OAKTOBERFEST ~ BLACK OAK BREWING CO.

Oaktoberfest is a seasonal märzen and the only lager Black Oak makes. Sampled on draught the beer pours a slightly hazy rich copper topped with a generous frothy beige. As the head slowly receded it left lovely lacing before settling to a ring around the glass. The nose contained lots of lightly roasted malts, along with grains, cereal, orchard fruits, and caramel. More subtle notes of grass and nuts were also evident as the beer warmed. The taste was malt forward, with notes of caramel, with a spicy herbal grassy bitterness at the finish. The carbonation is medium, as is the body. This is a really nice example of the style. I look forward to having a few.
Märzen beers are made for Oktoberfest. The beer brewed for this occasion were traditionally lagers brewed in March and allowed to ferment slowly over the summer months.
5% from Etobicoke, Ontario

WEISSE O’LANTERN ~ BEAU’S

Weisse O’Lantern is No. 13 in Beau’s Wild Oats Series and was part of the 2015 Oktoberfest four-pack.  It is a weisse beer, brewed with pumpkin (350 pounds of pumpkin go onto each batch), making it a new hybrid, a pumpkinweisse.  All ingredients are organic.  Sampled from a 60 mL bottle, the beer pours an orange hued gold, with a good creamy off white head.  The head lasts for a while, and leaves good amount of lacing as it dissipates.  The aroma is very typical of a weisse beer, with hints of pumpkin and citrus in the background, and in the forefront spices (clove and ginger), yeasts and bready malts.  The taste is also very typical of a weisse beer with bubble gum and banana, but also the spice (ginger, cinnamon, and clove), citrus peel and a very subtle pumpkin.  Cinnamon lingers in the aftertaste.  This is a very interesting hybrid, though if you were looking for a pumpkin beer I may start elsewhere - this tastes much more like a weisse.  Drinkable and much enjoyed, but a little steep in price.

 

5.6% from Vankleek Hills, Ontario    17 IBU

Hops: Wheat, pilsner, carafoam, caramunich

Malts: Organic Hallertau tradition

Other : orange peel, ginger, cinnamon and brewers yeast