Altoberfest

Beer Name: Altoberfest
Brewery: Element Brewing Company
ABV: 7%
Serving method: 16-oz pint poured from a 25-oz bottle
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Bottled on 8/18/10

Ok, NOW I've had everything Element has to offer. Well, everything they've had to offer so far. Altoberfest is Element's first seasonal beer, and claims to be a combination of the styles of altbier (apparently that is a real thing) and, obviously, oktoberfest. It was also only brewed in a limited quantity (530 bottles), which means that I probably should have kept the wrapper and number tag in case this brewery gets huge and it's worth something some day. Hey, people collect a lot of weird things.

Altoberfest is a deep reddish brown beer with a malty scent. There isn't a lot of head, and it fades quickly, so you can get right to the drinking of beer. So let's do that.

This beer has a light to medium carbonation (like a 2 out of 5 if you ranked it numerically). The beer starts malty, and then has some kind of sharp flavor at the end. I am not sure what it is, but I didn't really like it. However, as the beer warms up, this sharpness fades. That makes the beer a lot better. If I get another bottle of this, I plan to take it out of the fridge for at least 10 minutes before I drink it.

Final thought - After it warmed up a little, the Altoberfest was a nice beer to sit and drink while relaxing on the couch. I hope they make some more of it next year, because I think it's better than their Extra Special Oak. Bottles aren't cheap though, so that's one negative. That sharp flavor when it's cold isn't great either. I would drink it again, but not frequently.

-Jon