Märzen - Pennsylvania Brewing Company

IronCitySteve

Pennsylvania

3.45/5  rDev -9.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

On tap at Penn Brewery

A: Pours a deep dark brownish orange color. Provides an extremely small off white foam head the quickly dissipates. There is no lacing.

S: A small amount of toast, caramel, brown sugar with a slight hop undertone. Nothing overwhelming.

T: Starts off slightly sweet with the caramel hitting the palate first and lasting throughout the tasting. The middle adds some toasted notes and finishes with a slightly citrus hop undertone. Decent balance.

M: Leaves a slightly creamy feel on the palate. Seems a tad on the thin side.

D: Easy to drink Oktoberfest beer. Not overly complex, but gets the job done.

Serving type: on-tap

02-20-2011 15:55:30 | More by IronCitySteve

Stinkypuss

Pennsylvania

4.05/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

Penn Marzen, brewed once again after a few year hiatus. Listed at 4.5% ABV on the Penn website.

Appearance: 12 oz bottle into a pint glass. A hard pour yields little head. Color and clarity are good, a deep amber hue and a faint wisp of head around the edges.

Smell: A pleasing sweet malty aroma, Munich malts and suggestions of caramelized brown sugar. Just a hint of some Tettnag and Saaz hop adding to the aroma.

Taste: Rich malty tones, caramel, toffee and slight roast. Fairly well balanced with the sweet malt winning in the finish. Pretty tasty with a nice focus on the malt flavor. Bready, easy drinking traditional lager.

Mouthfeel: Carbonation is good, medium bodied feel. Not too heavy, not too thin.

Drinkability: A tasty, well made dark lager by the folks at the Penn Brewery. Glad I invested in a case since it is a true fest bier and should be treated as such.

Serving type: bottle

02-01-2011 06:49:58 | More by Stinkypuss

DrDemento456

Pennsylvania

3.6/5  rDev -6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Man I have no idea why they lately stocked two Oktoberfest's at my local mix six place but they were worth a try.

A - pours darker than most Oktoberfest with a hazy brown orage and no head. Mild lace ring.

S - Mild hops, caramel and toasted malt. Not too bad.

T - Very minimal overall flavor. Mild toasty malt with very little toffee/caramel sweetness and a hop profile that is barley existent. At least overall it was drinkable.

M - Light to medium but needs more body and flavor.

D - Got to this one late and flavor suffered but drinkability is still pretty solid. Sadly I wouldn't see myself getting it again.

Serving type: bottle

02-01-2011 04:44:48 | More by DrDemento456

dungledauf

Pennsylvania

3.2/5  rDev -16.4%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Appearance: Clear, amber color. Little or no carbonation. Very little lacing with some retention. Not lively. Dull.

Smell: Faint sweet malt smell. Could not detect any hop or yeast smell.

Taste: Malt flavor dominates but is quickly balanced. Lingering aftertaste. Stale.

Mouthfeel: Thin, lightbodied.

Drinkability: This lighter than a Marzen should be because I expected this to more flavorful and full-bodied than a Vienna lager. The quality of malt used could be the cause or the beer is not aged long enough. Penn Brewery has made better in the past.

Serving type: growler

01-30-2011 16:56:50 | More by dungledauf

Cylinsier

Pennsylvania

3.6/5  rDev -6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

tap

Pours a clear amber color, medium whitish head with decent retention.

Smells of sweet barely malts and maybe a hint of apple like flavor.

Tastes similarly sweet with a minimal hop flavor as well. There's a toasted element there as well.

Feels moderate with smooth carbonation.

Pretty drinkable, easy to session. Wouldn't turn down another one if I had the chance.

Serving type: on-tap

01-15-2011 20:24:14 | More by Cylinsier

ejimhof

Pennsylvania

5/5  rDev +30.5%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

This beer is back this week after a long hiatus.Perfect color and perfect smell. The taste is light and sweet slightly creamy this is what a Maerzen should taste like. Drinkability is off the charts this is what it's like to be at the real Octoberfest. I could drink this one all night long. So glad they decided to bring this one back.

Serving type: growler

01-09-2011 02:45:16 | More by ejimhof

Redrover

Illinois

4.1/5  rDev +7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

I was in Pittsburgh for the Cubs - Pirates game and was able to sample this one freshly tapped at Atria's Restaurant which is connected to beautiful PNC park.

Served in a standard pint, the beer is a nice copper with a beige head.

