Oktoberfests / Marzens

That's what we like to call palate shock.

Yeah, you definitely weren't getting a good sampling like that.

 

And then you forget all your impressions…

 

If you bring along a bottle of Bud you can "blend" just enough into the beer to give you that green apple character all the tickers are clamoring for.

 

I laughed so freaking hard when I read your opening. Well played sir.

 

You haven't had Shady Brook's DIHMBA? It's meh...

 

I'm as big a hophead as you'll find, but I still think a good Octoberfest/Marzen may be my favorite type of beer. Can't wait for them to return but I'll be quenching my cravings for the next month or so on the Hofbrau Maibock. Fantastic beer.

 

I opened a H-P Hubertus Bock for 5/1. It was pretty solid, but definitely could have been fresher. The HB Urbock is definitely my favorite of those two. I don't think the Spaten one is regularly exported (at least to my area), but that's my favorite pale one.

I've never seen the Ayinger Maibock before. Is it new? My one visit to Aying was in May, but they didn't have it...or at least they were advertising it if they did. When we were there in May of 2009 they were still heavily pushing their new helles (rather than the 100 year export).

 

Summit's newest Unchained series beer is a Oktoberfest called Fest Bier and it's honestly one of the best examples of the style I've ever had. Perfect.

 

Most hoppy bitter Märzen I've ever tried (and there's a nuttiness to it that's not typically Märzen -- same as Summits Oktoberfest, yeast strain?). Very well-made beer, tasty, but hardly perfect to-style.

 

I'm not sure it's freshness in this case, they weren't bottled that long ago, but maybe Pasteurization is the culprit on a more delicate beer? To me it was drier than most Maibocks, but it was (is -- I have a couple bottles left) pretty damn good.

Of course, compared to the HB Maibock, that might as well be two different styles!

 

FYI -- Just checked my bottles and the Best By date is 08/14. Betting it was bottled in February -- not too bad on the freshness side.

 

Have not had too many Marzens/Octoberfests beers that I like. I feel that there absence in the top 250 is primarily due to more flavorful readily available beers and more flavorful limited beers making up the majority of the top 250. It's not that I have anything against the style I just find marzens/octoberfest to be an underwhelming style. I love brown ales and pilsners which also lack a presence in the top 250. I guess it just comes down to what you like and what you don't IMO

 

That, and maybe understanding what to expect from a style -- all styles. You can say a Märzen is underwhelming to you and I can say a Gueuze is overwhelming to me, but understanding how the style is supposed to be brewed should tell the drinker more than just, "This doesn't taste as gig and bad as my favorite DIPA." It's just not supposed to and that doesn't make one worse or better than the other.

 

Just wondering- have you had any imported (German) versions? If all I tried of the style was what was made here (with a few notable exceptions), I wouldn't be too impressed either.

 

I know what the style is supposed to taste like and I respect it for what it is. What I was trying to say that its just a style that is not one that I seek out.

 

Can you make some recommendations? I've mostly had American craft versions of this style of beer

 

I'm not sure of a way to describe it...but maybe "dusty"? That sounds worse than it is just because I'm probably associating that flavor with the dust that tends to be on the bottles. Mine also had the 8/14 best by date, so it definitely isn't old. It wasn't an oxidized or off flavor either. It could be the pasteurization I guess.

For local Maibocks, my favorite one has been from Backcountry Brewing up in Frisco. While a hair different from German examples, it's one of the few that just tastes right...even though it's not an exact copy.

 

That sort'a fits with dry! I definitely find the finish in the Hubertus very dry.

Any idea who the brewmaster is there? I have an old friend in Frisco and he was brewing for Firehouse -- made a terrific Märzen. Can't recall who he's with now.

 

Then you really don't know what the style is supposed to taste like. When the fresh batches of Ayinger, Paulaner, H-P, and Spaten hit the shelves at the end of summer, try them and you'll taste a breadier, richer character than most US craft versions I've tasted. Some come close, most end up being very roasty or nutty.

I understood and wasn't questioning your likes, just the perceptions that many BA members seem to have with "bigger/bolder is better."

 

Then I will have to try some of these in comparison. I had great lakes two years ago in bottles and liked it a lot. I had it again last year on tap and found that it tasted a lot more generic, almost watered down if you will. I don't know if it was the end of the keg or what but was definitely not the bready quality that I remember on my first experience.