Festbier - Victory Brewing Company

StoutHunter

Michigan

3.03/5  rDev -18.8%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

I picked up a bottle of Victory's Festbier last week for $1,89 at The Lager Mill. I know it's a little late for Oktoberfest beers, but I just now so this beer on the shelf and I'm going to take a chance on it, so lets see how it goes. No visible bottling date. Poured from a brown 12oz bottle into an imperial pint glass.

A- The label on this beer is pretty simple, but I like it and I think it's well done. It poured a hazy amber color that took on a nice caramel color when held to the light with a finger and a half of slightly off white head that quickly died down to a thin ring that faded to nothing and it didn't leave any lacing. This beer didn't look that great, the color was good, but the head and lacing were disappointing.

S- The aroma starts off with a high amount of sweetness that's followed by the malts that impart some caramel, brown bread, grains, and a biscuit like aroma. After that comes a slight nutty aroma followed by some yeasty spices. The aroma was pretty average, it could have been cleaner for the style.

T- The taste seemed to be fairly similar to the aroma and it started off with a higher amount of medium sweetness and lots of malts which imparted a grainy, brown bread, caramel, and biscuit like flavor. After that came a slight nutty flavor and an even lighter amount of spicy yeast. On the finish there was basically no bitterness and it had a very malty and slightly sweet aftertaste, This was a pretty average tasting Marzen, there was nothing to set this beer apart from all the other Marzen's.

M- Pretty smooth, crisp, on the lighter side of being medium bodied with a higher amount of medium carbonation that was a little prickly. The mouthfeel was a little above average for the style but the pricklyness held it back a little.

All in all I thought this beer was just ok and I thought it was a pretty average example of the style, I didn't pick up any hops, just lots of malts that seemed a little too dull for the style. This beer had ok drinkability, it was smooth, but the flavors didn't hold my attention, I could drink a couple of these but I would rather have something with a little more flavor. What I liked the most about this beer was the mouthfeel, it was the truest to style and it worked well with this beer. What I liked the least about this beer was how boring this beer was, a little hops would have helped this beer out and impart a little bit of complexity. I don't think I would buy this again, there's many other Marzen's that I would much rather have and would buy instead, it's worth trying if you really like the style, but I don't think it will make the top of anybody's list of great Marzen's. All in all this beer was pretty middle of the road and not that memorable. I have yet to be really impressed by Victory, most of their beers seem to be pretty average, better luck next time guys.

Serving type: bottle

12-19-2012 04:40:38 | More by StoutHunter

Thrasher

Oregon

3/5  rDev -19.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Clear amber with full head that completely vanished. Aroma mostly of caramel malts. Victory has put forth a big sturdy malt base for this beer... and leaves it at that. No appetizing hop dryness, no traditional spiciness. Just a sweet syrup of a beer, hints of butter but cloying. Well-made but ho-hum, esp. for Victory. Drinkability low for a Fest, since the hops do not pull their weight in creating a dry tasty finish or spiciness. Not bad by any means, in fact those who don't warm to O'Fests might actually enjoy this especially if they roam around the dopplebock end of the spectrum. May also be good for cooking.

Serving type: bottle

11-05-2002 19:52:11 | More by Thrasher

Scoats

Pennsylvania

3/5  rDev -19.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Unlike several American takes on o-fests, like Flying Fish and Brooklyn, which have a great hoppy finish, this beer beer seems to be very true to what I recall of real German o-fests. Very malty, somewhat sweet and not very hoppy. The result is a beer that is very well made, very true to the style, but to my tastes not very satisfying. Not by any means dumbed down, but not smarted up either.

Heaven knows Victory has more than enough great beers to keep us beer geeks more than happy.This one though is probably made to keep their less adventurous brewpub patrons content.

Serving type: bottle

11-14-2002 06:19:10 | More by Scoats

maxpower

Missouri

3/5  rDev -19.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Clear orange-copper color, nice white foamy head. Has a light flowery and malty caremel aromas, sweet, balanced malts and clean tasting, light body, a little thin semi-watery mouthfeel, this is a decent oktoberfest, but nothing special, there are alot of other better ones out there.

Serving type: bottle

01-12-2003 14:05:11 | More by maxpower

JasonA

Massachusetts

3/5  rDev -19.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

average ... thats what I got from this beer.

Pours a dark copper with little to no head. Almost a translucent carmel.

I dont get much from the smell. Some sweetness and a little spice. Not much there.

