Samuel Adams Octoberfest - Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams)

elgiacomo

Georgia

2.88/5  rDev -22%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

12oz bottle, fresh 2010 batch.

Pours clear copper amber with a one finger fizzy white head that doesn't leave much lacing but holds a solid ring and light cap.

Aroma is muted caramel and toasted malt, a little nutty and musty.

Flavor is some toasted malt, caramel, fairly sweet, something on the finish I can't quite put my finger on, medicinal is the best I can do, but whatever it is isn't very appealing. Lotta sweetness in the finish too, almost sugary.

Medium body, oily, a bit sticky, fizzy carbonation.

A little too sweet, a little too meh...

Serving type: bottle

09-06-2010 01:14:15 | More by elgiacomo

jmz62565

Connecticut

2.9/5  rDev -21.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2

although I still get excited when i see this on shelves,it's just not as good as it used to be.i like the appearence,but the smell is not what you would find in traditional octoberfests.to me, i find all sam adams alittle too "big brewery" for me,but this octoberfest has a great after taste, very festive and fall like.

Serving type: bottle

09-09-2005 03:52:17 | More by jmz62565

budsboy

Ohio

2.9/5  rDev -21.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 3

Pours clear, mahogany with a thin head that gone as fast as it came.

Subtle carmel malt and fruit scent. Not much to talk about there.

Malty sweet with very little bitterness. A hint of warming from the alcohol, and sweet on the finish. It's gone on the swallow. No aftertaste. None.

Carbonation is fizzy. Light and crispy.

Eh. Not a bad brew, inoffensive, appealing to the masses. It'll do in a pinch. Overall, a bland offering.

Serving type: bottle

09-22-2005 23:56:22 | More by budsboy

magictrokini

California

2.9/5  rDev -21.4%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Ehh. Looks and smells just like the Boston Lager, but with a little more hop sharpness. Taste is sweeter, lots of malt, with a tiny bitter finish. The bitter is more goldings than the sweeter hops in the nose. Unimpressed. I'd rather have a Paulaner Octoberfest if I'm going to have a macro.

Serving type: bottle

12-05-2008 18:33:19 | More by magictrokini

kingcrowing

Vermont

2.9/5  rDev -21.4%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

On tap poured into a plastic pint glass.

Pours a deep orangey color with a small white head that fades quickly. Nose is quite fruity and sweet.

This is way too fruity for an Oktoberfest for me, I like when they've got more of a biscuit flavor to them but this one is all sweet fruit. It's got a decent mouthfeel and it's easy drinking but I think it's too sweet to drink a lot of.

Serving type: on-tap

08-24-2010 13:23:21 | More by kingcrowing

tlazaroff

Virginia

2.9/5  rDev -21.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 5

Drank from Sam Adams glassware.

A: Amber color with orange highlights when the light hits it. Tan foamy head that went from 2-fingers to nothing in no time. Lacing doesn't stick to glass very well.

S: Very clean smell with subtle hints of roastyness. Not very impressive.

T: You can get some roasty notes, but again, it's very subtle and clean. Burnt caramel and not bitter at all.

M: Very watery, moderate carbonation.

D: High drinkability, it goes down very smooth. I'd buy this before any BMC product, it's a little better than those "lunar" series of beers.

Serving type: bottle

09-17-2010 15:18:39 | More by tlazaroff

Joel

Massachusetts

2.9/5  rDev -21.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Strange taste, but drinkable.

I had this last night at a local reastaurant. It was not my first choice or second. My first choice was Mayflower IPA. My waitress regretted to inform us that they were all out of that. I ordered a Harpoon IPA and my wife ordered this on tap. She thought that there was something wrong with her beer, so I switched my superior dry, hoppy Harpoon with her Octoberfest. The Octoberfest did look better with a small head compared to none on the Harpoon and had a rich color.

I told my wife that there was a lightly burnt caramel taste. This kept the malt flavor from being sickly sweet. I also detected some added spices - a slight cinnamon taste mixed with some other spice. This taste reminded me of a winter style beer. However, after reading other reviews, I assume that flavor was from the hops - probably spicy tasting German or German style hops. I'm not a fan of Sam Adams in general or in sweet beers either. However, this beer was more drinkable than many Sam Adams beers which I have found to have a chemical taste.

