Weihenstephaner Festbier - Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan

Ryan011235

Ohio

3.85/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured into a nonic pint glass on 11/22/12

7262 printed on the label

This is much lighter in color and and has more clarity than I'm used to. Sun-faded medium gold and straw colors. Two and a half finger white head dissipates slowly. Speckled trails of lace.

Enjoyable little aroma here - bread, grass, hay, apple pastry and caramel. Very clean.

The taste is right in line with the aroma, though the grassy hops have a bit more say. Buttered bread and biscuit and light fruit overtones.

The feel is fairly light, enveloped with carbonation, but the body is substantive enough to be be satisfying.

This hits the spot for a Thanksgiving afternoon sort of beer.

Serving type: bottle

12-04-2012 05:31:16 | More by Ryan011235

superspak

Michigan

3.68/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

330 ml bottle into pint glass, bottled 5/14/2012. Pours lightly hazy golden straw color with a 1 finger dense white head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Spotty soapy lacing clings to the glass. Aromas of big pear, apple, grape, light caramel, bread, toast, floral, and herbal hops. Pretty nice and pleasant aromas; decent balance and strength; but they are a bit too fruity. Taste of bread, toast, light caramel, pear, apple, grain, pepper, light earth, and herbal hops. Slight peppery bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of bread, light caramel, grain, light fruits, pepper, and herbal on the finish for a good bit. Medium carbonation and body; with a light creamy and very crisp mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a slight warming noticed after the finish. Overall this is a nice Oktoberfest. Not really what I expected from this style example, considering that every other offering they make is spot on. However, there are some nice flavors with good balance; and it is extremely easy to drink. I enjoyed this quite a bit.

Serving type: bottle

11-20-2012 05:29:39 | More by superspak

CampusCrew

Florida

3.93/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Hmmmm i had to check the bottle label to make sure i was drinking a maerzen... great lager but off style, but thats ok not all maerzens have to taste the same. Poured a dark golden. Like a pilsner. Not typical pils or maerzens aomas and flavors maybe a combo of the two... never the less its a well done lager... crisp flavorful and refreshing... i would drink again and i cant beleive this is the first time ive had this...

Serving type: bottle

11-17-2012 01:19:51 | More by CampusCrew

UnderPressure

South Carolina

3.78/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

Clear, golden straw colored. Fizzy 1/2 finger head.

Very fruity esters. Some skunk. Pilsner malt aroma.

More complex flavor than I anticipated. Full maltiness upfront. Followed by a slight hop presence.

Light to medium bodied. Smooth mouthfeel with a nice feeling carbonation. Lingering slightly bitter finish.

This beer is really similar to a good pilsner. Not what I was expecting in an Oktoberfest, but a good beer nonetheless.

Serving type: bottle

11-13-2012 21:14:04 | More by UnderPressure

gcamparone

Rhode Island

3.55/5  rDev -3%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a 22 oz. bottle into a Samuel Adams pint glass. Purchased at Nikki's Liquors in North Providence, Rhode Island.

A- Pours a light-straw clear body with a medium white fizzy head that reduces to a thick white ring. Low lacing. Looks like an adjunct to be honest.

S- citrus, some skunk, belgian funk, yeast.

T- Starts off spicy, cloves and wheat. The finish is slightly skunky and bitter. Good balance, it just doesn't seem super fresh.

M- This is where this brew shines. Light, crisp, refreshing and highly drinkable.

Overall I was only mildly impressed with this beer. I guess I had super high expectations considering their hefeweisbeir is one of my favorites.

Serving type: bottle

11-12-2012 19:34:10 | More by gcamparone

bmike86

Iowa

3.1/5  rDev -15.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

I picked up a 6 pack of Weihenstephaner Oktoberfestbier from Hyvee Liquors in Des Moines, IA.

Appearance --- light pale golden yellow color. Carbonation bubbles flowing steadily through a slightly cloudy complexion. Minimal white head

Smell --- mainly malts, but also some hops

Taste --- does not really look or smell like a marzen, and somewhat resembles a marzen in taste

Mouth feel --- smooth, slightly carbonated, light to medium bodied, hoppy finish with semi-sweet aftertaste

Overall --- from the Weihenstephaner offerings, I am usually impressed… but not with this one. It seems merely average. This beer is indeed unique, it looks, smells and tastes as if it was a baby/offspring of Paulaner’s Oktoberfest and their Wiesn. It is worth a taste, but not sure if I would recommend.