A little biting, may be due to the alcohol content. Tastes like the smell. Not a whole lot there. Wish there was more to talk about. Some sweet, no real hops. Little malty with some spice finish.

Average. Carbonation and bite may be a little more than desirable.

Overall I would rather move forward from this beer than drink it again. Not bad, simply not something worth coming back to.

Serving type: bottle

03-03-2007 21:23:26 | More by JasonA

LumpyGuitar

New York

3/5  rDev -19.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 2.5

Picked this up on a whim, I'm a sucker for seasonals.

Poured a crisp amber with an orangey hue. Thin white head and no lacing.

Smell is faintly earthy, with a faint waft of hop and yeast.

Taste is pretty average fare for the style, bittersweet with a mild hop presence, yeast is sharper than I'd like.

Mouthfeel is again average. Fairly light with a decent amount of carbonation.

Drinkability here is lower for me. I can tell from others in the style what I think this should be - clean, crisp, with a light hop feel and a nice and easy mouthfeel and drinkability. I can't say that this doesn't match that profile, but what I can say is that it doesn't do it very well, at least the way I like it. Theres better out there but this is a good try.

Serving type: bottle

09-05-2008 02:52:35 | More by LumpyGuitar

magictrokini

California

3/5  rDev -19.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pours clear amber with a short head. Pleasant lager aroma; sweet caramel, straw, and corn. Taste is watery and flat for the style. Bread dough, metal, graham cracker, and corn. Wanted more and didn't get it. I am convicnced that marzens and me just do not go together.

Serving type: bottle

12-16-2008 19:23:16 | More by magictrokini

rootbeerman

Virginia

3/5  rDev -19.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A: poured into my duvel tulip, with a nice clear amber/copper body, with a thin finger of off white head that fell semi-quickly with not much lace.
S: not a powerful nose, very light grainy, nutty and bready
T: grain and nut comes through from the aroma, a bit dry cooked grain and a very light grassy hop.
M: the grain makes it seem a bit rough. carbonation fits the style.
D: mostly fits with the style but is not my favorite due to the cooked grain flavor.

Serving type: bottle

10-02-2010 23:55:35 | More by rootbeerman

TheDudeRules

Minnesota

3/5  rDev -19.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Poured into my Surly pint.

Pours an amber red with a full finger and a half of off white foam. Dissipates rather quickly. Lots of caramel malt in the nose. Biscuit too. Rather ho hum malty flavor. I wish I could be more positive or negative. This beer is rather average at best.

Serving type: bottle

08-17-2011 01:03:23 | More by TheDudeRules

BeerSox

Virginia

2.98/5  rDev -20.1%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

12oz bottle into nonic.

The only head on this beer was a really thin off white one that vanished to nothing. No lacing to speak of.

The aroma is more along the lines of what I expected. A bit of caramel and some brown sugar. Seems a little bland though.

The plainness is repeated in the flavor. The caramel and candy sugar is there like in the aroma, but it's not very robust. The flavor doesn't last long either. The finish is just a bit of biscuity grains. Lighter bodied with average carbonation. Seems a bit watery.

I was expecting a little better from Victory. This one seemed boring, to sum it up in one word. The flavors were there, they just weren't anything to be excited about. Not recommended.

Serving type: bottle

10-21-2007 00:00:18 | More by BeerSox

AlexanderSelby

North Carolina

2.95/5  rDev -20.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 2

With a delightfully dense amber color, Festbier's appearance is beautiful and on-point for the style. The hops sneak themselves behind the sweet and buttery first wave and barely hit the side of your tongue with slight bitterness, but then the malts come back for the finally. The flavor is too unbalanced for me, weighing heavily on the malty sweet, almost buttered bread, side.

Overall, Festbier is a malty, buttered bread experience that spoils my appetite, especially during a big Octoberfest celebration where you are encouraged to drink a few rounds. I am, however, tasting this offering on the later end of it's life-span, so it is very likely the hop flavor has subsided, thus creating an imbalance.

Serving type: bottle

01-04-2011 19:40:51 | More by AlexanderSelby

SilentSabre

North Dakota

2.93/5  rDev -21.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A pretty average oktoberfest, IMO. Poured up nicely with an orange bronze colour and a foamy sand coloured head. Smell was honestly a little BMC-ish with a bit of sweet malt. Taste, Mouthfeel, and Drinkability are all pretty average. Overall, this wasn't bad, but honestly, I wasn't impressed.