Serving type: on-tap

10-06-2011 19:09:56 | More by Joel

claspada

New Jersey

2.9/5  rDev -21.4%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Pours a nice caramel/amber color with adequate head and lacing.

Aromas are of some sweet bready malts but not much else. It's a pretty weak-smelling brew and left me wanting more. Maybe a faint hint of earthy hops but I could be making that up as well

The taste is about the same, some mild malt and a little undefined spicing, presumably from the yeast. It is a little sweet and bready in the front with a slighty hopped end

The mouthfeel is medium bodied with medium to high carbonation. It drinks easily enough but the carbonation left me feeling more full than a beer with such little body and flavor warranted.

Overall I am not a big fan of this style but I find this beer to be pleasant enough to have one here an there. I will never purchase this beer but it was offered to me for free so I said why not. Plenty of better examples of the style but you can definitely do worse I suppose.

Serving type: on-tap

10-17-2011 00:38:33 | More by claspada

johnrobe

Tennessee

2.93/5  rDev -20.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

In the glass this beer is a brownish orange with a two finger white head that dissapates quickly. The nose is so slight...almost indetectable...perhaps a slight bit of candy-coated apple. Taste is mainly candy corn malt sweetness, there's really no toasted malt flavor like one finds in a good German marzen. Hops are appropriately in the background. Not a bad beer, but Sam's O-fest has been much richer in the past. Now it's more of a quencher...good with chili.

Serving type: bottle

10-22-2002 17:41:50 | More by johnrobe

zacharius

Washington

2.93/5  rDev -20.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

This beer pours a dark amber color with a thick off white head that lasts through the glass. Aroma is malty and yeasty, reminds me of bread. Taste is malty but a bit on the thin side. Beer has a slight hint of unpleasant sulfur, probably could have used more bulk aging. Hops are there only for bitterness. Drinkability is good as expected for the mildness.

Serving type: bottle

09-19-2004 23:10:44 | More by zacharius

charlatan

United Kingdom (Scotland)

2.93/5  rDev -20.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Bottle has freshness month five months in advance. Orange to bronze colour with a little more than a rim for a head. Smells of that carrot and tomato yet sweet malty smell which confounds people who walk too close to many large breweries. This isn't flat, but rather the bubbles are miniscule pin prick bubbles, so it feels both uncarbonated and super carbonated at the same time. Taste replicates the smell rather too accurately, although if I concentrate I can pull a little brown sugar and a hint of hop in the aftertaste.

I'm not impressed with this, but have found that Sam Adams Octoberfest varies wildly by the year. 2005 doesn't seem a good year, but who knows what 2006 will bring.

Serving type: bottle

09-10-2005 04:35:22 | More by charlatan

ski271

Pennsylvania

2.93/5  rDev -20.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Pours a dark copper with a small, frothy, light tan head that slowly diminishes to a film. Lacing is initially large but does not have the staying power as it slides back down to beer level before your next sip. The smell is malt-dominant and sweet with aromas of caramel, toffee, grass and a light fruitiness. The taste follows suit with the malts taking centre stage. Hrm. It starts out with a nice chewy malt flavor supported by a light herbal bitterness, but it turns a bit thin in the middle. A little honey and savory show up briefly. The slightly bitter finish is below average, with very little appealing flavors lingering. I wasn’t impressed by this one. It’s not bad, but I’ve had several better this year. Doubt I’ll get this one again.

Serving type: bottle

10-17-2005 18:12:25 | More by ski271

beveritt

Ohio

2.93/5  rDev -20.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Picked this up with a couple of the German originals to do a side by side taste test. The only date on the bottle was a notch indicating this beer should be enjoyed by March. Not very helpful. This years Octoberfest beers have been out for a while though, so hopefully this one is this year's model. Poured from a 12oz brown bottle into a standard pint glass.

Appearance: Rich copper in color. Initially a decent head, but that falls quickly to just a skim coat of foam on the beer.

Smell: A little bit of malt with some hints of grassiness.

Taste: Pretty bland overall, not what I was expecting from a Marzen. There is a very low sweetness level, none of the malty, syrupy, sweetness I have found in the German examples of this brew. The hop bitterness is also higher than I have found in other Marezens.

Mouthfeel: Medium level of carbonation.

Drinkability: Overall, not too bad to drink, it just doesn't taste like a Marzen. The sweetness is too low and the hop bitterness is too high. I could drink this, it is not a bad beer, but it doesn't taste like an Octoberfest.

