Oktoberfest Lager
Half Pints Brewing Company

Oktoberfest LagerOktoberfest Lager
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From:
Half Pints Brewing Company
 
Manitoba, Canada
Style:
Märzen
ABV:
6.2%
Score:
87
Avg:
3.89 | pDev: 6.17%
Reviews:
23
Ratings:
27
Status:
Active
Rated:
Oct 27, 2013
Added:
Sep 24, 2006
Wants:
  1
Gots:
  1
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by joemcgrath27:
Photo of joemcgrath27
Reviewed by joemcgrath27 from Canada (AB)

3.61/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
A - Clear deep cedar brown, two fingers of tan head retained very nicely holding strong at a full finger
S - Grainy and leafy aromas, very mild malty aromas, a little surprised at this
T - Biscuity and a mineral bloodlike flavour up front, some leafy and metallic notes
M - Medium body with a minerally feel that drys out toward the end
O - It has some of the key features expected with a bit of uniqueness, not my favorite example of the style but well worth picking up a 6pack
Nov 26, 2012
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.75 by IanSpindler from Canada (AB)

Oct 27, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by bylerteck from Canada (ON)

Sep 28, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by Howlader from Canada (AB)

May 19, 2013
Photo of andrenaline
Reviewed by andrenaline from Canada (ON)

4.1/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Thanks to joemcgrath27 for procuring this brew.

A - Pours a slightly hazy copper colour, finger of soapy beige head with solid retention and some sporadic lacing.

S - Bready biscuit malts, toasted crackers, grassy hop notes, straw and fresh cut grass.

T - Bready caramel, biscuits, straw notes, grassy hops, toasted bread, butter notes, hints of citrus bitterness and sugary malted caramel finish.

M - Medium bodied, smooth and surprisingly wet.

O - Leave it to Half Pints to produce a brew that nails the style, flavour and scent profiles are fantastic. This is a session brew with tons of flavour and fits the bill perfect, making for the ideal drinking buddy at any Oktoberfest party.
Mar 23, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by Tarks from Canada (MB)

Nov 12, 2012
Photo of leaddog
Reviewed by leaddog from Canada (AB)

4.2/5  rDev +8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Appearance - Pours a copper brown with a finger width of foamy, creamy head.

Smell - Caramel, malts, mild hops, and toasty aromas.

Taste - Starts with caramel, bready malts, and a little bit of hops. Slight nutty flavour.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Nice creaminess.

Overall - An excellent Oktoberfest by Half Pints. One of the better Oktoberfest brews that I've sampled this season.
Nov 11, 2012
Photo of Shadman
Reviewed by Shadman from Canada (AB)

4/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Always like trying new offerings from this keystone province brewer..

Good lookin' brew...clear with a tarnished copper colour and a very rich foamy head.

sweet bready malts with a nice hint of spice that I can't place right now

What an easy to drink beer...malts tend to be a bit sweet and sticky at first, but once you're over that initial surprise the flavours are very nice...thinking sticky buns. The hops and yeast add an interesting bitterness, a slight weediness(dandelion) and that spice I can't name.

Nice medium body and mouthfeel...each quaff invites another.

I liked it so much I bought two more six packs...my new official beer of fall 2012...
Nov 06, 2012
Photo of biboergosum
Reviewed by biboergosum from Canada (AB)

4.1/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
341ml bottle, which sports an updated skewed blue checkerboard label. Big ups to my colleagues Sam and Katie for schlepping this back from the Peg for me, and unbidden at that. Very cool!

This beer pours a crystal clear, dark bronzed amber hue, with two fingers of puffy, tightly foamy off-white head, which leaves a low rocky shoreline of lace around the glass as it duly recedes.

It smells of biscuity, grainy malt, mild caramel toffee, soft earthy yeast, an oily, flaky nuttiness, and musty, leafy hops. The taste is more bready, toasty, biscuity malt, with a twinge of Toffifay, a dusty, ethereal smoky essence, and soft, but sturdy, earthy noble hops.

The carbonation is subtle, but well-structured and supportive, the body a middling medium weight, and genuinely quite smooth. It finishes a bit off-dry, the biscuity goodness and attendant enabling hops just doing their biergarten best at making you want more and more.