Serving type: bottle

08-29-2007 20:52:40 | More by SilentSabre

IceTrey9785

Virginia

2.9/5  rDev -22.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Part of my Oktoberfest collection -- poured a 12oz bottle into a nice beer stein. I enjoyed this with Brats...

A: If poured blind I would have said this was a Yuengling. Nice orangey-gold color. Pretty good head, but rather stiff and airy. The foam never really went away, but didn't add to the overall presentation. Maybe closer to an Amber lager?

S: Very crisp and malty. I expected this beer to be a little on the sweet side, some yeast and sweet bread notes were overwhelming. Traces of alcohol at the end. Appetizing, not overdone.

T&M: Rather thin and watery. Lacked the bold mouthfeel that I was really expecting. I found it be lacking in flavor -- a lot lighter, and crisper than what I was hoping. Touches of brown sugar dusted cinnamon rolls hit me on the finish (along with a metallic twang). The hops were a little too overbearing -- I got a bone dry sensation after a few minutes. Overall, I just found it to taste rather cheap and watered down, but with huge potential.

Perhaps I just had a bad bottle? I don't know. All I really know is that I wasn't impressed by this brew. I paid $10 for a beer that tasted like a Yuengling (which I could've gotten for half the price). Is it a bad beer -- no, its just a beer that lacks concentration and leaves a mild-mannered impression. Hopefully next year's will be up to par.

Serving type: bottle

06-07-2009 21:43:58 | More by IceTrey9785

crossovert

Wisconsin

2.9/5  rDev -22.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

12 oz bottle.

It pours a reddish orange with a fizzy white head.

The smell is of oxidized fruits and caramel.

The taste is a bit bland, it starts with a mineral water character and moves into a doughy sweetness with a bit of bitterness.

This beer hardly excites me, one of the more forgettable Oktoberfest beers.

Serving type: bottle

09-18-2010 06:00:47 | More by crossovert

GnomeKing

Pennsylvania

2.85/5  rDev -23.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

I'm surprised how thick and heavy this is. The moutfeel is surprisingly creamy, and the beer goes down heavy. This is not what I wanted out of a marzen. The taste is grainy, with a little hops and a little maltiness. There's not much to say. It goes down hard, but the taste isn't complex enough or stron enough to explain why it goes down that way. Eh, Oktoberfest only comes once a year.

Serving type: bottle

09-09-2005 03:42:35 | More by GnomeKing

Beaver13

Colorado

2.85/5  rDev -23.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

12 oz bottle. Pours a clear copper with a fizzy white head that quickly diminishes to a thin film that leaves some lacing.

The aroma is toasted biscuit malts, carmel, and some grassy slightly minty hops.

The flavor is slightly sweet toasted biscuit malts with a dry, slightly bitter (minty), finish. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with smooth carbonation.

Overall, not a bad Oktoberfest. I'm finding I don't much care for the style. I don't like the toasted biscuit flavors.

Serving type: bottle

09-26-2008 01:45:09 | More by Beaver13

TonyVic

New York

2.83/5  rDev -24.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Good pour, copper red with a a good head, although it dissipated quickly. Caramel and malty notes on the nose. The mouthfeel has a medium body. I was not a fan of the taste though as the balance between the malt and hops was out of wack and left a slightly astringent finish.

Serving type: bottle

10-24-2010 22:30:59 | More by TonyVic

ChillMike

Alabama

2.8/5  rDev -24.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Poured into my Oktoberfest Maßkrug

A: Appears as a traditional Marze, a somewhat murky reddish orange color with a decent off-white head that recedes fairly quickly but does leave just enough lace around the glass.

S: Smells of bread, caramels, sweet malts and that's about all I'm getting out of it, just your standard Oktoberfest beer.

T: Fairly heavy on the dough flavor and sort of a bitter hop tint to it as well, and a bit of a floral aftertone. Nothing too special.

MF: Again nothing really stands out about this one. It's not really bad by any means but there really isn't anything great about it either.

D: I'm going to have to go low on this one, when I've got to pay $10 for a sixer when I can grab a hack or paulaner for a few bucks less and know I'm going to enjoy it more.

This came as a big shock and disappointment to me, because all of the other brews I've had from victory has been really tasty and bold, this one just screams mediocrity. Sorry Victory.