The aroma is of fresh malts and more malt. Just a touch of floral hops.

The taste is slightly sweet with minor roasted malt notes, a hint of caramel and touch of backend bitterness. This is a well put together marzen and it hits all the right notes. Crisp and smooth it went very well with my pork medallions.

Well done!!

Serving type: on-tap

08-28-2008 17:02:38 | More by Redrover

Hojaminbag

Colorado

4.05/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

On tap at the Penn Brewery.

A nice dark amber color with hardly any head.

A faint, sweet, malty smell.

Up front this beer has a big sweet malty taste. In the middle is more malts, but a mellower chocolate malty flavor. Finishes with just a little bit of hop.

Very light effervescent mouthfeel. Extremely Smooth.

This is a very drinkable festbier due to the balanced flavor, and mostly it's crisp, smooth texture.

Serving type: on-tap

03-05-2008 19:23:24 | More by Hojaminbag

psinderson

Pennsylvania

4.13/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Served on-tap in a pint glass.

Appearance: Attractive Medium red-brown with a strong off-white foamy head. Crystal clear.

Smell: Malty in the theme here. Very clean-smelling with fruit and vanilla undertones. No detectable hop presence.

Taste: Mild hop presence nicely balanced with malt. Clean and smooth.

Mouthfeel: Thicker body, very clean, non-offending in any way.

Drinkability: Goes down extremely well. No hop finish to speak of, just clean and smooth.

Serving type: on-tap

02-12-2008 20:37:13 | More by psinderson

Mattysox

Virginia

3.93/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This is a beautiful looking beer in the glass- bright, clear amber color, topped off with a rocky, rich, off-white head. The head dissipates fairly quickly, but leaves nice sticky lacing throughout the drinking of this beer. The nose is subtle, with some bisquity, malty notes, no real hops to speak of in the aroma. On the palate, the beer is quite smooth, fairly full-bodied for a marzen. The Hallertaus come out much more prominently to round out the flavor, mixing really well with the caramel, malty flavors. Overall, this is a really easy-drinking brew; nothing terribly exciting, but well-made and a good example of the style.

Serving type: bottle

02-12-2008 15:41:09 | More by Mattysox

bigdeuce

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

After revisiting this beer two years later, I must say it is pretty good. Nice copper to amber color with a big head, fades quickly, but leaves lacing down the glass. Very woody and caramel smell and flavors. The smell is a bit metallic, but a nice beer to have 6 months after Oktoberfest, as I love Marzen beers. Very fresh taste. Nice bittering hallertau hops and authentic German taste. Worth the money, and very nicely priced for a good microbrew.

Serving type: on-tap

02-01-2008 23:31:45 | More by bigdeuce

NJpadreFan

New Jersey

3.03/5  rDev -20.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Penn Brewing- Marzen

Appearance- Golden reddish brown with a small white head. 1 big lacing ring along the top.
Smell- Very faint vanilla, caramel, and cinnimon,
Taste- Vanilla caramel malt with touches of spice. Cinnimon comes through with a touch of nutmeg.
Mouthfeel- Dry and slighty bitter up front. Slight touch of alcohol in the end.

Overall- I found this to be bland. Not a bad tasting beer here, but after drinking 1 I was ready to move up and on.

Serving type: bottle

06-29-2007 19:42:14 | More by NJpadreFan

NeroFiddled

Pennsylvania

4.33/5  rDev +13.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Penn Marzen pours a deep copper body with dark amber highlights beneath a short head of creamy white foam. The nose offers floral and gently spicy hops over a gently sweet and toasty malt base. Not surprisingly, the flavor delivers the same, but with more depth. It's very clean, and a hint of sulphur suggests lager yeast. The Vienna malt does lend an edge of sublime fruitiness to it though. It's slightly honeyish, but mainly grainy and softly toasty; and well balanced by the spicy and floral hops. The median bitterness simply lies underneath the malt and hops, acting as ballast but never interupting. Very well balanced, and supremely drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

03-29-2007 01:29:49 | More by NeroFiddled

HopDerek

Pennsylvania

4.3/5  rDev +12.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Very rich amber/copper color with a medium head that fades quickly, leaving little lacing and a slight ring of bubbles. Smells of apples, oranges, honey, and caramel. Taste is very fruity sweet, predominantly apples and cinnamon, followed by caramel and yeast, very much like an apple pie. Smooth and medium bodied with lite/medium carbonation. Very easy to drink and despite its lack of hops, is very flavorful and balanced. Probably my favorite Penn brew.