A well-wrought new world incarnation of a German staple - just sweet enough, well-balanced, and mostly, I suppose, enticing. Dirndl not included.
Oct 06, 2012
Photo of Smakawhat
Reviewed by Smakawhat from Maryland

3.67/5  rDev -5.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
I am assuming this is the same beer, it was released this year (2012) as their seasonal. Poured into a tulip pint glass.

A two finger head off the pour, yellow and thin, settles to a small pencil thin collar. Body is fairly clear with a classic dark copper amber color. Slow rising carbonation comes up from the body.

Nose is a little sticky yeast, thick smelling caramel like malts, hints of burnt wood also. A real nice bit of char action on this slightly and a little toasty. Nice.

Palate is sticky malts, and yeast. Light caramel tasting and malt forward rich. Lingering small hop bitter on the finish, slightly grassy. Some charred malt action come forward with dark brown burnt sugar so slightly.

An interesting märzen for sure, drinkable.
Sep 28, 2012
Photo of marty21
Reviewed by marty21 from Canada (MB)

3.85/5  rDev -1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A: Pours a nice deep orange with a fingers worth of off white head. Settles to a thin cap and leaves a decent amount of lacing.

S: Some sweet and toasted malts with some hops in the back.

T: Nice malt profile with caramel and some sweet and toasty notes. Faint hints of hops in the background.

M: Medium carbonation with a medium body.

D: One of the best offerings of this style that I've had. I'll be looking forward to this one coming out each year.
Feb 05, 2011
Photo of wordemupg
Reviewed by wordemupg from Canada (AB)

4.27/5  rDev +9.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
341ml bottle poured into pint glass oct27 2010

A hazy amber with lots of carbonation but only a thin film after a hard pour, a little strange but the glow of the color keeps it above average

S some malty cereal with toffee and some mild hops

T quite earthy with some orange rind along with everything I smell but somehow even more cereal, decent example of the style pretty big flavors here

M leaves a little something behind in your mouth, lingering flavors and fairly full bodied

D this one went down very fast and I could put back several more if I had them

enough hops too keep all this malt from completely taking over, this may be my go to drink this time of year if I could buy it here but in the mean time I'll have to thank Erika for the bottle
Oct 28, 2010
Photo of A380
Reviewed by A380 from Canada (MB)

3.5/5  rDev -10%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Pours a very nice amber with a pretty decent head with some lacing. Initial smell apples, sweet and tastes the same excellent hop with a bitter taste to it as well. not bad though. smooth taste and goes down well. carbonation is good and it definitely hits you with a quick swirl in your mouth. could be a bit sweeter but overall tastes pretty damn good. i think the main essential to an oktoberfest beer is smooth strong beer with nice hop flavours. and this definitely has that!
nice!
Oct 14, 2010
Photo of TheSevenDuffs
Reviewed by TheSevenDuffs from Canada (ON)

4.05/5  rDev +4.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5
Enjoyed this one in a hotel in Brandon, MB. Poured in to a regular glass from a 12 oz bottle. The wax cap was a cool touch.

A - Medium brown colour with small amount of white head.

S - Some sweet malts up front with caramel, toffee and brwon sugar notes and a nice light crisp hop bite in the background.

T - Rich sweet malts with notes of caramel and toffee with a nice bite and a crisp hop bite in the background.

M - Light to medium body. Moderately carbonated.

D - This is one of the better Oktoberfest beers I have had. It has a nice mix of sweetness, malt flavours with some character and a nice hop bite.
Oct 13, 2010
Photo of bobsy
Reviewed by bobsy from Canada (ON)

4/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Bottle at Volo. Wax capped, which is kinda neat.

Pours a hazy burnt umber with an off-white head that had good retention and left numerous spots and streaks of lace. Nice all-round appearance. Toasty aroma, with a dose of sugar and peppery, grassy hops. Clean, malty and neat.

Flavour is decent for a style that I often struggle with. Its malt-heavy as a marzen should be, with a good toasty profile and touches of biscuit. Light caramel brings a sweetness, with a spicy hop bite crops up in the finish. Emminently quaffable, and a great oktoberfest style brew. Medium body and carbonation works well.

