Ayinger Oktober Fest-Märzen - Privatbrauerei Franz Inselkammer KG / Brauerei Aying

elmocoso

Nebraska

1.5/5  rDev -62.1%
look: 3 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

I dont know about this, all i could taste was skunk. I suppose it is all a result of handling. It seemed low body, low mouthfeel. I suppose if i found a fresher example, i might be forced to change my review.

el_mocoso

Serving type: bottle

12-12-2002 20:03:28 | More by elmocoso

BeerBob

Nebraska

1.68/5  rDev -57.6%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 1

Ayinger Oktober Fest-Marzen pours a turbid orange from a 500ml brown bottle. Head goes to over two fingers with fine foamy bubbles then laces the side of the glass.

Nose is a distinctive malt with a yeasty note and some vegies. Palate is a sweet barley malt with a tart note and sour vegies while a subdued hops plays in the background.

A first time encounter with a tart note and vegies with any Oktoberfest leads me to believe that this bottle is past its prime. This bottle is undrinkable, and has been dumped.

Serving type: bottle

10-21-2002 23:02:09 | More by BeerBob

BobLuvBeer

Illinois

2.23/5  rDev -43.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Served 17oz brown bottle.
Color pours to a golden hew, with a nice thick lasting head. The color immediatly has me wondering what is wrong here. Is this a pilsner or an O'Fest???
Caramel is hidden in the aroma. Not hidden though by somethign special. Just "there" but not really.
Watery to the taste, with a burnt, acidic finish.
Very disappointing overall and not fit for the style.

Serving type: bottle

03-13-2005 17:22:19 | More by BobLuvBeer

grindcore666

California

2.23/5  rDev -43.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Golden amber body. Soft, bubbly, antique white head.
Aroma is wheat, banana, butter, and citrus. (Pineapple-banana juice?) But why, oh why do I smell aged urine when I bring this up for a sip?
Tastes like rusty copper with some wheat sensations.
Mouthfeel a bit carbonated but my real trouble with it is the rustiness.

Unimpressed. Probably won't drink again.

Serving type: bottle

10-26-2005 02:41:40 | More by grindcore666

theo692

California

2.25/5  rDev -43.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Served fairly cold (40 degrees), and I hoped it would improve. Poured from 500ml bottle purchased at BevMo in Mountain View, CA. Head looked good and hearty, but color was a bit flat. Head faded quickly, and I'm thinking it might be a bad bottle. Plenty of bubbles, but tasted flat and unexciting, even a little syrupy. I had expected that this would top GB's Marzen, but it's not even close.

Wound up drinking half a glass and sadly poured out the rest. Purchased two bottles, though, and will update this review if the other turns out better.

Serving type: bottle

12-30-2006 02:43:52 | More by theo692

Schwarzwald

Tennessee

2.3/5  rDev -41.9%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

I was really looking forward to the release of this seasonal Oktoberfest beer. Here I sit... a little nauseated and a little disheartened. I do not like this beer. The sweetness overwhelms the good German Marzen flavor. Ouch, with food, even worse. I search and search for a good Marzen and have issues getting anything good except in Deutschland. In Germany the flavor seems more robust with depth... which all seems missing here. I love the other offerings of Ayinger, but this is not what I want. The bottle and the cap is beautiful... try again with the brew. I will pawn the other bottle I bought off on my buddy... he will think... what a great guy... gave me his last beer... little does he know. He will lie and tell me how great it is... I will know the truth.

Has a lot of frut, plum and sweetness, just really lacks any depth or richness I expect from a Marzen. Finish was okay.

Sorry Ayinger... you can do A LOT better!

Serving type: bottle

08-29-2010 01:17:53 | More by Schwarzwald

guinnessfan

Pennsylvania

2.4/5  rDev -39.4%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

500 mL bottle poured into Das Festhaus pint

A: Cloudy, amber/copper color with a large 2" head, large bubbles and a lot of carbonation. Good lacing from the off-white head.

S: Heavy metal. The metallic smell is overpowering any other smell.

T: Metal again. Is this beer not fresh ? I never had it before.