Serving type: bottle

02-20-2007 23:13:52 | More by HopDerek

Abita45

Pennsylvania

4.08/5  rDev +6.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Poured from a bottle into a pint glass. A nice dark, copper/amber color that has a strong malty aroma and quick, full, foamy head that revealed decent lacing.

The beer has a sweet malt taste with the hints of the barley and moderate carbonation. The sweetness of the beer has subtle reminders of caramel, but the sweetness is well-balanced with the sublte grainy bitterness I suppose comes from the barely.

It has a very pleasant mouthfeel, both full bodied and smooth. I think it might be a little sweet as a session beer, but over the course of an evening, I could easily see myself having a couple Marzens, substituting in a pint of lager or pilnser, then going back for one more.

Serving type: bottle

10-19-2006 14:42:58 | More by Abita45

Dukeofearl

California

3.1/5  rDev -19.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

12 oz. bottle purchased at Hollingshead Deli in Orange, CA. for $1.59 in August 2006. Consumed in September.

Pours a slightly cloudy dark orange/amber with a pretty off-white head and very small bubbles. There are no obvious streamers of carbonation, but they may be hidden in the cloudiness.

Aroma is of sweet oranges, honey and candy- almost maple syrup.

Flavor starts sweet like the aroma (and like my favorite mazens), but it ends with a yeasty and stale grassy hops mixed with lemons- somewhat off-putting. I wonder if this is too old.

It starts nice, but I don't care for where it goes.

Serving type: bottle

10-07-2006 18:48:38 | More by Dukeofearl

cooncat

Ohio

3.4/5  rDev -11.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Dark green 12 oz. longneck bottle, with a 'best by' date of Aug. 21, 2006 (and my tasting was done July 1, 2006), so it was 'in date'.

The pour produced a light copper colored beer, with a minimal tan, short lived head. The nose was definitely malt, with a hint of citrus behind it. On the palate, a warming, medium bodied beer, with a sweet maltiness typical of the style. Very drinkable, and not overpowering in any aspect. A respectable offering which should not disappoint.

Cheers.

Serving type: bottle

07-02-2006 20:54:24 | More by cooncat

TheLongBeachBum

California

4/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Presentation: 12 ounce green glass bottle picked up as a single in a mixed pack of Penn beers from Hollingshead Delicatessen in Orange.

Lime green main label has a red bordered oval containing a partying Mardi Gras style woman together with Shamrock and the words ‘Märzen’ below. No strength or freshness. The labels are all wonky and it looks rather amateurish to be honest, right down to the black & white photocopied Government Warning back label. Sealed with a screw-off logo’d crown cap.

Appearance: Copper body with a ruddy-orange character. Beige head builds up nicely and stays around. Gorgeous conditioning. Light lacing.

Nose: Fruity nose, spices, baked pears, brown sugar and a little cinnamon with apple skins set in caramel. Hmmm, lots to break out from the aromas.

Taste: Yet more fruits and spices in the make-up, apples and pears seem to be big contributors. These fresh fruits set a good backdrop against the fresh malts and caramel. Finish has a quiet caramel sweet malt ending which is very clean.

Mouthfeel: Medium body with a wavering malt profile that sets a foundation for the fruits. Fine conditioning completes the package.

Drinkability: Another easy drinking effort from the Penn Brewery, I love the fruits in this one, in the absence of any hop contribution the fruits neatly balance the malts from beginning to end.

Overall: Despite its very amateurish labels and that green glass bottle, doesn’t beer get “skunked” in PA? this Märzen is quite the treat.

Serving type: bottle

05-22-2006 06:34:05 | More by TheLongBeachBum

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

3.58/5  rDev -6.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

brandyish initially, molasses, then dark malts with some dark malts. Some of these sweeter ingrediants comprise the aroma. Dark color. Above average carbonation. Comes together like a malty ovaltine tasting. Smooth beverage and drink. Bit of bitterness on aftertaste.

Serving type: bottle

05-14-2006 05:11:34 | More by northyorksammy

AltBock

Ohio

4/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

12oz. green bottle with a twist off cap. The labels were off, but hey, it's Penn Brewery! All their labels are like this until they get that new labeling machine up and running. The front label has a really nice looking woman in Mardi Gras clothing with a Mardi Gras bead and a clover next to her. The back label had no date or even a place for it to be notched like the other Penn beer bottle labels. The back label did have information about the beer and the usual govt. warning. Nice green labels!