Serving type: bottle

11-10-2012 15:36:40 | More by bmike86

Flounder57

Massachusetts

3.08/5  rDev -15.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

11.2 oz beer was poured into a pint glass

Appearance: This beer poured a minimal head that has reduced to a thin layer. It is a golden straw yellow with great clarity and bubbles coming up through the glass.

Smell: Malty and sweet, some grassy notes

Taste: same as above

Mouthfeel: smooth, full bodied, crisp, medium carbonation

Overall: I was expecting more maltiness, nutty notes and color to the beer. This beet is more along the lines of a pilsner or later. A bit dissapointkng and think that things may have been bottles incorrectly at the brewery.

Serving type: bottle

11-07-2012 01:29:51 | More by Flounder57

RickS95

Indiana

2.7/5  rDev -26.2%
look: 2 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

I'm giving it a 2 for looks for one reason only. The head is stellar. The beer itself is a click darker than Budweiser. Looks nothing like any Oktoberfest I've seen. Very clear, looks like ginger ale. The head, however is a looker. A couple fingers of white bubbles, good retention. Looks like cotton balls. Thin white lace left behind.

Smells like Budweiser. Nothing to indicate it's an Oktoberfest.

The taste is slightly redeeming. Very much a stock pilsner, but there are some spices in there. Very yeasty with some pepper accents, but mostly standard pilsner malts.

It's light to medium bodied, fairly crisp, with just a hint of some spices. Slight hop presence in the finish.

Overall, it would make for a world class pilsner, but it's fairly lacking for an Oktoberfest. Not sure how they call it a festbier because it just isn't. But nonetheless, it's not a bad tasting beer, just nothing like I was expecting. I'm glad I bought a six pack because it'll make for good drinking, but I wouldn't call it a marzen.

Serving type: bottle

10-29-2012 02:18:37 | More by RickS95

heygeebee

Australia

3.43/5  rDev -6.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a two finger head - very pale straw. Very nice clingy lace.

Aromas of malts and a little something I cannot put my finger on maybe a little lemonade?

Taste is very bready malt driven, quite sweet and just a little hop presence. Hides the 6 percent very well.

Mouthfeel is crisp and light easy drinking

Overall too easy to drink at 6 percent

Serving type: bottle

10-28-2012 10:13:11 | More by heygeebee

ThisWangsChung

Maryland

3.38/5  rDev -7.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

12 oz bottle poured into a pint glass.

A: Pours a darker straw color with fantastic clarity. The carbonation isn't as evident as I might have thought it would be, but it's there. The head is a rocky-looking, three finger white color that becomes one fingers high after a short period of time. As it recedes, a nice amount of spiderweb lacing is left on the glass.

S: Very zesty noble hops in this one. It actually isn't that malty in the aroma apart from a very faint caramel sweetness. Far more of a pilsner than a marzen.

T: The initial flavors are quite sweet - almost overly so, but not quite. This gradually transitions into a crisp, pleasantly biting hoppy finish. The sweetness is only slightly caramel based, but does enough to mesh with its faintly buttery midtaste. This really isn't much of a marzen, but it's a DAMN good sticke pilsner.

M: Crisp and well carbonated, but not extremely dry. This causes some sweetness to linger on the aftertaste - which makes it seem thicker than it really is. Perhaps it's not as easy to drink as other oktoberfests, but the way the flavor profile reverts from sweet to bitter and back again, it does a good job of keeping the palate guessing.

O:I really shouldn't complain about how it isn't very marzen-y, because I'd have NO trouble drinking a pitcher of this in a biergarten. Actually, my only complaint is that I'm not sure I'd pay $12/6 pack for it again, given its nature.

Serving type: bottle

10-21-2012 19:32:10 | More by ThisWangsChung

SolipsismalCat

Pennsylvania

3.7/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured into a pint glass.

