Here is another beer in this installment of the Oktoberfest beers. This is Summit Oktoberfest.

The beer pours a nice amber color with about an inch layer of dense head on top the beer (See Picture). The beer has good clarity

The aroma is a bit off for a traditional Oktoberfest. To me, there is a lot of caramel in the nose. There is some toasty and bready qualities to the malt nose, but I get sweet caramel, which there shouldn’t be in this style. There is nothing in the way of hops, but I do get some noticable alcohol aroma.  From a strictly beer standpoint, and not stylistically speaking, I really like the aroma of this beer. It’s rich, complex, and quite inviting.

The flavor is very nice. There is some complex malty flavors here. I get some toffee and caramel, quite a bit of toast, and some nice hop flavor that suggests American varieties of hops. I could be wrong, but it tastes that way to me. Just a touch citrusy. The bitterness is right on point and just enough to balance. I do want to mention that there is alcohol in the flavor as well, so this beer is probably above the 5.7% threshold for the style. The beer does start off a touch sweet, but it finishes semi-sweet. There is a bit more sweetness than one would want in the style but for me it works. Again, from a style standpoint the beer misses the mark just a bit. But, for a fine beer and one I am really enjoying, I give it props. The complexity of the grain bill, the interesting hop character, and the slight alcohol bite all contribute to the overall enjoyment of experiencing this beer.

Overall, I would give the beer a C+ for style (a 26 for me on a BJCP scoresheet), there was just too much missing the traditional style. But I’ll give this beer two scores today, one for just overall enjoyability….if that is a word. I give this beer a good solid B+ for that. It is an interesting beer, brewed well, and just plain hits the spot tonight. Sometimes, a brewer can call a beer whatever he wants, and even if it misses that style’s mark, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a damn fine beer.