Serving type: bottle

09-23-2006 23:32:11 | More by beveritt

azorie

Florida

2.93/5  rDev -20.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Every year I try this style:
Most of the time every year the American versions leave me wondering why do I try these every year?

A: Served in a shaker pint glass. dark mahogany-tinted orange, with a small off-white head on top. Light lace.

S: Sweet caramel toasted malt, and little to no hops, very sweet.

T: humm not to style, way too sweet. Lots of coffee candy toffee like malt that overpowers my taste buds. Kind of boozy hot after taste. Tap or bottle both suck down to average to me.

M: medium to semi heavy, medium carbonation

D: not very, way to sweet for the style, I will pass on this one.

Serving type: on-tap

10-23-2010 13:41:45 | More by azorie

tbern007

Colorado

2.93/5  rDev -20.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A- clear, amber/orange/red like clean copper penny. Few bubbles of carbonation. Thin head, gone quickly.
S- very light, earth, malt. Too light. Not much there.
T- malty, earthy, initially a bit sweet but ends dry and bitter. Slight hoppiness in the middle.
M- more carbonated than it appears, dry overall, feels fuller at the start than it ends up.
Average all around.

Serving type: bottle

09-21-2011 03:42:34 | More by tbern007

MsRif

Pennsylvania

2.93/5  rDev -20.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Had on-tap at Casey's in Newtown Square, PA

Poured a golden orange color with a thin head and no lacing. Head pretty much dissipated immediately. Had an aroma of grains, sweet malts, yeast and spices. Tastes of grains, sweet malts, bready-ness and spices. A tiny bit of a metallic taste...not sure if maybe the tap line was messed up or if it was the brew.

I found the mouthfeel to be pretty light. Wouldn't say medium. It's a thin beer for the style. It's a good attempt, but not great. High carbonation. Very drinkable due to how thin it is. Not very complex, and while well-balanced...I found it a bit "watery" I guess. I'll have it if I have to choose between Miller Light, Bud Light and this one...otherwise, I'll probably pass.

Serving type: on-tap

10-30-2011 01:21:33 | More by MsRif

budgood1

Minnesota

2.95/5  rDev -20.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

hazy copperish in color, appropriate head and lace. i get more hops in the nose than malt and strangely the taste is almost the same. it just seems something is missing from this fest. too much tingle on the tongue rather than waves of malty goodness. it's sweet but without the welcome toasted malt flavors that should accompany it. brewed for the masses rather than for the o-fest lovers. still, it's an ok brew and it's easy to drink many in a sitting.

Serving type: bottle

10-16-2002 17:00:04 | More by budgood1

shippos

New York

2.95/5  rDev -20.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

clear brillant amber with a thin almost non-existant head. biscuity malt aroma, chewy bready with some butter to go along with the bread. average mouthfeel slightly thin and to much carbonation. decent malt flavors. an ok beer but there are much better oktoberfest to try out there.

Serving type: bottle

09-07-2004 16:39:32 | More by shippos

danielharper

Michigan

2.95/5  rDev -20.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Purchased from Great Spirits, Huntsville, AL.

Pours a deep reddish hue with a nicely-colored dark off-white head on top. The head is thick at first, but dissipates very quickly, often not lasting more than a minute or so. The dark red liquid is completely transparent, with no haze or yeast present.

The smell is decent enough, if somewhat underwhelming. Very malty overall nose, reminding me more of a dopplebock than most of the other Octoberfests I've tried, with hints of apple, licorice, and just a touch of coffee. Unlike other Sam Adams brews, this has virtually no hop presence at all.

The taste here is decent enough, with some hops breaking through on the palate even though they were missing on the nose, and with a sort of fruity backwash that hits the tongue upon swirling the beer around in the mouth. An interesting yeast must have been used, here, because it has an aftertaste that I don't really recognize from anything else, and which I cannot really describe to any realistic degree. Leaves an impression on the back of the tongue.

Mouthfeel is watery, but with carbonation that seems to kick me in the teeth as I drink it. Doesn't really give me anything to hold on to, and I find myself taking large swallows of this beer rather than sipping and savoring it.

Overall drinkability is fairly low, for I really don't like it all that much, and find myself wishing that I had something a little better. Sam Adams can be very hit-or-miss on their beers, and for me this one is a definite miss, even if it's only a slight one. It's decent enough to drink if it's about the only thing available, but I don't think I'm going to buy another sixer of these.

