Savannah Fest Beer - Moon River Brewing Company

glid02

Georgia

3.55/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

On-tap at Taco Mac Metropolis.

Pours a clear brownish-amber color with a one-finger off-white head. The head recedes into a wispy layer on top leaving light lacing.

Smells of sweet, lightly toasted malts with a good bit of plain caramel malts backing it up. Also present and more pronounced as the beer warms are hints of leafy hops.

Tastes similar to how it smells. Somewhat bready toasted malt flavors kick things off, backed by sweeter caramel malts. Midway through the sip the flavors turn slightly bitter with the addition of mild leafy hop flavors. The hops carry through to a mildly bitter ending.

Mouthfeel is good. It's got a nice thickness with smooth carbonation.

Drinkability is alright. I finished my glass however I'm not sure I could do another.

Overall I have to say I'm surprised by some of the very negative reviews on here. I hadn't planned on giving my experience much credence considering it was brewed a while back but it tasted too good not to (compared to my expectations, of course). Perhaps the recipe changed? Anyways, a solid beer that's worth a shot if you see it around.

Serving type: on-tap

04-26-2010 04:17:56 | More by glid02

smcolw

Massachusetts

3.48/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

From the menu: "Balance of malt and hops..."

Initial head and lace die to nearly nothing on the glass. Clear liquid; Dark gold color

Dish soap smell from an improperly cleaned glass. Too bad.

Similar to a British Mild. This is a malty offering, but there's enough hop to give it some balance. A rich beer in terms of the body. The finish is mildly astringent--it dies on the tongue quickly.

Serving type: on-tap

01-03-2010 19:29:48 | More by smcolw

Hojaminbag

Colorado

3.08/5  rDev -7.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Light copper colored body with a small white head that doesn't really stick around.

I smell some hop bitterness with some light caramel sweetness.

Up front I get a moderate amount of hops, but not really noble hops, more bitter, grapefruit hops. A very slightly toasted caramel malt comes through and rounds out the beer. The malt profile is weak and the hop profile is a little off.

Mouthfeel is light and crisp, moderate carbonation.

OK drinkability for an OK beer.

Serving type: on-tap

08-12-2009 05:59:29 | More by Hojaminbag

Ragingbull

California

3.33/5  rDev 0%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

This beer had an amber color and had a moderate amount of prickle in the glass. The attack was mild and had some gentle hops flavors that grew a little bit more intense as the beer ran through its presentation and approached the finish. It makes a lot of sense to me that this is a "fest" beer as it strikes as one that would have a broad appeal to mainstream beer drinkers.

Serving type: on-tap

05-05-2009 15:00:50 | More by Ragingbull

ChainGangGuy

Georgia

2.6/5  rDev -21.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Appearance: Clear, very light amber body with an exceedingly thin, white head.

Smell: Sweetish, toasted grain hints with even vaguer hints of fruit.

Taste: Pale malts with a hint of lightly toasted grains and a very faint caramel sweetness. A touch of apple fruitiness. Tempered Noble hop spice character with an altogether mild bitterness. Thin and lightly sweet for the finish.

Mouthfeel: Light-bodied. Medium carbonation.

Drinkability: A rather mediocre, bland approach to such a delightful style of beer.

Serving type: on-tap

02-11-2009 00:57:19 | More by ChainGangGuy

Gavage

New Jersey

3.55/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: clear golden yellow with some light orange colors mixing in. Spotty lace develops during the session.

Smell: malt sweetness is all you can detect.

Taste: thin malt profile with some grass and hints of fruit sweetness. Little bitterness.

Mouthfeel: lightly crisp from start to finish. Very short aftertaste. Lighter side of a mdeium bodied beer.

Drinkability: easy to quaff because it is thinner than other oktoberfests. But this beer doesn't excite you to drink more than one or two.

Serving type: on-tap

08-01-2008 20:26:09 | More by Gavage

slvrmon82

Delaware

3.83/5  rDev +15%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A great stop on my vacation.... from my notes,

It pours a light copper with a nice head that is there for a while. Very clear.

The smell was very earthy and very malty.

The taste was about the same.

Couldn't put my finger on it but it was good.

The mouthfeel was great. It was light with lots of carbonation. I would drink it again but its not my favorite.

Serving type: on-tap

03-21-2008 04:46:12 | More by slvrmon82

Baileyuk

Michigan

3.25/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Drank this in Savannah on River Street. It had a good look although looked a little light for the style. This ended up being true as the taste was also not to style. It was a weaker taste and although initially not unpleasant it was less flavorful than most beers. It started okay but finished worse. I would say that in the right situation it may be okay, but it is not to style and I probably would not revisit if there are other choices.

Serving type: on-tap

02-13-2008 22:48:32 | More by Baileyuk

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

3.45/5  rDev +3.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

On-tap at the brewpub. A tad of toasting and some hops and a little colour, other than that unexceptional beer. On the sweeter side,perhaps the hop shortage is hitting, and active carbonation.Drinkable. Past the season, but I have noticed this showing up later in the winter at bars and brewpubs as people move up to craft beer tastes.

Serving type: on-tap

02-10-2008 04:22:57 | More by northyorksammy

mnfinnkidd

Minnesota

3.13/5  rDev -6%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Served as part of their 4oz sampler tray.

Butter scotch Amber in color. Off white head. Aroma is non-present except for the German Munich malt aroma. The Munich malt is also quite present in the taste. Slightly sweet malty beer but has some grassy hop notes in it. A very easy drinker. But not too much.