M: High carbonation, with medium mouthfeel.

D: Maybe if it tasted better it would have better drinkability

Assuming from the good reviews, I may have gotten a bad beer. I was excited about it, but let down immensely. I will try to give it another chance.

Serving type: bottle

10-18-2006 12:34:58 | More by guinnessfan

JDV

Texas

2.42/5  rDev -38.9%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Cloudy amber pour with an offwhite head. Smell of honey, malt, and yeast, with a creamy taste. mouthfeel is bubbly, and somehow almost a gritty aftertaste feel. Something distinct about the taste that I can't place. Not bad, but not great. Somewhat of a sweet yeasty taste.

Serving type: bottle

01-31-2008 21:45:08 | More by JDV

PorterLambic

Florida

2.48/5  rDev -37.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Pours a clear golden color with a white, middling head that left some lace.
Smell is hoppy, fruity (lemon), and malt.
Taste is quite a bit hoppier than expected with little else to show. In fact, taste was closer to an IPA than a marzen. No complexity to speak of either.
Mouthfeel is medium-bodied but not too bitter.
Drinkability: nothing special. For the style, seems to have missed the target. Not a bad beer, just a mis-labeled one. I've enjoyed several other beers from this brewer, sadly, this wasn't one of them.

Serving type: bottle

02-07-2005 21:52:12 | More by PorterLambic

emsroth

New York

2.48/5  rDev -37.4%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

500ml German Style Bottle - gotta Love 'em!

App: A luscious strawberry blond color: strong amber with hints of red in the light. 4/5

Smell: Standard euro lager aroma with a light presence of grain and mineral hops. 2/5

Taste: Clean grainy malt with subtle bit firm caramel profile that shows itself in the munich malt mouthfeel. Slightly minty hops add a balancing bitterness that unfortunately fades as it warms. Ends with a fleeting herbal hop flavor.

Mouthfeel: Almost feels like the caramel flavor and color is added through sugar. Cloying stickiness throughout.

The Germans make this type of beer to appeal to the American market. I've found German amber fest beers to be lacking. They truly shine with their blond fest biers (see Hofbrau and Traunstein)

Serving type: bottle

09-05-2012 23:41:14 | More by emsroth

Tupperwolf

Washington

2.5/5  rDev -36.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Pours a clear, extremely amber color into my lager glass, capped with a light tan cookie of head. It leaves behind thick lacing, thanks to the beer-clean glass, and the amber body is full of very energetic, quickly rising bubbles.

Extremely doughy scent - very, very nutty, almost harsh in its quality - somewhat sour. I'm trying to think of the best way to describe the scent, because it's familiar, and not one I'm used to smelling in beer. Ginger, perhaps? Spicy...

Um... About the flavor... well, it's good in that it's commited. It isn't weak, and it isn't wishy-washy. It's very strong. Unfortunately, it's unpleasant to my palate. The first thought that I had was - extremely strangely enough - that this tastes like the breading on fried chicken.

Goud mouthfeel, about right on carbonation, mabye a little light for the style.

I've had a lot better Marzens than this. It smells and tastes weird to me.

Serving type: bottle

03-14-2006 02:16:32 | More by Tupperwolf

kimcgolf

Georgia

2.65/5  rDev -33.1%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

In fairness, I will have to try this one agiain this fall. I drank this Oktoberfest beer in May, and it possibly just outlived its life. As for this one, it had a nice copper color, but a thin, white head and no lacing and little aroma. Taste was slightly hoppy, but mostly watery. At mid glass, hints of malt were trying to enter, but were mostly overcome by stale taste. Metallic finish left me not impressed at all with this. Again, given the high ratings by others, I’ll try a fresh one this fall...as fresh as I can get in Atlanta, GA.

Serving type: bottle

07-09-2006 01:32:48 | More by kimcgolf

ThickNStout

Georgia

2.68/5  rDev -32.3%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

500mL from Sherlocks (Marietta, GA). 3.29. Served in a Wild Heaven snifter.

Pours briliant orange gold with two and a half fingers of pillowy white head. Mild lacing.

