Real Ale Brewing Company's Oktoberfest

I'm glad to see the various new beers from Real Ale. I've liked them for years, even back when people were complaining about carbonation issues, or distribution problems, or whatever it was cool to complain about at the time. All that seems to be behind them now, and I haven't heard a complaint about them, legitimate or otherwise, for some time. What they need now is a good stout--but that's not a complaint. I just want someone to give Southern Star and Independence Brewing a run for their money. And I love Saint Arnold's, but their stout is flat-out inferior to the others.

This one pours a nice, clear orangish-amber with a great small celled tan head that stays well. Smells very mildly spicy, and zippy.

Light taste with low bitterness and malt, with a good spiciness for the style. I don't really know Bavarian Style from Marzen, but they taste pretty close to me. Which makes this an excellent beer for an Oktoberfest.

Lakefront Brewery's Eastside Dark

This is probably my favorite Eastside beer, but I don't suppose that's saying much.

Pours a deep, opaque but obviously lighter bodied brown, like a bock or rauchbier. Very good light tan head for a lager, which gets pillowy and stays around for a while.

Standard starkbier smell. More crisp than ales this dark, but more substantial than most lagers. Not as heavy as a bock, but slightly roasted and slightly bready.

Good, clean taste like many lagers have as well. Still somewhat bready with a slight roasted flavor, but lighter in body and flavor than a brown, which woudl be the closest ale in all categories. Overall a good beer. Nothing too sexy, but it would be a better go-to beer than many standards available in Texas.