I’ve been saving this one for a full-on tasting.  I’ve had a couple of these already, so I know it’s going to fare very well, but now that I have the time to sit and analyze it, it’s even better.

Yes, the time for Oktoberfest and Märzen brews has, technically, come and gone.  But really, they’re meant to celebrate the harvest which also celebrates cooling temperatures.  And with climate change and all, those cooling temperatures are coming later and later, even here in Wisconsin.  So it still works, folks!

This 2009 US Beer Open champion for its style still has its magic three years after its gold-winning run.  Boasting Caramel, Munich, and Pale malts, lightly balanced by Mt. Hood and Hallertau hops, this should be good.

Appearance: (4.5/5) This is a pretty beer, folks.  A good, tall, resilient, cream-colored head sits atop a beautifully amber brew.  It’s a dense head.  And it hangs around very well.    It’s perfectly clear to look through, but darker than your usual Märzen.  Lacing is strong as the beer goes down, leaving dense blobs of bubbles ringing around the glass.

Aroma: (4.5/5) Holy malt bomb, Batman!  You can really pick up on the Caramel and Munich malts.  Very malt forward, especially for a Märzen.  Also a very forward fruitiness, but not citrusy fruitiness like you would normally get from hops.  Sprecher advertises a hop bitterness of only 15 IBUs, so hops are very mild.  This fruitiness is from the yeast.  Think, maybe, bananas with a bit of orange juice splashed over them.

Taste: (4.5/5) The only thing keeping this beer from a perfect 5 in taste is the style it’s brewed in.  A Märzen is meant to be sloshed back after a day in the field.  This one is a little too malt-forward for that.  But, unless you’re spending your days hard at work in the fields, that doesn’t matter.  It’s delicious.  You get a little bit of the banana from the nose into the mouth, but it’s very heavy on the caramel flavor.  Think a light version of Bananas Foster, with a little extra Foster.  But the hops come in at just the right time, in just the right amount, to balance this Oktoberfest out.  Beautifully crafted.  This really is.

Drinkability/Mouthfeel: (4/5) The heavier, very malt-forward character of this brew, combined with the caramel-heavy flavor give this beer a very dense mouthfeel.  And it’s very pleasant.  But it sits heavy, and should, technically  be a little lighter.  If you want something you can drink three or four of (or, given the fact that Sprecher’s Oktoberfest is packaged in 16oz bottles instead of the traditional 12oz, two or three), you may want to venture somewhere else.  You’re going to spoil your dinner.  However, if you chose this as your dinner, you could do much, much worse!

Design: (3/5) This is the Achilles’s Heel of this brew.  It’s not that I don’t like Sprecher’s old-German, blackletter typeface, or its heraldic shield on the label.  It’s that it’s just, overall, uninteresting.  Maybe there’s a method to the madness here, but I’m not getting it.  And since this is a Seasonal brew, it’s packaged in Sprecher’s generic, blue, 4-pack bottle caddy.  The only way to tell what beer this was without pulling it out of the package was by looking at the neck label.  Beyond that, though, I do appreciate the listing of the malts and hops used in the making of this beer.  That, to me, is better than the meaningless platitudes often placed on even craft beer bottles in the place of otherwise useful information.

But there’s a party-foul here, folks.  Yes…that’s a screw-top.  Maybe it’s because Sprecher also makes a lot of sodas (seems to me they make more soda than beer, but that’s no problem because that’s always been tasty, too), and uses the same bottles from one line to the next, but c’mon guys.  A screw top?  You know those don’t seal as well, and leads to oxidation.  And while I may be getting Sprecher extra fresh since I’m sitting only twenty miles south of their brew kettles in Glendale, Wisconsin, there has to be quality compromises by the time this beer lands in your distributor in, say, Danvers, Massachusetts.

Overall: (20.5/25) Here’s what this fire-brewed beer boils down to.  It’s delicious, it’s pretty, and it smells wonderful.  You can only drink a couple, but after that it’s time to go home anyway.  But Sprecher’s stuck-in-the-80s design approach combined with their inexplicable use of a screw-top bottle keep this Oktoberfest from the near-perfect score it truly deserves.  So if you want to judge a beer solely by how it tastes/smells/looks, get this one.  Get several of this one.  It’s only available through December.