Subdued nose with wheatbread and mild spice.

Flavors of sweet malts, bread, slight raisin, and bitter lemon.

Light bodied with moderately high carbonation.

Not great. Perhaps there is something here for others but I poured most of mine & won't be buying anymore.

Serving type: bottle

10-07-2012 22:45:10 | More by ThickNStout

SchlaflyFan

Missouri

2.7/5  rDev -31.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Poured into a glass from a 500ml bottle. Great amber color, fairly clear, with a big head on it. Dry fruity taste, with a fleeting (metallic?) aftertaste at first. Fairly clean drinking, mouthfeel is crisp and light. Not my favorite Oktoberfest by a long shot but its not bad, well other than that aftertaste. I think I must have had a bad bottle, or an old bottle.

Serving type: bottle

10-15-2008 01:28:16 | More by SchlaflyFan

mjc410

Virginia

2.73/5  rDev -31.1%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 1

Reviewed on paper because the internet was down.

The beer had a two-finger light tan head that hardly moved. The body was was a hazy golden-amber, with huge bubbles of carbonation. The nose was filled with a strong fruity, honey, bread aroma, which was a little sharp. The taste had a very roasted (for an O-Fest), thick flavor, like heavy bread, with light dosing of citrus. The mouth was fairly thick, too much so, with soft carbonation, despite the appearance. This beer made me grimace - I may have had a bad bottle, so I'll try to check again.

Serving type: bottle

12-16-2006 03:36:17 | More by mjc410

DIM

Pennsylvania

2.8/5  rDev -29.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

a: This was a clear, golden kind of apricot color. It poured with a large, sticky cap.

s: Sweet bread with some mild fruit and a not so well integrated, rough aspirin note. Maybe this is from last year? No date anywhere on the bottle so it is possible.

m: Yeah I think this might be an old bottle. No date so it gets a review anyway. This is too sweet up front and it lacks the toasty, nutty, vaguely fruity qualities I expected. The finish was a rough, kind of stale tasting bitterness.

m: Long lasting carbonation, but also a lingering "off" flavor.

o: Based on other reviews, I'd say I didn't get a fresh bottle. Thanks for thinking of me Lub, but this is why I don't buy freshness critical beer from brewers who don't date their products.

Serving type: bottle

09-19-2011 19:55:41 | More by DIM

RonfromJersey

New Jersey

2.83/5  rDev -28.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 2.5

Hazy orange body, topped with a great rocky slighty-off-white head. Aroma is extremely sweet, with an almost orange tang to it. In taste, some hop bite to offer a slight balance to the malt sweetness, but it is far too cloying. There seems to be a lack of depth to the malt, too one-dimensional. Some yeast sediment, but no indication whether it is bottle conditioned or just loosely filtered. Disappointing, considering the brewery.

Serving type: bottle

09-06-2002 19:17:54 | More by RonfromJersey

ChainGangGuy

Georgia

2.83/5  rDev -28.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

Appearance: Served in an Ayinger glass, this beer pours a deep golden body with a frothy, off-white head. Very active bubbles.

Smell: Light bready, toffee-scented aroma. Maybe some apples, too.

Taste: Whoa, well, the malts are fairly played down flavor-wise. What remains is a restrained doughy flavor with a floral hoppiness. Noticeably more musty than other Oktoberfests.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Low carbonation - nearly flat. Slight alcohol warming comes through in the finish.

Drinkability: Not nearly as moving or stirring as some other Oktoberfests available.

Serving type: bottle

03-16-2007 03:12:22 | More by ChainGangGuy

FishGetter

Massachusetts

2.85/5  rDev -28%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Picked this one up after returning bottles. Almost like free Beer!

Pours golden amber color, semi-clear, with tall bubbly head. Good head retention.

Sweet, hoppy aroma with trace of citrus.

Caramel malt dominates first taste followed by mild hop, citrus tone. Alcohol warms at finish.

