The other day I received a promotional bottle of Flying Dog‘s Dogtoberfest, to go along with the press release. This is their fall seasonal, and a nice reminder that Oktoberfest is right around the corner (September 22 to October 7 this year). This is their beer that is brewed with 5 different malts and weighs in at 5.8% alcohol.

And, just so my disclaimer is clear, this was a free promotional bottle from the brewery. Flying Dog is great that way.

Appearance: Very clear; nice orange-amber (copper) with a hint of brown that looks pretty textbook (to my eye) as an Oktoberfest.

Smell: Malty with caramel and red malts. Toasted grain. Noble hops.

Taste: More of a bitter edge than I’d expect, but a rich malt base with a toffee-sweet character. That bitterness subsides… very drinkable, malty how I’d like it to be. Well-balanced hops (noble hops—earthy and a tad spicy) float in the background.

Mouthfeel: Rich and clean and medium bodied but a nice, full medium. Crisp.

Overall: I like it, it’s a good solid example of the style and made me want a big plate of German food to accompany it.

On BeerAdvocate, it scores 82 out of 100, with 91% approval from reviewers. On RateBeer, it scores 3.12 out of 5, and is in their 54th percentile.