Oktoberfest: Wiesn and Märzen

The o-fests we get here in the US so far are all bottled in May. Ayinger didn't have a date, but had the new label, no clue when it was bottled exactly though.

 

I think Jess Kiddin has reported a recommended 6 or 9 week shelf life from just about all imports.

A few years ago I bought up a slew of Spaten Oktoberfest to have available until the next season. By around June of the next year you could really start to taste the "fade" and it also became lightly cardboard in flavor from oxidation. Old Ayinger Okto I've had has actually been sour and cloudy.

Drtth has the right idea.

 

So if everything I'm getting is bottled in May, they're all almost past shelf life? They tasted fine to me.

So far I've had Weihenstephaner Festbier, Hacker Pschorr and Paulaner Wies'n from bottles, all dated with best by's of May 2014. I assume all German imports best by are a year from bottling.

 

'92 is lighter, definitely looks more amber. The other two I simply chalked up to poor lighting. So they switched from year to year?

 

It's probably a lighting issue on most of those shots. No, to my experience it gradually got lighter from my first visit in 1990.

 

Yes, but again -- from what I understand.

Best-bys are great, but they don't all have them. I saw 12 packs of Spaten Okto that were bottled in January of 2013 -- didn't pick one up. H-P and Paulaner I've had both have May of 14 as well.

Why would you assume that?

 

Let's see if this will work. Again, lighting is everything, but I tried to choose 2 that weren't in high-direct lighting. I think you can see the '87 looks more copper than the '12 which is gold.

 

“I assume all German imports best by are a year from bottling.”

Firstly a number of German brewers do not date there beers at all. Ayinger and Schlenkerla immediately come to mind.

As for the German breweries that utilize a best by date, a one year timeframe is not uncommon for imports. Jever and Furst Wallerstein are examples that come to mind. IMHO, these one year timeframes are much too long. I prefer to buy German imported beers that are less than 3 months old but for many brands this is almost impossible. I will purchase a case of Jever that is about 5-6 months old since otherwise I will never be able to purchase this beer. A timeframe of 5-6 is less than ideal but ….

Some German breweries use a bottled on date. The only example that immediately comes to mind is Weihenstephaner (which I previously posted about).

In my opinion all beer bottles should be dated and the preferred dating system is a bottled on date.

Prost!

 

I've yet to see any German import indicated otherwise. Other than Ayinger not dating at all, and Weihenstephan having the bottled on date. But as you indicated, it's just an assumption then.

 

I think it's simply lighting. Why would they look that different from '86 to '87? And you said you remember amber in 1990?

 

Yeah, your example is probably lighting, it's why I tried to pick 2 out of direct sunlight.

If only Bierman had just stood in one spot, at the same hour each time!

And yeah, in 1990 I had more like Bierman's '87. In 1991 it was getting more golden.

 

But I don't see bottled-on and best-by on any of them, so how do you know if they're saying a full 12 months shelf life? Did I miss something on the H-P or Paulaner?

 

Remember the early ones were film, not digital. And the film itself made a huge difference--Fuji was brighter, picked up greens better, but made reds way too bright (green film base), Kodak (orange film base) and Konika made yellow and orange look darker, Agfa (most of the film you could get in Europe back in 1987) had a completely different profile, and some other/generic film (a lot of generics were Agfa or Konica without identification) were unpredictable. Digital cameras pick up more light, in general, but are also prone to strange effects with indirect lighting that triggers sensors in unpredictable ways. So you can't just go by the color--not even if you're looking at similar environmental conditions, background colors, etc.

But, FWIW 2009 looks darker to me than most 200x and 201x

 

Jack, you say this a lot about Schlenkerla. It is most definitely dated here. They used to have a punch-out back label system (month along the bottom and year along the side) but have recently switched to a good, old-fashioned ink date printed on the back label. I wonder if you'll be seeing that State-side as well?

 

Best-by dating is an EU legal requirement, but there is no such requirement in the US, so some brewers omit it for their export labels. I can understand why smaller breweries don't date.

 

mjt, unfortunately Schlenkerla does not date the beers that are imported to the US. I have a rule that I refuse to buy beer that is not dated (imported & US brewed). I ‘violated’ this rule once when I purchased a big bottle of Schlenkerla Marzen beer. If I was being videotaped in that beer store I am sure they are laughing at me: I took the beer off the shelf, rotated it many times looking for a date, put the beer back on the shelf, took the beer back off the shelf and finally said to myself: darn it, just buy the beer.

Cheers!

Jack

P.S. The fact that Schlenkerla dates the beers for German beer customers but not for US beer customers really pisses me the f@#% off! I recognize the business reason for this decision; with no dates this beer cannot be pulled off the shelf or returned by a customer later. While recognizing the business decision reason, it also demonstrates that Schlenkerla has no ‘respect’ for their US customers. I would argue from an overall perspective, Schlenkerla made a less than wise business decision. They will not get repeat business from me.

 

Oh sure -- add more to the confusion!

Actually, how do we know the later ones weren't on film? I still have my old OM-10... though I haven't really used it in 15 years...

Heh -- maybe, but look directly behind his Maß in that 2009 picture. Little influence maybe?

 

How'd it taste?

 

They are a Franconian brewery and operate by the regulations they are required to. Why would they care about sensitivities of what is a fringe market for them at best ? Don't like it, don't buy it and someone else will.

 

The very few Spezial bottles I've seen over here had dates on them and I *think* Mahr's bottles do too.
I think the worst German beer I've ever purchased on American soil was an Augustiner Edelstoff, though. My store had literally just started carrying the brand, but every bottle in my six pack smelled like a dead skunk and tasted even worse. I've been scared to buy more of it just because it's clear our distro doesn't seem to care about freshness at all.