Decent beer, all things considered. Certainly not something that blows me away, but its the kind of well-crafted, easy-drinking beer that's good to have around.
Jun 11, 2010
Photo of markaberrant
Reviewed by markaberrant from Canada (SK)

4.38/5  rDev +12.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
A - beautiful orange copper glow, crystal clear, frothy light tan head, eventually receeds, looks very appealing, leaves lots of sticky lace

S - malty, slightly sweet and toasty, hint of spicy hop, clean lager characteristics

T - yup, this pretty much nails it in terms of what I'm looking for with this style, elegant malt, light sweetness upfront, dry toast in the finish, super clean, touch of spicy noble hop flavour

M - really nice body, not weighed down, but not too light either, medium carbonation, no alcohol warmth

D - just a delicious, highly quaffable amber lager, very flavourful, yet not too heavy

VERY well made. This beer was brewed a good 6 months ago, and still tastes great. Not as good as the dryhopped cask version back in October, but then not much else is. Yes, this is not an extreme beer, but it is a damn good beer. Can't wait to try more next year!
Apr 02, 2010
Photo of Viggo
Reviewed by Viggo from Canada (ON)

4/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
12 oz bottle at Volo.

Pours a clear orange/amber, medium sized white head forms and slowly settles down to a thin ring around the glass, a few lace spots stick.

Smell is nice, very malty, lots of bread and caramel, very light fruit, a touch of biscuit, light orange, very and malty aroma, simple but nice.

Taste is similar, nice malty layers, sweet up front, some caramel, biscuity middle, lightly fruity, but still very clean, balanced in the finish, a nice malt bomb.

Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied with medium carbonation. A real solid marzen.
Mar 02, 2010
Photo of kjyost
Reviewed by kjyost from Canada (MB)

3.68/5  rDev -5.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
The beer pours into my pint glass a nice clear orangey brown with a thick pillow of head that sustains itself moderately and leaves decent lacing. The nose of the beer is of sweet biscuit and a light yeastiness (or is that bread?). The body of the beer is malty firm, with a light kick of bitter and a bit of that sweetness on the palate, which leaves little that lingers long term. Well carbonated that it almost feels chewy in the mouth. A sessionable beer if I had any more...
Feb 03, 2010
Photo of Sammy
Reviewed by Sammy from Canada (ON)

3.72/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Pours light brown with foaming lacey head, that leaves some drops of lace. Some smokey aroma, and it's in the taste,along with a nice hop bitterness, fine carbonation. Average mouthfeel, very drinkable. Decent for the style. Satisying though somewhat drying finish. Thanks Piscator34.
Oct 06, 2009
Photo of demcorhip
Reviewed by demcorhip from Canada (ON)

4.17/5  rDev +7.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Much thanks to trevorwideman for the lager. Been looking forward to this one.

Colour is right, a coppery orange. Hazy, despite keeping still in the fridge for a couple of days. Decent one finger white head, has settled to leave a thin ring. Still manages to leave fine and intricate lacings.

Things pick up quite nicely when it comes to the aroma. Clean lager aroma showcases the malts with the scent of lightly toasted whole grain loaf. A slight touch of honey and cooked veggies. Hint of grassy Noble hops also appears to complement the rich malty aroma.

A damn tasty Octoberfest and quite true to style. Bready and toasty with a touch of honeylike sweetness. The toastiness morphs into the surprisingly substantial bitterness from the Perle hops (especially considering this is only 22 IBU). A kiss of Hallertau provides a nice touch of grassy orange blossom. Very mild underlying hint of cooked veggies and a touch of yeasty mustiness.

Medium bodied bordering towards full. This malty brew has a solid backbone, yet doesnt obscure the bittering hops nor the aroma from the Hallertau. Somewhat creamy, and decently carbonated, although a touch more carbonation would have been appreciated. Somewhat astringent from toasty malt which refreshes the palate and makes going back for more malty goodness a pleasure.

Drinkablility is good, especially considering the big malty body of this brew. Definitely recommended for fans of the style, probably one of the best examples on this continent that I've had the pleasure of imbibing. Not quite as drinkable as Staghorn due to the bigger body, but now there is finally a damn good reason to go to Winnipeg in the fall, likely a nice time to visit as the summer's mosquitoes should be long gone. This is a great, big boned example of the style, and one i hope to be drinking again.
Feb 07, 2008
Oktoberfest Lager from Half Pints Brewing Company
Beer rating: 87 out of 100 with 27 ratings