Name: Surly SurlyFest
Style: Oktoberfest/Marzen
ABV: 6%
IBUs: 34 (Per RateBeer)
Alright, next up in my Oktoberfest beers lineup is actually a local option courtesy from Surly Brewing with their SurlyFest. What makes this beer so interesting is that Surly makes it very clear from the get-go that this isn't supposed to be your typical Oktoberfest beer:
A traditional Oktoberfest bier from Surly? Nein! If you want one of those, grab your passport and head over to Munchen (bring us back some pretzels.) SurlyFest is brewed with three different types of Rye and a single variety of American Hops. Malted Rye, Flaked Rye, and Crystal Rye impart a distinctive biscuit flavor to the lush Vienna Malt body, and dry-hopping with Sterling Hops adds bright, floral hop aromas. A single hop, dry-hopped, rye lager bier? Ja!
Like many Oktoberfest beers, I avoided this one because of my dislike of the Oktoberfest style but I actually got a couple requests for this one, so I figured I might as well humor them and try this one out.
Appearance - Mildly hazy dark orange color with a moderate amount of visible carbonation. The head is somewhat foamy but the lacing is rather sparse.
Aroma - Munich and toffee malts upfront with some potent rye spice notes paired with a bitter hop scent.
Taste - Strong Munich malts on the front of the palate but with moderate bitter hops and rye spiciness in the back along with some light lager yeasts. As for the aftertaste, I'm getting more lager yeasts and a lingering hop bitterness.
Wow, this one too is also actually quite good and the rye bill paired with those bitter hops actually give this quite a bit of character. So far, you guys haven't led me astray with these Oktoberfest suggestions, so keep 'em coming! Oh and this is definitely worth checking out as well!
Surly SurlyFest - 9/10
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