A: Clear golden yellow with three-finger, white head that lasted several minutes and left a nice film. Nice lacing. Not the color I was expecting though.

S: Hops and fruit.

T: Light sweetness and light to moderate bitterness. Mild flavor really. Hops again, which is not what I was expecting.

M: Medium bodied with lively carbonation.

O: Different than what I was expecting, which put me off at first, but this is actually a pretty good beer.

Serving type: bottle

10-20-2012 23:01:37 | More by SolipsismalCat

deadonhisfeet

Kentucky

3.68/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a green bottle (shame, shame) into a traditional stein. The pour is light in color and crystal-clear with a mammoth white frothy head. Excellent retention. Nose is sweet and toasty malt, but quite faint.

Nice medium body, firm mouthfeel, and clean malt flavor. Sweet and bready flavors up front are punctuated by more than enough peppery hop notes to aid the drinkability and enhance the flavor. The beer goes down shockingly fast.

I'm going to have to buy more of this stuff. It's a nice, easy-drinking fest beer that has no objectionable qualities whatsoever. I would like a darker, amber color and stronger malt flavor, but this is still very nice.

Serving type: bottle

10-18-2012 22:47:13 | More by deadonhisfeet

Kiwano

New York

3.98/5  rDev +8.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - straw yellow with light lacing

S - slight honey smell

T - nice malt with honey overtones but not too sweet then slight bitterness at the end

M - lively carbonation

O - nice sweet with malt and bitter at the end balance - Overall nice.

Poured from bottle to glass.

Serving type: bottle

10-17-2012 02:35:49 | More by Kiwano

happy4hoppybeer

Pennsylvania

2.93/5  rDev -19.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 3

Surprisingly light color for a Marzen/Oktoberfest, deep golden yellow, with a beautiful thick head that is very nice to look at. The head is about a finger thick, with luscious deep lacing to the glass. The light color is the only thing holding back the appearance.

Faint nose of malt, sweetness,light hops, maybe some nuts. Very light aromas here. But pleasing all the while.

Clean, crisp taste of same with very thin body. Finishes watery.

Not a great Marzen/Oktoberfest, I have definitely had much better, and this one is overpriced as well. But nonetheless enjoyable, and good to have a lot of, overall.

Serving type: bottle

10-14-2012 17:42:25 | More by happy4hoppybeer

vkv822

Oregon

3.55/5  rDev -3%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

12oz : tulip

Clear golden yellow with a foamy white head.

Grassy hops, with cracker, pale malt backing.

Grassy hops again, lightly sweet, bready malts.

Medium body, prickly, active carbonation. Crisp.

Hard to rate this one, as it is not what I usually find in a Marzen, but still a well brewed, enjoyable lager.

Serving type: bottle

10-12-2012 08:03:10 | More by vkv822

micromaniac129

Pennsylvania

4.13/5  rDev +12.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A beauty to gaze upon.
I was surprised to see this beer so light as compared to other Festbiers. This beer pours with a deeper golden color. An almost massive head sits on top, tall at the very least, with a bright white color and quite dense. The beer's brilliant clarity makes see the gentile carbonation quite easy.

Another surprise was an abundance of hops. Totally unexpected by me.
Malts have a sweet doughy aroma with only hints of caramel while hops have a spicy and floral bouquet.

Taste is quite good with the malts being crisp, clean, bold and only hints of bready dough and sweet malts. Spicy hops come through from saaz no doubt as well as floral from hallertau. This beer is easy drinking and flows quite nicely. Farily clean aftertaste with only a hint of hoppy bitterness.

A good beer in my opinion but I think it is a little out of style. I think it is more of a pils, a full body pils.
But, what ever. It won't stop me from drinking more thats for sure.

Serving type: bottle

10-06-2012 11:46:01 | More by micromaniac129

Dools9

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured into a shaker pint.

A: Clear, golden straw color. Nice, bright white, creamy two finger head holds on for a while, pretty good laceing. Looks nothing like what I would expect from a traditional marzen, but nonetheless good.

S: Lagery, bready malt, lots of straw and cereal. A good dose of toasty biscuit and hay.

