Starr Hill Brewery | Festie Oktoberfest Lager
It’s hard to believe, the summer is winding down! The kids are back in school, we’re counting down the days until college football kickoff and fall weekends are starting to fill up. Where did the time go? This is also the time of the year that seasonal creep starts back up and pumpkin beers hit the shelf. The other seasonal that hits the shelf, one of my favorites, Oktoberfest beers!
We’ve covered a fair number of Oktoberfest beers on the blog over the years and there aren’t many we don’t like. I tend to lean more towards the traditional Märzen vs the Festbier, however both have their advantages. For the Märzen though, malty, toasty, amber, sweet caramel goodness. This beer just screams “fall” to me. So let’s check one out.
On deck we have Festie from our friends at Starr Hill Brewery. This beer pours an amber-orange color with a low to moderate head that pretty much disappears in the first 10 seconds. On the nose I find those toasty notes I was expecting with a subtle hop-driven spice character. The body of this beer is smooth, moderate carbonation and moderate body. On the tongue I find that toasty flavor I was expecting with a wonderful caramel sweetness. This beer finishes clean with a ever so slight bitter note at the back of the tongue.
Final snobs: This is a wonderful Märzen that will pair well with brats, burgers, football and fall. This style is still thirst quenching in the heat yet slightly warming for those cooler nights that will be in our not-so-distant future. Well done Starr Hill, think I’ll have another.
Prost!