If you’re like me, and like to gripe about things that shouldn’t matter to a beer (but do), then still get several Sprecher Oktoberfests, and then complain a little every time you see that screw top.

The post Pro Brew: Sprecher Oktoberfest appeared first on The Midwest Guy.

I know, Halloween has come and gone.  Shouldn’t we be past pumpkin beers by now?

No.  Absolutely not!  Why?  Well, when is the one time of the year when we consume more pumpkin pie (and other pumpkin sundries) than any other?  Thanksgiving!  And if you’re going to have a pumpkin beer, you may as well have a good one.  Haven’t found one, yet?  Then keep reading…

So what is Milwaukee’s Sasquash?  It’s more than just the “Pumpkin Porter” that the neck label says.  More importantly, it’s not just a regular ale that some schmo tossed a gourd and a bucket full of ginger, nutmeg, and clove in.  As a matter of fact, there’s very little spice presence in this beer.  What is there is also right on the label…sweet potato…

Appearance: (3.5/5) It’s a good, dark, opaque porter.  You can’t see through it, and I’m just fine with that.  A nice, dense, darker-tan head rises atop, about a finger’s worth, and then dissipates.  Not much of any lacing to speak of.  But a little bit of foam just hangs out on the top, even as the top level slowly dips down the glass as you drink it.

Aroma: (4/5) Not as much malty aroma as I would expect from a porter this dark and robust, but lots of caramel to the nose.  That’s not to say there’s NO malt to the nose, but it’s not number one.  No spice aroma.  No hop aroma either.  None.  And I’m fine with that.  Some pumpkin beers are extremely spice-forward.  This one, not the case.  But you do get a smell of…root.  I can’t explain it another way.  I can’t tell if that’s the pumpkin I’m smelling, or the sweet potato.  But I like it.

Taste: (5/5) Wow is this good.  The malt is relatively forward, the pumpkin hangs out in the background, but what you really get is the sweet potato.  And it’s fantastic.  As in, check to see if your grandmother lent Milwaukee Brewing Company her secret recipe for candied sweet potatoes.  There’s a lot of caramel here, almost brown-sugary.  It’s a bit heavy, but it still balances well enough.  It honest-to-goodness tastes like Thanksgiving sweet potatoes.  And not in a gimmicky way.  There may be some nutmeg in here, and if there is, it’s subtle.

Drinkability/Mouthfeel: (3.5/5) This beer is good, pleasant-smelling, and extra-tasty, but as mentioned, it’s a bit heavy.  Yes, porters are heavy beers, but this one kinda sits on your stomach a bit.  I could drink these all day, but I’m a fatty like that.  For most people, one or two of these and they’ll be full.  Mouthfeel, however, is very pleasant.  Very smooth.  Almost velvety.  Good stuff.

Design: (4.5/5) Maybe it’s because I know the folks who are behind the design (not just of Sasquash, but of all Milwaukee Brewing Co. products), but the design works really well.  I especially like the cute little pumpkin character they use on the box.  The label is simple and clear.  The neck label let’s you know, beyond the cutesy Sasquash name (which is cool) just what this beer is.  That’s important.  Very few microbreweries give you a name/package that clearly let you know just what it is that you’re drinking.  Some are downright non-informative about it.  But not Milwaukee.  They put everything up front, including the company’s name.  I like to know whose stuff I’m drinking.  The downside is, unless you’re looking at this on the shelf and can see the bottle, you’re back in the spot of not knowing what the beer is.  Sasquash can get away with this more than their other brews with oddball names, but it’s still not a net positive.

Final Score: (20.5/25) On the whole, Milwaukee Sasquash Pumpkin Porter is a top-notch seasonal brew.  The taste is both unique, and very pleasant, while reminding you what time of year it is.  And you can drink more than one bottle of it at a sitting.  Heck, I wouldn’t mind about half a pitcher or so on one shot.  But more than that would be a bit much.  And that’s fine.

The post Pro Brew: Milwaukee Brewing Company Sasquash (Pumpkin Porter) appeared first on The Midwest Guy.