Happy Labor Day! We're back at it again with a MadTree beer. This isn't exactly a new beer--I think (but I can't find any info to back this claim) that today's beer dropped in MadTree's taproom either last year or the year before. 

It is, however, new to the blog. See, this year MadTree canned it threw it into distribution. That means that I was able to track some down to drink from home. I ran out the day it hit the market to pick up a sixer. Now, I'm about to crack into my seventh can of it (meaning that, yes, I've had this before, as those of you who follow me on Instagram can probably tell). What is today's beer? Oh, it's Ziegler, MadTree's Oktoberfest lager.

MadTree (here's their "About" page) opened in 2013 as the first Cincinnati brewery to can their beer. A few years later they underwent a massive expansion and settled into the Oakley neighborhood brewing space they now call home. Seven years in, they're still making some of the area's best beers, but they've also totally embraced the "Tree" in the name and do their part in helping to preserve the environment. I strongly encourage you to click that link at the beginning of the paragraphy if you want to know more about their eco-friendly practices and work.

Ziegler, brewed with two hop varieties and five different kinds of malt, clocks in at a modest 5.7% ABV. MadTree says it's malty, smooth, rich, and named after a Cincinnati park and one of the city's previous mayors. 

I get some strong malt on the nose, so those five different kinds are definitely paying off here. Toffee, caramel, biscuit, honey--yep, this has all those important Oktoberfest aromatics. There's also a hoppy characteristic that serves to cool the malty sweetness, grounding the whole affair while giving it a kind of bite. The lager's bouquet is exactly what you want from a style you're meant to throw back. Purrl, however, doesn't seem to appreciate Ziegler's aroma as much as I do--she only gave my can four whiffs.

The lager's flavor profile is a little maltier than its bouquet lets on. That tempered sweetness I picked up on is unbridled on my tongue. That's not to say there're no hop flavors present--those piney, mildly citrusy aspects are for sure here. They mingle in the fore with the honey, biscuity, caramely, and toffee-esque notes I mentioned above. The finish is mostly malty sweet with just an ever-so-slight grounding provided by the hops. Really, though, this is a malt-forward, malt-heavy beer. Which is fine! It's sweet, sure, but not as sweet as many American-brewed Oktoberfests can be.

Ziegler is a thirst-quenching beer. It's mouthfeel is clean and crisp, just carbonated enough for each swing effortlessly beget another. This mouthfeel is, in my opinion, the ideal way an Oktoberfest lager should drink. Kudos to MadTree for knocking this part out of the park!

You know, it's pretty hot out today. While, on the whole, the days have been cooling down, I'm sitting on my porch in 81° heat. 

The heat, coupled with today's beer, is making wish I was cutting my grass (I did on Friday so it'd be overkill for me to tackle it again so soon). When I was a kid, I hated mowing the lawn. As an adult, though, I'm pretty big on it. It's a good way to get away from the internet-fueled tech world and be outside in the sun for a few hours. I typically crack into a beer between turning off the mower and turing on the edger, sitting right here, on my porch, and watching the clouds go by while listening to nature singing around me. Ziegler would be (and, I can confirm, is) perfect for those mid-mowing moments.

Ziegler is a 9.0/10 beer for me. MadTree is my favorite local brewery (so, yeah, I may be a little biased here) and I'm happy they were able to create such a great lager. If MadTree's available in your neck of the woods, you shouldn't have any trouble finding a sixer of this--I wholeheartedly recommend you grab some and enjoy it, either when the air gets crisp or when you're doing yard work in the sun. Really, there's no bad time to enjoy this beer.