Oktoberfest (2025)
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

Pours a darker golden with a medium head and a good German beer aroma, malt, hops, and yeast. Taste is same as aroma with a little hop bitterness. Very good. DOB 7-7-2025

Bubbly gold with a big, frothy white head. Light, sweet, slightly caramel aroma. Light and effervescent flavor reminiscent of apple, but with peppery, even caramel notes. Dry, sweet finish. Mid-bodied, smooth, soft. Bread dough quality on repeated sips. Lightly herbal, too. The pleasantly bitter finish comes out more along the way, too.

 

Simply outstanding! The best SN Oktoberfest I have ever tasted. I found some in late January.

Deep gold pour with a bubbly white head, no apparent lacing. This Sierra Nevada-German collaboration brings Old World brewing tradition to Chico, Cali, and of course, us. There are multiple malts and no less than five hop varieties used in this festbier. Flavor is baked bread with a bit of sweetness on the palate, with a nice grainy malt finish. Solid!

Poured from a can into a pint glass. Pours orange yellow with a small white head. Smells of fresh fruit and caramelized grain. Tastes of fresh fruit with some caramelized grain. Beer is light bodied and easy drinking, good carbonation. Overall, a very good beer.

I smell hops... I'm going to say Hallertau...
I smell more hops something else...
I'm sniffing it right out of the can... I smell some other esters... But it's a lager... I'm going to say yeast... Let's give it a pour.... Amber or medium honey color...crystal clear... SRM I'm going to say equals 6... I can't wait to taste... The head didn't fade completely yet and there's a steady streams of bubbles... Supporting a milky fine bubbled foam... Taste: Sweet malt and a then a quick balanced bitterness... ooh yeah there's hops in this... Unusual but balanced... Second draw was less sweet and kind of a high note... In that the carbonation makes it tingly... When the sip fades... There's a lot going on ... Those hops are rolling forwards bittering towards the front... Quite unusual... Quite nice... That carbonation 2/3 is gone and it's still rolling... Ooh the burp...hops... Not so much malt now... There's a lingering acidity... From the hops... It's IPA-ish in that way... 1/3 lingering sweetness 2/3 lingering astringic bitterness... There's a little bit of off-roading here... Interesting but it ends... Like an IPA not a Marzen.

From a can poured into a handy crystal table glass.
An opaque gold pour with a decent head and lacing. A light-medium bodied maltiness with a mild hops profile. Some caramel notes and sweet bread flavors. A decent tasting Feast Bier, but nothing extremely special.

(review from 8/1/25) Canned 7/11/25. Solid, well balanced festbier with good mouthfeel; a nice malty/toasty/slightly toffeeish flavor; much less caramelly sweet than other Ofests/festbiers and a clean, crisp, quick-fading aftertaste. Very quaffable, bordering on slammable.

 

 

The beer pours a white foamy that takes a while to dissipate. The beer itself is a clear golden amber color and looks nice.

The smell is good. It has a mostly honey smell with herbal notes and a light orange bitterness lifting it up.

The taste is good. It strongly resembles the smell with strong honey malt notes with a bit of caramel as well. It's more herbal. The orange bitterness comes in the finish.

The feel is good. It has a smooth medium body with barely any carbonation in the finish.

Overall, a pretty good Oktoberfest and another good collaboration with a German brewer. The beer might be a bit more hoppy than the style but it's still reminiscent of an Oktoberfest.

Can dated 7/15/25. Pours a rich, coppered gold with a foamy white head that settles into a wispy skin; carbonation is gentle. Aroma of honey/toffee loaf, apple/pear skin and white pepper. Flavor follows the nose, but carries more apple/pear notes than I’d prefer; the finish is peppery and dry. The beer is medium bodied, softly carbonated and mostly smooth in texture. This feels a little more individualistic than your normal Oktoberfestbier, but I’m not sure that I love the fruity direction this took. I’d drink another, but I wouldn’t be thrilled about it. Not bad by any means, but not what I want in this style.

Pours clear, golden amber (SRM 5-7) with a spattering of fine carbonation. Carbonation lazily works its way up to one plus inch of antique white head. Within three to five minutes the head falls to a thick blanket, leaving spotty lace on a Pretentious Glass Company dimpled mug.

The aroma is clean, with lightly toasted malt. Mild bread dough works with light herbal hops. Warmth brings out a touch of honey.

The flavor is malt forward, with initial sweetness that is quickly replaced by mild bitterness. There is no real finish worth mentioning.

It has a medium body and the texture of denim. Alcohol is as expected, as is the fine carbonation that bristles on the tongue.

One could easily fill a cool, late summer afternoon with several of these beers. If consumed slowly, the alcohol is manageable. This is a pleasant way to transition from summer to autumn.

 

 

Poured into a wide mouth, grip shaped goblet: color is gold, clear, head is bright white with fine bubbles, head dissipates to thin top with some lacing on the glass sides.

Smell is clean malt, crisp earth and spiced hops, touch of honey and lemon.

Taste is balanced malt and hops (for style): light toasty malt, hint of honey sweetness, hops are earth/spice/hint of lemon.

Mouthfeel is moderate carbonation, moderate sweetness, light/moderate bitterness - to style and well done.

Overall this is a tasty wiesenbier/festbier and one of the better tasting ones; always impressed by the SN Oktoberfest of the year.

Oktoberfest (2025) from Sierra Nevada Brewing. Single 12 fl oz can, picked up 15/11/25, at HEB #45, New Braunfels, TX, $2.11 (including tax)/$ 0.176/fl oz. Reviewed 18/11/25, review 3635. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Bottom of can stamped “072425.” Stored at home at 37 degrees F. Served at 50.5 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature is 56.8 degrees F.
Appearance – 3.75
First pour – Pale Gold (SRM 4), clear.
Body – Deep Gold (SRM 6), clear. Under direct light, same. When rear-lite, same.
Head – Average (Maximum four cm, aggressive center pour). White, medium density, short retention, quickly dropping to a one cm crown and cap. A few tiny islands remain as the head collapses.
Lacing – None, other than a half-dozen tiny islands, above.
Aroma – 3 – Virtually none, - weak malt, no hops, no alcohol (6 % ABV according to the label).
Flavor – 3.5 – Begins with honey pushing out the caramel malt, somewhat sweet. Barely detectable hops. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. No gastric warming.
Palate – 3.75 – Medium: Syrupy: Soft but lively carbonation.
Style: Follows the BA style description.
Final impression and summation: 3.5 Uncredited art work. Very drinkable but, IMHO, not as tasty as the Märzen it replaced.

Gold in color with excellent clarity there’s a quarter inch of frothy off white on top. The aroma is of sourdough bread and a suggestion of grassy hops. I am tasting salted sourdough bread with just a gentle splash of grassy hops. The mouth is delicate and approachable.

This Oktoberfest has some spice to it! I usually prefer mine to be heavy on the malty and biscuity flavors, but I actually enjoyed this one a lot. The malt backbone is definitely there, but you also get the spicy hops on the back end. I love how Sierra Nevada does this series, collaborating with a different German brewery each year, so that you get a slightly different taste every time. It's nice to have them bring a touch of that stateside where we can more easily get it.