Serving type: bottle

10-19-2008 07:11:20 | More by ChillMike

Dithyramb

Maryland

2.75/5  rDev -26.3%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Purchased a sixer from Avalon Liquors. Took the good part of two months to finish during fishing trips (that is a bad impression, by the way. Paulaner, on the other hand was all drank the first non-striper catchin day)
Cloudy amber bad retention and lacing.
Caramelly malt and some unknown chalkiness in the aroma
Caramel and chalky malt. Overall rather limp with the same crappy hop that mister Cleveland0 detected.
The only Victory brew that's been difficult to finish.
Doesn't have the complexity and mouthfeel of the good to great O'fests out there, average all around.

Serving type: bottle

11-30-2005 14:33:17 | More by Dithyramb

DijonKetchup

California

2.75/5  rDev -26.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Very nice amber pour - very appetizing color. Head collapsed within minutes despite a perfectly clean glass. The dissipated foam then took on an unappetizing feel - looks like it actuall has floaties in it.

Taste is OK - I had expected more. Very malty and dry - almost over-hopped. I'm missing a bit of sweetness. I keep pouring, hoping that the head will build - too cold? No lacing, and I give up trying to make this more appealing.

Mouthfeel is good, I suppose average for the style. The aftertaste is rather unpleasant, with a bit of metallic. Where are the aroma hops? Now i know it's overhopped, as my teeth are grinding like an IPA - definately not in accordance to style.

I have heard much from Victory, but I just don't get this one. I do like the style, but this is off. A bit too free-wheeling in the interpretation of Festbier.

Serving type: bottle

02-18-2009 00:59:37 | More by DijonKetchup

ROBORB

North Carolina

2.75/5  rDev -26.3%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Poured into a regular pint glass this beer produced a amber hue with a short lasting 1 finger white head. The aroma smells like like malts and perhaps sugar/something sweet. The carbonation is light but the taste is not great. I felt like this beer really goes outside of the regular Marzen characterization. Unfortunately this is not a repeat for me.

Serving type: bottle

03-24-2009 00:11:44 | More by ROBORB

damienblack

Massachusetts

2.7/5  rDev -27.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours an ordinary copper with a thin, quickly dissipating head. I can't really put my finger on the smell, like a funky malt sweet smell, almost like the smell I get from some of DFH's funkier products (think Midas Touch). Whatever it is, it really doesn't appeal to me.

Medium body, malty and biscuity. Not a whole lot of spiciness or hoppiness here, but the body doesn't stand out all that well. A far thinner body than I recall from my last time tasting, I never thought I'd call a Victory offering "watery", but that's the impression I'm getting. It's pretty clean, but there's not a lot behind it. Feels a little dead, could use some more carbonation. Easily sessionable, but this time around I get so much worse an impression than when I first tried it this year that I wonder if my bottle didn't hold up in the 2 months since purchase.

Serving type: bottle

11-18-2008 06:05:48 | More by damienblack

jimsimply

Georgia

2.7/5  rDev -27.6%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 3

Well past its Enjoy by date, this poured a hazy amber into a pint glass with thin head. Not much aroma at all, a faint yeasty smell is all I can discern.

Taste is not much better. I generally like Victory's beers, but this isn't fantastic. Fairly sweet, but lighter in the mouth than I like, almost watery consistency. Carbonation there, but it doesn't add much.

All in all, not my favorite Oktoberfest by any stretch. I had to force myself to finish it.

Serving type: bottle

01-25-2009 21:08:39 | More by jimsimply

Fish113d

Pennsylvania

2.63/5  rDev -29.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Pours a dark amber color with some copper as well. A thin 1 finger thick of bone white head forms on top but quickly dissipates to a white surface layer on top.

Sour grapefruits hit my nose first along with a bit of brown caramel malt. A slight bit of spice maybe (cinnamon) but nothing too apparent.

Sipping reveals a less sweet flavor than I expected from the style. The caramel maltiness is there along with a mild floral flavor.

More full-bodied than expected. Nice balance but somewhat of a "weird" feel that I can't truly explain from this one. Perhaps this is a "bad batch" or something, but it is nothing like a 'Fest brew that I've had before.

Overall, one is enough for me. Not one of my favorite Fest brews ever by any means. I hate to slam a beer, but this one just misses the mark completely for me.

Serving type: bottle

09-28-2010 00:14:34 | More by Fish113d

John

New York

2.6/5  rDev -30.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

The color and head look promising. After that I'd have to agree with previous reviewers that this is sub-par for Victory. Not as clean as a Marzen should be IMHO. Some diacetyl is detected and I thought while drinking that it might be an ale. Just verified via the Victory site that it's indeed a lager. Not bad, but very unVictory like.

Serving type: on-tap

09-24-2002 10:01:00 | More by John