Serving type: bottle

09-08-2008 21:13:32 | More by FishGetter

ElGordo

Oregon

2.88/5  rDev -27.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Pours a golden-orange color topped by a small, stark-white head that lingers for a while. Aroma of toasted caramel malt, lightly fruity hops, and more than a little sourness and diacetyl. Palate seems a bit off - lightly sweet malt is overshadowed by more sourness before the swallow, but finishes with a nice and mellow maltiness that somewhat redeems it. Body is nicely smooth, great for a marzen. If not for the sourness (perhaps I got a bad batch), this would be an excellent marzen.

Serving type: bottle

09-20-2006 04:45:24 | More by ElGordo

livingregret

Washington

2.9/5  rDev -26.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Serving Type: 1pt .9fl oz bottle

Appearance: Pours a "dirty"(read red) orange that starts w/ a lovely 1 finger head and quickly becomes a little round circle on top of my beer.

Smell: Caramel and alcohol(mild) hit the nose first followed by a bit of grains. Sweet to the nose.

Taste/Mouthfeel: Hmmm....not as sweet as I was expecting. A bread like malt really dominates the taste and ends w/ a touch of hop bitterness at the end. I barely taste any of the caramel that hits the nose. Don't really feel the alcohol in this beer. Very crisp though and goes down quite well.

Drinkability: Not what I was expecting(because of the smell) but still a good enough Oktoberfest beer.

Oddly enough a lot of people reviewed the beer as being sweet in taste and I'm getting more of the bready Maltyness and no real sweetness. Take it for it's worth I guess

Serving type: bottle

09-23-2007 23:51:50 | More by livingregret

KajII

North Carolina

2.9/5  rDev -26.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

[Best served in a Lager glass]

The pour was a light clear amber with a huge (3-4 finger) white foamy head that had good retention and fairly good lacing.

The aroma was very light and mild of a toasted biscuit malt, a mild floral hop and a light doughy yeast with a hint of caramel.

The taste had an extremely light sweet malty presence from the start and finished about the same with a nice note of caramel at the end. The flavor was left hanging around for a nice long while after the swallow.

Mouthfeel was surprisingly light in body and watery in texture with a fizzy carbonation.

Overall an Oktoberfest that is super light in body and flavor. Although a tasty brew it could have used a little more of both.

Serving type: bottle

11-06-2011 16:06:00 | More by KajII

PatandDavid

Massachusetts

2.95/5  rDev -25.5%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Woo-hoo shared a bottle with David this evening. Pour was the best part, all coppery and topped with a craggy thick cream colored head full of peaks and valleys. Then we took some whiffs, and unfortunately there were some metallic notes that lead to: pennies from heaven, and then of course pfennige vom himmel hoch. We got past the silliness and dove in. Somewhat sweet, tries to finish with some bitterness, but the pennies came back at the end. Sweeter than I would have liked actually that was broken up by the carbonation. Not bad, just not great.

Serving type: bottle

11-12-2004 00:45:47 | More by PatandDavid

ifnkovhg

California

2.95/5  rDev -25.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2

I wasn't crazy about this beer. It has a nice amber appearance, decent lacing. But the smell and taste were too sweet for me: there's an overwhelming caramel character that is just too much for me. Not bad, but this is definitely a sipping beer. Reminds me of one of those mochiato type drinks you get at Starbucks.

Serving type: bottle

08-07-2009 06:04:08 | More by ifnkovhg

BeerSox

Virginia

2.98/5  rDev -24.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

17oz (500mL) bottle into a mug. Brewed in accordance with the Reinheitsgebot of 1516. 5.6% alcohol.

Crystal clear light amber color with a thin barely off-white head. Settles to a thin cap.

Sweet scents honey like scents above a slightly malty base.

Thin watery body with light sweet flavors from the malts. Not much of a hop presence, nor alcohol. Light carbonation. Almost has an artifical flavor. Extremely clean finish, almost no lingering flavor. The honey flavors slowly emerge as the beer warms.

I wasn't too impressed with thing one, especially since I usually find quality from Ayinger. It just seemed too watery and flavorless, although it did have the sweet taste of a typical Oktoberfest beer.

Serving type: bottle

10-12-2006 02:52:49 | More by BeerSox