Beer of the Weekend #708: Left Hand Oktoberfest Märzen Lager
Since I opened the weekend with an Oktoberfest-themed beer, I thought I would close it with one as well. The beer tonight is Oktoberfest Märzen Lager, brewed by the Left Hand Brewing Company of Longmont, Colorado.
This sixer of Oktoberfest Märzen Lager is courtesy of Bobblehead. It is, he said, advanced payment for me copyediting his second novel.
The color is deep, ruddy amber. A piss poor straight pour produces a half-finger of eggshell-colored head that leaves a galaxy of skim and a ring around the edge. The aroma is sweet, dark, and fruity. Toasted malt, candy caramel, cherry licorice, and maybe a little toffee are most noticeable. The taste is somewhat weak compared to the aroma, though flavors such as caramel, toasted malt, hop bitterness, and cherry licorice gradually become more distinct as the beer warms. Likewise, the flavor is not as sweet as the aroma, but slowly sweetens as the pint warms.
Fun facts about OML:
• Style: Märzen.
• Price: Copyediting.
• Alcohol content: 6.6 percent ABV.
• IBU: 24.
• Color: 21 SRM. Left Hand calls it “Copper,” but, according to Mosher’s Tasting Beer, 21 SRM is considered brown. This stuff ain’t brown.
• Speaking about Oktoberfest, Sweets and Zaza had a small Oktoberfest gathering at their place recently. I took my German flag and my flag for the German state of Hesse for decoration. I’m unsure how big Oktoberfest is big in Hesse — it is, I think, considered part of southern Germany — but why not take it? It’s German and I didn’t think anyone would give me a hard time about it not being the more Oktoberfest-fitting flag of Bavaria. Who is going to know or care? Lo and behold, someone asked me what flag it was. When I told her, she said, “But Oktoberfest is Bavarian.”
The Quiet Man’s grade: B-.
This sixer of Oktoberfest Märzen Lager is courtesy of Bobblehead. It is, he said, advanced payment for me copyediting his second novel.
The color is deep, ruddy amber. A piss poor straight pour produces a half-finger of eggshell-colored head that leaves a galaxy of skim and a ring around the edge. The aroma is sweet, dark, and fruity. Toasted malt, candy caramel, cherry licorice, and maybe a little toffee are most noticeable. The taste is somewhat weak compared to the aroma, though flavors such as caramel, toasted malt, hop bitterness, and cherry licorice gradually become more distinct as the beer warms. Likewise, the flavor is not as sweet as the aroma, but slowly sweetens as the pint warms.
Fun facts about OML:
• Style: Märzen.
• Price: Copyediting.
• Alcohol content: 6.6 percent ABV.
• IBU: 24.
• Color: 21 SRM. Left Hand calls it “Copper,” but, according to Mosher’s Tasting Beer, 21 SRM is considered brown. This stuff ain’t brown.
• Speaking about Oktoberfest, Sweets and Zaza had a small Oktoberfest gathering at their place recently. I took my German flag and my flag for the German state of Hesse for decoration. I’m unsure how big Oktoberfest is big in Hesse — it is, I think, considered part of southern Germany — but why not take it? It’s German and I didn’t think anyone would give me a hard time about it not being the more Oktoberfest-fitting flag of Bavaria. Who is going to know or care? Lo and behold, someone asked me what flag it was. When I told her, she said, “But Oktoberfest is Bavarian.”
The Quiet Man’s grade: B-.