T: Plenty of biscuity, bready barley malt, lager yeast kick on the end. Some vague apple and pear fruitiness. Not much in the way of hops but there is a lingering floral hop flavor, pretty clean all around.

M: Lighter bodied, and a bit creamy.

O: Not too bad, maybe not your more traditional German style Oktoberfest but it stays relatively clean and doesn't go overboard with the sugary malt sweetness.

Serving type: bottle

10-05-2012 18:46:38 | More by Dools9

JohnnyJam

Arizona

3.38/5  rDev -7.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Poured from a 12 oz bottle with a coded date on the bottle

A: Poured into a pint glass and got a on finger white head that dissipated quickly. It is a golden color. Noted some lacing but doesn't stick.

S: A pleasant light bread and yeast smell that is backed up with light herbal and hay.

T: Taste follows smell. Starts only a little sweet and ends with nice hoppiness that is stronger than Pisner beer. I like this over overly-sweet Marzen Oktoberfest beers.

M: Dry finish. Lighly carbonated.

O: Doesn't really go down well. It starts off fine but is dissapointing overall.

Serving type: bottle

10-04-2012 18:30:59 | More by JohnnyJam

doktorhops

Australia

4.1/5  rDev +12%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

The time of the year where you drag out your lederhosen, 1 liter masskrug and slap your knee in time to bad Bavarian folk music is indeed upon us: Oktoberfest! And in the spirit of said fest I will be drinking litres of the finest German brews beginning with my old favourite: Weihenstephaner. Coincidentally the oldest established brewer still in production (seit 1040 AD), Weihenstephaner Weissbier's have the combination of banana/clove characters that make wheat beer a fascinating taste diversion from other varieties.

Poured from a 500ml bottle into a 500ml stein.

A: Pours a clear golden body, typical of a Marzen, with a 1cm cappuccino white head.

S: Front of the nose is bread-like yeast, wheat grains and sweet malt base. There is little to no hop presence (also a Marzen characteristic). Expecting a heavy-bodied, yeast and grain based flavour with a long dry finish. One last thing noted - this Marzen smells very clean and fresh, almost like it was racked a month ago (when in actual fact it was March, which is where the name of the style is derived).

T: Sweet upfront... quite sweet actually. With a full bread and grain body thanks to the yeast and wheat, finishing with a touch of bitterness and that expected long dry taste. There's something very cake-like about this brew; the sugar flavour, the heavy use of yeast and the reasonably thick body for what looks like a Lager is what makes the Marzen style interesting - put a glass of this and a glass of Lager next to it and most people would be hard-pressed to tell the difference until they take that first sip.

M: Mid to heavy body and light but dense carbonation gives this brew a heady feel to it. Then you take a measured gulp and find that it's also quite slick too.

D: Quite a good beer, not Weihenstephaner's best (still think their Hefe is the best), but it definitely works better than other Marzen's I've tried, and I definitely want another (but dammit I only bought one!). Wait until Oktoberfest has long gone and you can usually get left over Marzen's real cheap at the local bottle shop's (trying to sell off the out of date stock), case in point: I now have 5 Paulaner masskrugs (starting to run out of room for the bloody things!).

Food match: Again "Deutsches bier geht mit Deutsche küche", but aside from the norm I can see this brew complementing dainty desserts, such as; praline pear Danish, Dutch Moorkoppen, petit four, and pain au chocolat would all go well (although it could appear odd having a masskrug of Marzen along with a tiny dessert).

Serving type: bottle

10-01-2012 09:28:20 | More by doktorhops

socon67

New York

3.6/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A - Light amber colored pour. White foam that settles quickly. Some lacing is noted. Small bubbles of carbonation.

S - Scent of light malts. This really smells like a lighter marzen. Subtle scent of caramel and dark wheat.

T - Flavor is very light compared to the marzen styles I have domestically. Not sure if this is more traditional, but the malt, caramel, and grain flavors were nice but a bit weak.

M - Again, this had a thin feel and light body. I was a little surprised. Thought this would be a hearty marzen.

O - Not my favorite of the style, which was a slight bummer because this is a brewery I tend to like. Oh well.