Serving type: on-tap

11-07-2007 18:12:26 | More by mnfinnkidd

harpo111

Georgia

3.3/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

descent octoberfest beer...orange in color. pours with some lacing...nice head. not a lot of hops...descent malt flavors. overall nice micro...goes well with food...had a blue burger...yup...would do again. Not like some of the other octoberfests...is a little less full bodied....did lack that fillingness you get from say a sam adams octoberfest or such....but over all good beer.

Serving type: on-tap

10-24-2007 02:17:17 | More by harpo111

Mickelswit

Ohio

3.73/5  rDev +12%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

This had a nice orange-amber color and a frothy head. Smell was a bit faint - there were some hops and a bit of indistinct malt, but not as much as I'm used to in a Festbier. The taste made up somewhat for the smell with better malt presence. Mouthfeel was thick and creamy. Served cool but not cold, this was a very drinkable beer before my meal.

Serving type: on-tap

06-29-2007 23:01:21 | More by Mickelswit

barleyman

Georgia

3.15/5  rDev -5.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Enjoyed a few 12 oz. drafts of this local beer. The dark amber color is coupled with a lite aroma. Litttle hop smell or flavor, but a pleasant flavor nonetheless. The drinkability is very good and quite the product for a few at the bar.

Just a thought,

barleyman

Serving type: on-tap

12-03-2006 00:58:59 | More by barleyman

MSchae1017

Georgia

2.17/5  rDev -34.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Had this beer on tap at a little cafe on River Street with lunch.

This beer was poured into the glass with a golden amber color and a decent amount of head that does some lacing. The smell is of macro type adjuncts along with some toasted malts and maybe some slight hops. The taste is an echo of the smell, without bringing too much more to the table. As it warms, it becomes more and more like an ajunct full macro beer. The mouthfeel is not bad, a decent body with some nice carbonation. Overall, this is not one I would revisit, quite off for the style.

Serving type: on-tap

08-04-2006 19:01:23 | More by MSchae1017

Silenus

Georgia

3.05/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

I thought this beer was a little "off style" in flavor but hit the appearance spot on. Excellent warm orange color with slight malt aromas. The hops seemed to beat out the malt on the palate and it left a bite on the back of the tongue. The mouthfeel was a little on the light side. I’d rather it bring a little more malt to the taste and move the hops later in the boil.

Serving type: on-tap

10-20-2005 19:14:25 | More by Silenus

oberon

North Carolina

3.5/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

First Moon River offering I have had,poured a deep copper with not much head to speak of I picked up some toasted grain and caramel notes in the aroma but they seemed to pretty light.Your typical fest style flavors some toasted malt flavors along with a mild caramel sweetness,nothing really stood out thee but decent.Not a bad brew by any means but nothing to knock ur socks off either I wouldnt search out looking for this one.

Serving type: on-tap

09-26-2004 11:39:46 | More by oberon

aracauna

Georgia

3.3/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 5

Gold, leaning slightly to copper. My sample had no head while the other three beers had heads. The aroma is pretty weak, but that’s not surprising with a lager. The flavor grows on you. It starts out kind of blands, but grows a nice clean caramel malt body that is exceedingly chuggable. I would prefer a beer with a bit more body, but if I were just out drinking, I wouldn’t complain about drinking this.

Serving type: on-tap

09-25-2004 03:03:00 | More by aracauna

Redrover

Illinois

3.7/5  rDev +11.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

This beer had the classic look of an Octoberfest. Reddish brown with a off-white head.

Beer had a decent aroma of toasted malts with a little hop spiciness in the background. I also got a whiff of bread dough.

Taste was also decent. Nice sweetness from the malt. You definitely get a bit of roasted flavor. The hops actually became more pronounced as you worked your way through the beer. The slight spice taste gave a nice element to the beer.

The mouthfeel seemed a little thin for they style, but perhaps its made that way for those numerous hot and steamy days. Drinkability is fine. All-in-all an enjoyable beer.

Serving type: on-tap

04-04-2004 01:16:26 | More by Redrover

Bunnyhop

Georgia

3.9/5  rDev +17.1%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A clear, medium dark copper German Style Festival beer (Oktoberfest) with a dissipating, smallish, off-white head. The smell is slightly spicy, malty, and slightly hoppy. The taste is mildly malty, a slight pepperiness, with a hoppy bitter finish. The body is round, medium, and somewhat smooth in my mouth. Overall, the taste is German "Festival', the maltiness reminds me of an Oktoberfest. The hoppiness is nothing over-the-top, which it shouldn't be for this style.

Moon River's description on their menu: "This German-style Festival bier has a rich orange hue. Its medium body is complimented by Munich malt toastiness and spicy hop aroma."

(source: Moon River; Savannah, GA)

Serving type: on-tap

02-25-2003 16:42:38 | More by Bunnyhop

fattyre

Georgia

3.9/5  rDev +17.1%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Served in a standard pint glass, this beer was a medium dark slightly brownish orange color with a dissipating smallish off white head. The smell was of roasted malt and mild spicy hops. The taste was a sweetish toasty malt balanced by a light spicy hoppiness and a medium rounded mouthfeel. This was a very enjoyable "Oktoberfest" style beer with a little more hop character than most beers of this style.

Serving type: on-tap

02-25-2003 16:06:23 | More by fattyre