Malt-heightened version of Millstream’s Munich-styled Schild Brau Amber places mildly creamed Vienna malting and crayon-like grouted hops inside honeyed wheat Graham Cracker theme. Caramel, butterscotch and sugar cookie illusions sidle apple-candied cherry tartness above doughy breading. Dewy peat moss dampens the main frame. Just a bit unwieldy.
Unconventional autumnal lager with stylistic Vienna-malted caramel sweetness contrasting unlikely lemon-soured green grape souring (and raw clover-honeyed bittering). Moist leafy hop sop drenches fig-dried midst and rye-breaded spine.
Watered-down autumnal moderation brings desolate maple-sugared caramel roast and honeyed cereal graining to dry phenol-spiced leafy hop setting. Subtle orange marmalade fluff disintegrated by dull phenol spicing and mild skunked musk.
Instead of relying strictly upon stylistic leafy autumnal foliage and mild dried fruiting, bright citric spree perks up spunky medium-bodied seasonal. Clementine, navel orange, honeyed lemon and yellow grapefruit illusions elevate sweet tea scamper. Light maple sugaring coats soft maize-parched, millet-grained wheat spine.
On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead, boundless fall fest fodder (with bold 8.5% alcohol ethers) brings boozy intensity to herbal fruited entry. Syrupy nectar-honeydew glaze and sugary banana-bruised vanilla sweetness override caramelized malting. Weird botanical herbage positively affects dry-hopped fruited plain.
On tap at 381 Main, updated 2013 version of understated Vienna lager (with marzen tag appended) betters less specific Denver-based original. Autumnal leafy foliage and dewy earthiness pick up mild yellow fruiting. Sharp hop spicing tingles wispy nutty caramel malting to its honeyed wheat spine. Tertiary peach tea, dried orange and baked apple nuances fade to grey alongside wet cardboard snip. 2015 bottled version: evenly spread caramelized Vienna malting, honeyed wheat sweetness and leafy hop foliage regale tightly structured marzen (with brisker carbolic spritz). Subsidiary brown-sugared pumpkin spicing and molasses-sapped gingerbread sugaring upend astringent metallic snag.
On tap at Macaroni Grill, streamlined 2013 version layered sharply carbolic spice hop bite above pumpkin pie-sweetened fig-date-cherry conflux and dried orange nuance. Mild cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger seasoning lathers light caramel malting.
Damp aromatic foliage and leafy-hopped earthen nuttiness provide autumnal array for middling dry body. Complacent Vienna-malted cereal grain toasting, latent metallic shard and acrid phenol spicing lower appeal.
Indistinct moderate-bodied copper-toned marzen places thin maibock-like fruited souring next to soapy hop astringency. Blanched orange-tangerine-cherry tartness deadens upon impact and phenol-spiced autumnal foliage lacks resolve. Biscuit-y bottom cracks.
Upgraded 10th anniversary version of ruddy copper autumnal from 2011 stays mild, underscoring caramelized crystal malting and grassy-hopped astringency with wispy gourd spicing. Indifferent orange, apricot and apple fruiting lost alongside fragile oats-toasted breading.
Blandly mild marzen-styled autumn seasonal (not far removed from brewer’s lambasted Toasted Lager) spreads soapy diacetyl buttering atop dry herbal-hopped citrus snip and brown-sugared toffee restraint. Tranquil leafy foliage and bread-crumbed biscuit nuance lost in the shuffle.
