Prost! ... an Oktoberfest Märzen

 Much of what you need to know about Prost! ... an Oktoberfest Märzen is right there in the name. It’s a clear, caramel-hued lager from the team at Great Lakes Brewery in Toronto. The beer, sold in 473mL cans, pours with a lush and creamy head.

Prost! has a malty, bready nose. The flavour is sweet, malty, and toasty, with a back end that tastes boozier than its 5.6%. True to style, the beer leans toward the maltier end of the spectrum, but there is a little nod to floral bitterness in the finish.

Not a bad little Ontario take on the classic Oktoberfest style.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Life on März

 Life on März is, of course, a Märzen. This one comes from Kingston and its Stone City Ales. It is a 5.3% amber lager that comes in 500mL bottles. The beer is beautifully clear and it pours with a short-lived layer of creamy foam.

LoM has a malty, slightly toasty aroma accented with a nod to sweetness. The beer has a sweet to bitter, malty to bitter progression. It’s flavour touches on roasted malt, grainy, floral hops, and some metallic elements.

I don’t see a lot of märzens (märzi?) in my perusal of Ontario’s brewery offerings, but I pretty much always buy some of this fall seasonal treat when I do. And I’m definitely glad to have picked up a couple of bottles of LoM—it’s a tasty take on the classic harvest lager. It’s tall on crisp, floral bitterness and relatively short on sweetness, which works for me.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Electric Mud: Radelmüeller’s Ghost Märzen

I dragged the Bitter Wife on a transit journey across town to visit the Muddy York Brewing Co., a place I’ve long been hankering to try. Given the amount of time spent getting there, I was pretty determined to try everything they had, but sadly I only had 90 minutes before closing time.

My kicked off my visit with a 12oz pour of their Radelmüeller’s Ghost Märzen, a 5.2% alcohol tribute to J.P. Radelmüeller (I always thought it was "Rademüeller"), the Toronto lighthouse keeper who was murdered and whose ghost allegedly haunts the Toronto Island Lighthouse.

The beer had a gorgeous amber colour with just a hint of haze and a thin, white head. The lager had a malt and biscuit nose with a bit of earthiness. It tasted both warm and crisp, with some toasted malt notes, and a back end with a slightly peppery uptick.

Märzens are not a style I’ve had a lot of experience with, but I thought the MYBU’s take had some class. It was a bit thin-bodied for my taste, but the crispness was welcome and the flavour was agreeable.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

For another take on the same theme, see my review of Rademuller's Refusal.

Aecht Schenkerla Rauchbier

Shenkerla Smokebeer is like no other beer I have ever tried.  To call it smokey is more than an understatement.  Drinking this brew is like sucking woodsmoke from a chimney...in an oddly pleasant way.


Sold in 500mL bottles and measuring 5.1% alcohol, Schenkerla hails from Bamburg, Germany.  It is brewed by Brauerai Heller.  It pours a sultry dark brown colour.  It's slightly cloudy and topped by a creamy head.  Schenkerla as a strong (STRONG!) aroma of woodsmoke.  It smells like a campfire.  It has an intense smokey flavour that dwarfs any other tastes that might be present.  According to the label, the smokey flavour comes from kilning "over a fire of beechwood logs".  The aftertaste continues to be considerably smokey, but is also fairly bitter.

This is a really interesting brew.  There isn't much to talk about beyond the smokiness, but it is so unlike any other beer that it is definitely worth trying.  In my humble opinion, this beer is almost certainly best enjoyed in cold weather.  I suspect that it would not be nearly as palatable on a patio on a hot day, though I might be mistaken.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.