Serving type: bottle

09-29-2012 21:37:37 | More by socon67

BamaBeerBuff

North Carolina

3.5/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Basically, this is a lighter marzen lager. It reminds me a lot of Paulaner's Oktoberfest Wiesn, which is a lighter and more drinkable beer than a standard marzen.

The color is golden-yellow and the head is rather large and frothy.

The aroma is quite light and mainly consists of sweet grains and earthy/herbal hops.

Flavor-wise, it's got a tinge of earthiness from the Munich malt, but mainly has a sweeter malt flavor. Hops come in to bitter midway through, but the sweetness comes back through on the finish. A very clean flavor. Not too complicated, but still enjoyable.

It's medium to light in body and extremely drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

09-26-2012 22:22:52 | More by BamaBeerBuff

jak3676

Virginia

4.38/5  rDev +19.7%
look: 3 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Weihenstephaner - Oktoberfestbier

Brewed and bottled in Freising, Germany. One of my annual favorites, and as soon as I pop'd the top I knew why. They seem to hit the smell & flavor just right. It's a little bit bitter, a little bit malty with a hint of some sort of spice that I just can't place.

I drank the first one straight from the bottle and completely failed to notice the color. Pouring the next few into my stein really surprised me - it's a blonde. There's no hint of amber, red or brown here at all - just straight yellow. It actually seems like the color is lying, this beer is packing in the flavor, but it's only 1/4 a shade darker that Bud Lite.

5.8% ABV printed on the bottle and "4202" is stamped on the bottom of the label - probably some way to cross reference to a bottling date, but nothing obvious.

Serving type: bottle

09-20-2012 20:08:12 | More by jak3676

IronLover

Pennsylvania

3.55/5  rDev -3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Straw yellow in color with good clarity. Poured with a billowy white foam that slowly reduced to a wispy cap that left random sticky lacings on the glass. Toasted and biscuit malty aromas with hints of earthy grass and hay. Medium bodied with crisp tangy carbonation and a dry finish. Sweet biscuit flavors up front followed by earthy grain and a spicy, tangy, bitter hop bite. Finishes dryly with an herbal, lemony bitter aftertaste. This tastes more like a pilsner than a marzen to me. It was good. But wasn’t the toasted, sweet malty oktoberfest that I was expecting.

Serving type: bottle

09-20-2012 02:59:27 | More by IronLover

rangerred

Tennessee

3/5  rDev -18%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

11.2 oz bottle into a pint glass.

Pours a slightly hazy pale yellow with a big, white, billowy head. Great head retention and lacing.

Aroma has a metallic note to it along with some biscuit, hay, and wet grass.

Flavor is sweet right off the bat along with the same metallic note that was present in the aroma. Some grain and light caramel and a little bit of grass hop flavor. There is a little bit of lemony tartness but the beer is sweet overall. Really a little too sweet.

This Oktoberfest really tastes like an overly sweet pilsner. The toffee and caramel normally present in this style isn't really here and the sweetness limits drinkability; at least in my case. Not a beer I will seek out again.

Serving type: bottle

09-15-2012 19:14:32 | More by rangerred

mscudder

Georgia

3.8/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I saw this and bought a sixer without thinking twice. This brewery is on another tier given five or so brews I have consumed. Onto the review, poured in a pint.

A - Golden orange with a fair sized head (had to poor it with some intent). Head is frothy and leaves some lacing behind.

S - Biscuits dominate the nose with some floral notes and citrus.

T - The style is a new one to me. Hops that are far from abundant, although atop the light malts it makes itself known at the beginning. The beer is full of some nice citrus and contained sweetness. When I take the time to appreciate each sip this is a fantastic little experience. I do wish it did not take so much effort to extract everything going on inside.

M - Nice and light with pretty low carbonation. I believe most would like to see the carbonation upped a few notches, although I like it this way. Instead the lack of carbonation turns this into a bit slicker brew, enhancing drinkability.

O - While nothing near the paramount status of the Vitus, Hefe, Dunkel Hefe ad Korbinian, this is a solid brew. For a light lager this is damn good.

Serving type: bottle

09-15-2012 04:30:58 | More by mscudder