Märican Biere Bought and Drunk...

Out of curiosity, how is Erdinger perceived in Germany? Everything they produce (as far as I know) is wheat-based, but their yeasts are muted. Blind you might not even know what kind of beer you're drinking. Depending on what you want, that could be good or disappointing, right?
Anyway, aren't they also the largest seller of weissbier, but nearly all of it is bottled?

 

Erdinger - odd story. One of the few remaining independents and "wheatbeer-only" breweries. I had always considered their Dunkelweizen head and shoulders above their Weißbier. It might be time to re-visit Pikantus, as I have not had in quite a while.

As an independent, I had always hoped/thought that they would be more "inventive" like Schneider.

 

Hey Matt, when are you going to update your profile so that it represents you as being Märican!?!

Cheers!

Jack

 

"Drove die Frau a bit nuts."

Method to your madness!?!

Cheers!

 

Pikantus is pretty solid. No real yeast esters, but the grain is on display in that one. I almost want to compare it to a normal bockbier rather than a weizenbock. They also have this kicked up (export weissbier?) item as well http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/703/11434/

With this being related to American beers - our Oktoberfests are starting to hit shelves. What are some favorites and ones worth avoiding? While almost too sweet, I still enjoy the one from Left Hand every year. Even though Bill Eye is gone from Dry Dock, theirs is still phenomenal. I have a feeling they never changed the recipe.

 

Had Shiner's Oktoberfest again. Was very impressed last year. Not sure if it was my high expectations, slight palate shift, or a minor recipe change, but this year's didn't impress me much at all. Too much of a sweet crystal malt character (bordering on chocolate malt territory, though color would seem to indicate it's more crystal) for my tastes. Too bad, really, that they may have felt the need to "amp it up," since they showed such a deft hand with the malt bill and balance last year. Oh well....

 

I've sampled a few Ami Oktos so far this year, only one that really stands out as more Bavarian-like has been Lakefront's from Milwaukee. The others have been on the sweet, nutty, or roasty side; characters that I'm going to start using as a dissemination between U.S. Okto-styles and Bavarian Oktos. We do it with with U.S. and English IPA, right?

 

Spaten Amber Märzen here in the U.S? Yeah, many others are sweeter -- Summit, Boulevard, even Sam Adams to a point. Spaten hits sweet first, and much more melanoidin-ful, and finishes dry (at least in the past, I haven't seen a trace of it this year). The others have a lingering sweetness.

If you haven't yet, try this year's Paulaner and Hacker-Pschorr -- they're nearly identical, but the Paulaner doesn't finish as dry as the H-P so it has a good sweet breadiness. To me, the H-P is a little too dry -- so maybe a half-n-half of Spaten and H-P would be perfect!

 

Sounds more like you're talking about the Wies'n styles in Munich proper -- of which I have no real notes, just fond memories.

 

That's a good one. Relatively reasonably priced, too, for what it is (well, for "craft" standards...).

 

Up until this year the H-P we've gotten is the Amber-Märzen. I only saw the Wies'n my last few times in Munich. But this year H-P has come out with some "specialty" beers (limited availability, of course) in .5L swing-tops; their Hubertus Maibock for spring, Sternweiß Hefeweizen for summer (both have been quite good, and not the usual imports from H-P), their Wies'n Festbier for fall, and their Doppelbock for Winter.

I have the feeling it's a term they glommed on to from U.S. beer forums -- some friends and I, at another forum, started calling it the Wies'n because the lighter-colored beer was catching on at the Fest itself (and we have lawyers getting in contact with Paulaner ), while we were still finding the Amber at a few Halls and Gartens around Munich, though I'm not sure that's the case anymore.

Beyond that marketing label, Paulaner and, now, H-P are the only 2 breweries that export both Amber and "Wies'n" Märzens to the U.S. Spaten has stuck to the Amber, HB and Augustiner (along with Weihenstephan) have switched to the Wies'n only as export.

 

Never had the pale version from Spaten and I'm deathly afraid of those green bottles, but on tap I think their Oktoberfest is one of the best. It isn't freakishly sweet, but the malts still shine through. Around here most of the Old Chicago locations will keep it on for 5-6 weeks each Fall. They do an Oktoberfest line-up of 10-15 beers each year and it can be fun to compare and contrast the different versions. In nearly every case, the US versions are 2x as sweet. Sometimes it works (I like the Left Hand one) and in other cases things get syrupy.

 

Covered 12 packs man, way to go!