Off Season Lager

 Off Season Lager is appropriately named, in that it’s a märzen brewed, not in the autumn as is traditional, but in the winter. Brewed by Goose Island Brewhouse Toronto, this Oktoberfest-style lager clocks in at 6.2% and comes in 473mL cans. It’s a clear, bronze brew that pours with a thin blanket of off-white head.

Malty and sweet to the nose, Off Season has toast, copper, and brown sugar elements. The flavour treads a similar path, with toasty malts, sweet grains, and caramel, with a slightly metallic subtext.

I love a märzen, and this take from Goose Island wasn’t half bad. I’d have liked it to be a bit toastier, and considerably less sweet, but I’d buy it again.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Märzen Oktoberfest Lager

With the label of its 600mL bottle adorned with a variety of musical instruments and Teutonic regalia, Beau's Märzen Oktoberfest Lager gives every indication of honouring the German heritage of the style. At 5.5%, this tasty lager is a member of the "Farm Table Series" from Vankleek Hill, Ontario's reliable and remarkable Beau's All Natural Brewing Co.

A clear, auburn bottom fermenting beer, this märzen pours with a delicate covering of eggshell head. It's nose gives off timid notes of roasted malts and cereal grains. Where the aroma is shy, the flavour is boisterous. It contains the same notes, primarily roasted malts and grains, but to a significantly more vigourous degree.

I wonder what the relation is between this beer and another märzen Beau's produced a while ago called Night Märzen. They both have the same amount of booze and a similar look. It's been ages since I sampled the latter, so I can't really say whether they're the same beer or whether the former is a refined or tweaked version. Whatever its roots, this is a tasty and satisfying lager. It's a great fall beer and a well made one too.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.