Appearance: When poured into a mug, the beer was a really nice amber color with a 2 inch fizzy head of foam. It dissipated away somewhat fast leaving some white lace and very few rings around the mug.

Smell: I didn't get much in the aroma except for a light aroma of sweet caramel, sweet malts, little juicy fruits and little hops in the background.

Taste: It was very malty in the beginning and then it went to the sweet caramel, and then finished with a slight hoppy aftertaste. Overall this was a nice clean malty taste. It's not a taste to get excited about, but still it was very pleasant!

Mouthfeel: I surely don't agree what the label stated, this really isn't a full bodied beer. It's more like medium bodied with a smooth aftertaste of malt.

Drinkability: I found this to be a pleasant highly drinkable spring session beer. I'm also glad this beer wasn't skunked due to its green bottle!

Serving type: bottle

05-02-2006 19:24:42 | More by AltBock

Jredner

Florida

4/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 oz bottle from Beer World of Largo

The aroma presents grassy hops and loads mild caramel malt as it warms. Rich amber in color with a perfect thumb thick, quite lasting, creamy white head. The sweet fore is smooth with malts and even some mild nutty notes and a bit of toffee throw in. Very lively, tongue tickling carbonation. It’s pretty damn tasty and has a great feel to it. Damn nice beer.

Serving type: bottle

04-10-2006 07:41:11 | More by Jredner

oberon

North Carolina

4.05/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Had this at the restaurant with some weinershnitzel and speitzel,pours a deep amber with a nice one finger head,aromas are malt hefty some cookie dough and caramel but didnt smell overly sweet.Spot on flavors for a the style in my opinion some light caramel and malted milf flavors with a dry anisy-like finish.A nice creamy mouth feel is a big hit here.Damn solid beer and food friendly but man I want the maibock wich they were out of.

Serving type: on-tap

05-19-2005 20:10:11 | More by oberon

mjc410

Virginia

4.58/5  rDev +19.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Presentation: 12 oz bottle, poured into a pint mug

Appearance: Beautiful reddish-amber-copper color. Unfortunately, even with an aggressive pour, the head is restricted to a very thin foam, which quickly dissipates to a small ring around the outside of the glass. No lacing, either.

Smell:Definitely malty. Smell gains strength with warmth. It's pretty plain, but it smells great.

Taste: Malt in the forefront. You have to search for the hop bite, but it's really hiding in the background. Leaves an aftertaste that becomes increasingly acidic, but rather than being negative, it urges you to take another sip to start the cycle all over again. Superb.

Mouthfeel: Smooth without a doubt. Definitely not watery. Carbonation perfectly matches the thickness of the liquid.

Drinkability: I could drink this year-round! If this is how all Marzenbiers taste, I'm moving to Germany. Then again, I think I'll just move to Pittsburgh. The beer is smooth and light enough to encourage everyone to down a sixer.

This is my first marzen, and I'm so happy that I bought one. It's going to feel very bad when this sixer is gone.

Serving type: bottle

04-05-2005 00:22:53 | More by mjc410

santoslhalper

Pennsylvania

2.6/5  rDev -32.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Appearence: Pours a clear copper with a fomay, fizzy white head,

Smell: The smell is of gross malts. I don't know what it is, but I don't like it. Cereal maybe? Manure?

Taste and Mouthfeel: It doesn't really taste like much of anything. Basically a watered down verstion of their Oktoberfest. While it is rather thirst quenching, it has no good qualities to it, or even anything that stands out. The mouthfeel is creamy but a little thin.

Drinkability and Overall: This is an average beer from Penn. They're really on and off, and sadly this is off. Has a really generic qualitiy to it that's really killing me. Just wait for the Oktoberfest.

Serving type: bottle

03-12-2005 08:26:26 | More by santoslhalper

unit555

Pennsylvania

4.33/5  rDev +13.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

I tried this annual offering at the Penn brewery over the weekend and I was really impressed. It arrived with a nice amber color and an excellent head that persisted well into the glass.

The smell was light but had a sweetness to it. Nice full taste in the mouth that was slightly malty and only lightly hopped. This was abeer you could drink easily and enjoy a couple in the afternoon.

A most excellent sign of spring. The Martzen has arrived.

Serving type: on-tap

03-07-2005 13:24:25 | More by unit555