts, sweetness, grains. Flavor was some grassy, grain sweetness. Not too bad.
Bottle. Pours clear amber with a small, fizzy off-white head, short retention with light lacing. Aroma is toast and cookie malt, earthy hops. Flavor is malt dominant with medium hops and bitterness and a dry finish. Medium body and carbonation.
Bottle courtesy of Adam of Somalia, shukran! Hazy deep amber gold color, off white edge head. Aroma of caramel and biscuit dough. Taste is sweet sticky caramel.
12oz bottle, thanks to tmoney99. Born on 2012/8/22. Mostly clear amber - orange color. Lots of bubbles on the side of the glass. Thin off-white head, mostly minimal, leaves a few bits of lace. Light to medium, smoother, crisp carbonation. More dry overall. Medium body. Not too much flavor left at this point, but what’s there isn’t bad. More sweet taste. Light toasty flavor. Some light caramel malts. OK oktoberfest. Would have probably been great with grilled cheese.
Bottle. Poured clear dark copper color with an average frothy off-white head that was mostly lasted with fair lacing. Moderate toasted sweet malt aroma. Medium body with a smooth texture and soft carbonation. Medium balanced flavor with a medium bittersweet finish of moderate duration. The beer goes well with my grilled cheese.
Surprisingly nice and very enjoyable. Rich and creamy with a semi-sweet taste on the nose and mouth feel.
Bottle. Pours warm amber in color, standard white head. The aroma is a bit nutty, sweet citrus, and grains. Well balanced flavor, lightly nutty, citrus and grassy hop notes, light caramel sweetness.
12 ounce bottle pours an amber color aromas of light earth, toffee, caramel, and some hay. Flavors follow suit mostly caramel. Decent marzen overall.
trade with hbmason-12oz bottle-disappearing lt tan-amber. A-sweet med malt-hazelnut/marzipan/caramel, some earthy/spice. T-mazipan/nutmeg, harsh vegetal, med malt.
Bottle I picked up as part of a mix six. Pours a clear a clear amber with a slight ruby hue and a tan head that dissipates to the edges. Aroma has a nice grain and bread note with a hint of sweetness and light floral hops. Flavor similar with a drinkable grain note with a bit of sweet bread and just a hint of light fruit.
Bottle. Sweet caramel malt and light vegetal/fruity aroma. Hazy amber with a moderate ivory head. Sweet lactic malt and caramel flavor. Medium body, slightly tannic dry mouth feel.
12oz bottle in a shaker. Pours copper with an off-white head. Aroma of pale, caramel, and toasted malts, plus some floral hops. Flavor the same. Average texture. A pretty good beer for the style.
Bottle. Lactic toffee malt aroma. Amber with moderate head. Sour milk and toffee malt flavor. Okay - pretty sour for the style.
12 oz. bottle from Table & Vine. Aromas of caramel malt, spice and a light vegetable note. Flavor is nearly the same with that vegetable note showing again. Real thin body. Low/ nearly flat carbonation. The born on date on the bottle say 7/28/2012. Maybe I should try a fresher bottle. However, nothing in the flavor suggests I should give it another try next season. The label States " Our Award winning German Lager". It must have been the only entry in the style. Average at best.
Pours copper with a medium white head. Aroma is toast, biscuit, caramel and earthy. Taste is sweet with faint bitterness. Medium bodied with smooth texture with soft carbonation. Nice.
Goes down smooth, nice initial taste but has a bitter after taste. Would only have one.
bottle. light amber with small head. malty and light on spice. seems almost more like a very light brown ale than a fest beer. decent.
Originally reviewed: 11/11/10. 12oz bottle poured into a pint glass. Pours a dark amber/orange with a thin white head on top. No lace left behind. Scents of grains, sweet malts, caramel corn and syrup. Nice sweet nose. The mouth is firm, with a good carbonation level. Finish is moderately full.The sweetness carries over into the flavor. This is a malt-forward beer for sure, as it should be. Lots of toasted malts, sweet caramel and toffee, and a light alcohol-singed finish. One of the last Oktos for the year for me. Always look forward to these beers. This is a nice representation. Check it out.
The aroma is caramel, bread, vegetables. The appearance is a clear, deep amber, white head. The flavor is caramel, bread, light vegetable. The finish is sweet at first, caramel, then a light noble hop bittering. Medium in body. Not bad at all. Better than i expected, especially since this beer might be a bit past its pime.
Single bottle picked up, didnt have too high of expectations due to being past its prime, but was very pleasantly surprised. Poured a light brown with a white head that lasted awhile. Aroma of butterscotch and bread, taste is pretty much the same.
Looks ok. Smell is slag and malt. On buds malty with some fermented background fruit. A little medicinal. Bitter back top back of mouth sensations build. Some cutting carbonation. Yes, a quite rude lager but on style on the more alarming end of this styles spectrum.
Nice aroma, but I’m not crazy about the taste. My biggest gripe is the impression it gives during my first few sips. It’s difficult to explain what I don’t like about the initial taste other than it’s a copper flavor that seems awkward with the sweet and spicy background. I’m not thrilled with it, and probably would not buy again.
medium sweetness, lightly bitter, lightly sour,
Copper with a white head. Aroma is biscuity malts, light spice, a touch of sweet fruits, and some toast. Medium bodied. Flavor is full of spiced toasted malt with a touch of sweet fruit. A good Marzen.
Looks like apple juice. Empty bubble foam head. Light, dank aroma. Very malty flavor. Musty malty finish.
Originally brewed to celebrate the beginning of the German brewing season and the 1810 wedding of crown prince Ludwig of Bavaria and his bride-to-be, princess Therese of Saxon-Hildburghausen. This amber beer was brewed in March ("Marzenbier") and left to age in cool lagering caves during the heat of the summer. Our rich and satisfying Bavarian-style OctoberFest comes from a special blend of imported German malts that creates a full-bodied brew and stresses a malty flavor and lingering aroma. Gently hopped and delicately balanced, its true-to-style
Clear brown. Light aroma with malt, earthy, caramel, dusty. Bit of fruit, dry with light bitterness, not bad.
Amber color with a slightly off-white head. Aroma is sweet caramel and toffee. Pretty typical oktoberfest.
Clear amber with a small head... A little Cidery aroma, kind of overpowers the malty toasty notes... Malty toasty tones, but a touch cidery, may be sour.. Clean dry finish, must be a bad bottle... The flavors that seemed to supposed to be there were quite good, but the cidery....
bottle - I usually don’t say an ave score of 3.3 is overrating a beer, but in this case it is. underattenuated caramel malts, sickly sweet and moldy hay and grasses. Drain pour.
Hazy orange golden pour light beige head ... smells like something went wrong with this batch a sour aroma faint malt .... taste of some sweet malts and a bready malty backbone with some spices and a light floral hop ... not sure what happened but it tasted funked shame looked like a good oktoberfest