The source of this beer is a bit ambiguous: my wife brought it home from Trader Joe’s, and while it says "Josephs Brau Brewing Company" it’s really one of the Trader Joe’s brews, according to BeerAdvocate. What this means is it’s really brewed by Gordon Biersch.

As a standalone amber lager it’s not bad, a decent session beer. As an Oktoberfest it doesn’t quite live up to the standard, but no matter; it was only $3.99 or so for the six-pack. I’d get it again.

Appearance: Very clear dark gold-orange. Very little head.

Smell: Subtle, clean—malty like a whole grain bread.

Taste: Clean, crisp, kind of neural. Mild. A little more bitter than the style should be. Has a mega-commercial-beer quality.

Mouthfeel: Thinner than it should be (for an Oktoberfest). There’s more body than a mega lager, though not much. Sparkly carbonation on the tongue.

There’s not much on the review sites about it. BeerAdvocate doesn’t have enough reviews for an overall score, but the current average is 3.16 out of 5, with a 70/30 split on approval. On RateBeer it has 3.06 out of 5, in the 47th percentile.