Serving type: bottle

10-16-2005 23:49:31 | More by danielharper

KajII

North Carolina

2.95/5  rDev -20.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.75

[Suggested Glassware: Dimpled Mug]

The pour was a clear reddish orange with a small (less than 1 finger) white fizzy head that dissipated quickly, down to a very small collar which produced only a little bit of lacing.

The aroma was of a bread malt, mild floral hops and a doughy yeast with notes of caramel, a light fruity ester and a bit of spice.

The taste was very malty with a nice caramel sweetness and a slight fruitiness at first, then became lightly bitter and had a light spicy ending. The flavor lasted an average duration following the swallow, with a light spicy malty taste that was left to linger.

Mouthfeel was just under medium in body and somewhat creamy texture with an almost lively carbonation.

Overall this was a decent representation of a German Oktoberfest, although it was nothing overly special it did possess and good taste and great drinkability...

Sampled 9/25/2009
http://www.facebook.com/KAJIIsBeerReviews

Serving type: bottle

03-10-2011 17:12:35 | More by KajII

depechemode1983

Texas

2.95/5  rDev -20.1%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Pours out bronze/copper in color. Head is off-white with average retention. Stays around for awhile. No lacing. Nose is a bit light. Light hops with a metallic twang and some faint grainy malts. Taste is slim too. Distant hops mixed with more pronounced caramel malts this time around. Pretty simple. Not picking up any complexities at all. Mouth feel is good. Pretty smooth with clean carbonation. Not bad at all. This one just didn't do it for me. There are way better Ocotberfest style beers out there.

Serving type: bottle

09-15-2011 21:38:02 | More by depechemode1983

corby112

Pennsylvania

2.95/5  rDev -20.1%
look: 2.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Pours a cloudy dark amber color with bright orange edges and a one finger off white head that quickly settles into a thin ring. Not much in the way of lacing.

The aroma of this beer is really bland with an earthy quality along with some subtle spice but not much sweetness or malt coming through. Hints of floral, grassy pine along with some pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg. Very faint malt sweetness even as it warms.

Fuller bodied and more complex than I expected. The hop presence from the aroma is present up front providing faint dry bitterness which compliments the spice character. Hints of pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove linger over the sweet malt backbone into a slightly dry finish. The malt character is much stronger in the flavor than the aroma suggests with some sweet caramel and rye along with some faint pumpkin, toffee and biscuit. Decently balanced and sessionable but nothing extraordinary.

Serving type: bottle

10-23-2011 05:53:26 | More by corby112

LeeryLeprechaun

Colorado

2.95/5  rDev -20.1%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

The beer is a wonderful clear red color that is unfortunately the highlight of this beer in my opinion. The head is rather shy and does not stick around for much longer than it takes to pour the beer into a glass.

The aroma is almost non-existent although there is a little bit of a toasted caramel aroma.

The beer tastes very clean, no esters from yeast are present. The flavor is of caramel and a slight bit of toast. Overall it leans towards the sweet side and does not clean off your pallet enough to want to take another sip right away.

Overall this beer is okay, not great.

Serving type: bottle

10-25-2011 00:47:38 | More by LeeryLeprechaun

Ruger

Kentucky

2.95/5  rDev -20.1%
look: 2 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A - Pours a dark amber with a white two finger head that fizzles out extremely quick, with no lacing.

S - Malts, grains, and bread; smells like fall.

T - Caramel, malts, and a decent hop balance finishes really crisp and clean.

M - Light/medium bodied with moderate carbonation smooth and refreshing.

Serving type: bottle

11-14-2011 01:55:07 | More by Ruger

PDXHops

South Carolina

2.95/5  rDev -20.1%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

12 ounce bottle poured into an appropriately sized mug. The modest lacing falls a bit short of the handsome deep orange body below. Modestly sweet toffee aromas are complemented by subtle fruity, leafy and nutty notes. There's a tad more depth of flavor than the nose would suggest, although it's not as robust as I'd like. Lingering tangy toffee and mild sweetness are the closest things we have to lasting impressions here. Appropriately mild bitterness with modest leafy hop flavor and carbonation. Notions of bread crust with apple butter. A touch thickish on the palate. Quite easily drinkable, but ultimately forgettable.

Serving type: bottle

09-28-2012 23:04:14 | More by PDXHops