The Beer Retard

Who makes it: Brauerei Aying (Ayinger Brewery), located in the Bavarian village of Aying in Germany.

What kind of beer is it: Oktoberfest/Märzen, a lager usually brewed in March (Märzen in German) and cold-stored over the spring and summer months. Comes in a 500 ml. bottle and weighs in at 5.8% ABV.

What I thought of the beer: I approached this having heard how amazing the brewery is and how this beer is probably the best Oktoberfest beer, so having that in my head may have tainted my impression. All I know is I liked it. I appreciated that it was hugely malty without being very sweet. I also liked that it had some hop flavor and finished on the dry side. It did seem a little heavy for a beer that’s under 6%, due to the richness of the malt. I’m not sure if I could put down liters of it, but I enjoyed every ounce of this bottle.

Rating: ***½
You can fit what I don’t know about German beer in a set of encylopedias, so I’m not going to pretend to know how this beer compares to other Oktoberfest/Märzens. I liked it and would drink it again, but I won’t say it was a revelatory experience that’ll have me wearing lederhosen and binging on German beer. I’m thinking it’ll take a trip to Germany to do that.

Who made it: Mad River Brewing from Blue Lake, California (up in the hippie paradise of Northern California’s Humboldt County). They’ve been around since 1989 and have several year-round beers under two brand names: Steelhead and Jamaica.

What kind of beer is it: Imperial Red Ale (basically an amber on steroids). Part of Mad River’s limited release High Gravity series to commemorate their 20th anniversary. Comes in a 12 oz. bottle and weighs in at 8.6% ABV.

What I thought of the beer: A lot of sweet, caramel malt flavor followed by a shit-ton of hops with bitterness that lingers, but not in an unpleasant way. If I were going for Beer Douche of the Week honors, I might say “copious amounts of malt and hops intertwine to create a pleasingly complex yet quaffable delicacy.” I’ll stick with saying that everything is big about this beer and it’s goddamned tasty. Not sure if it’d be a good idea to have more than one of these in a sitting, but I could. Not difficult to drink even though it’s strong, and has some heft to the body.

Rating: ***½
This is a tasty beer that I’d drink again if I could, but it’s a limited release that’s come and gone. Would’ve been interesting to try it on tap. Look forward to checking out any future beers in this series.