Your Top Oktoberfest Beers

Got a surprise yesterday when I saw Goose Island Oktoberfest back on shelves after a hiatus of a few years. Not bad either, if not a bit strong for an Okto at 6.4.

Oh -- and brewed in Chicago. Thank you A-B for the extra brewing space!

 

Gotta agree with Ayinger and Weihenstephaner

 

Last year was at an octoberfest celebration at the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City and was totally under whelmed by the Paulaner Octoberfest beer and it was on draft. On top of this the mug which I purchased broke(the bottom felout).I donno maybe it was an unfortunate keg.Or maybe I dom't like the style -all malt and no hop.I dunno.I was wondering if anyone else who was there had a bad experience.

 

Spaten Oktoberfest, it is available year around, doesn't get more readily available than that.

 

gotta go with weihenstephaner and schneider-wiess.Anything these two make is (as the Master of Hopheads says)
is Def...ing licious and priced right especially Weihenstephaner.

 

great lakes is on the top of my list

 

The last Spaten Oktoberfest I found in my area was over a year old. As I've pontificated in the past, it's not available year-round everywhere. With A-BInBev now at the Import Helm, it will be interesting to see if that changes at all.

 

I have to say Spaten. It is the most consistent Octoberfest that I have had.

 

Great Lakes comes to mind

 

My favorite marzen was served on tap, at the 1991 Oktoberfest in OKC. A liter of Hofbrau (or was it Hacker-Pschorr)? I dunno. Anyways, the schnitzel was great and the fraulein that accompanied me home was outstanding too. I love Octoberfest beer. The proper mug is key. Always remember that.

Prosit!

 

Is Löwenbräu's Oktoberfest available by you? Many of the Munich Oktoberfests were recently released here in Germany and I picked one up. I liked it a lot more than I remembered in years past.

 

1) Ayinger
2) Hacker-Pschorr
3) the rest

edit: to address something else. Spaten O-fest is not available year-round even if it is brewed year-round; Paulaner is however.

 

Right now Löwenbräu is only available in the eastern half of New York state (IIR Jess Kiddin's research correctly).

It's one of those imports (to us) that has had an odd journey since being brewed by Miller and then bought by Spaten -- to end up in the paws of AB-InBev.

 

Nope, not my "research" (which consists of looking at the local liquor store shelves ). The standard Lowenbrau "Original" (as it is labeled) is available in NJ and, IIRC from previous replies in BA threads, a number of other northeastern states, and perhaps other regions.

I think the Lowenbrau Oktoberfest exports to the US ended with InBev's transfer of the importation right to AB (from their wholly owned Labatt USA), the year before they bought AB.

 

If the Original is in NJ, Tongo ought to keep his eyes open for the Okto -- never know.

For what it's worth, I haven't seen any of the import Oktoberfests here in the Chicago-Midwest region yet. And Löwenbräu (of any Munich label) hasn't been around here since that year before InBev bought AB -- maybe even before.

 

Great Lakes, Thirsty Dog, and Shorts... I am super amped to try Goose Island this year

 

Well that is too bad. For what it's worth, the one Oktoberfest I can never find here in Heidelberg is Spaten.

 

Great Lakes and Thirsty Dog Barktoberfest are readily available to the states they distribute to.. not sure if they make it to CT.. but I think Harpoon Octoberfest is very underrated and I'm assuming they distribute to CT..

 

Don't think AB's subsidiary, Import Brands Alliance, ever filed a Lowenbrau Oktoberfest label with the TTB (that I've ever seen, at least). There are still 5 or 6 AB houses left in NJ, and "Tongo" is in an area serviced by ones other than I see - so, yeah, "never know".

Yeah, post-InBev purchase, AB announced (prematurely, as it turned out) they were dropping Lowenbrau from the US market - around the same time they dropped Tennents (due to the sale of the brand in UK) and, I think, Leffe Brune.

So it stayed in some markets (possibly due to distributor demand?). Someone who works for a PA. retail distributor recently posted on BA that their AB house was discontinuing the brand.

 

Great Lakes and it's not even close.