Bayernbiere Bought and Drunk

Wait, you only got to try 3 of the six? Talk about slacking!

Seriously, was your stay in Munich short? On my first trip over I was there for 4 days and made the concerted effort to try all of the Festbier (if not stop into all of the tents).

 

I know, I know. This was the trip that piqued my interest in German beer, so I didn't exactly know what to look for/what to do when I was there. Oh if I only knew what I knew now...still, we did pretty well for ourselves all things considered (all things considered = my lack of knowledge).

As an aside:

I had Fuchschen Alt on tap Saturday night....http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/3805/12716/

My God this was ridiculously drinkable and delicious. At 4.5% abv the depth of the malt profile was off the charts. Incredibly sweet, but not cloyingly so. If this is an example of what a great Alt tastes like, I'll book my trip to Dusseldorf today.

 

I found some fresh Ayinger Oktoberfest over the weekend (cracked the case myself) and some fresh Paulaner this afternoon -- trying the Paulaner now.

Interesting to note that this Munich export is still of the Amber Märzen style, but seems more orange-amber than copper-brown to my eye this year. In years past it's been copper-brown like Spaten and Hacker-Pschorr, both of which are the same this year (though I'll have to double-check the H-P as I didn't pay as close attention). This looks more like Ayinger than H-P.

The flavor is about the same as past years, though maybe a little lighter and drier, even hoppier than the past. The character of Paulaner and H-P has always been dry in the finish, more so than Spaten or Ayinger -- or any of the Wies'n Fests that are readily available (even Paulaner's), but this is pretty crisp compared with most.

 

Jeeze -- didn't realize how redundant (consistent?) I was being -- I expressed the same thoughts in my post about H-P as I did in the Paulaner post, just flip-flopped.

 

Interesting... I just poured an H-P Amber Märzen and it's a shade darker/redder than the Paulaner. Although the glasses are similar, they aren't identical, so I'll have to make an assessment with a new side-by -- also with the Spaten... when I find some more.

But even more interesting is that the H-P isn't as dry or hoppy as the Paulaner -- last year I found them identical. A nice shakeup in 2 beers brewed in the same brewhaus... and the 2 batches I have carry the same best by dates of 05/2016.

Ohm and I'd choose the H-P over the Paulaner because the malt character is more to my liking -- but they're both very good.

 

Beat you to it ....My God this was incredible, especially on a cool(er) New England August day, perfect. The bready aroma popped from the glass upon the pour. Followed by an insanely drinkable sweet bready malt character, that quickly develops into a lingering dry finish with a kiss of the hops at the end. Crisp and refreshing, but the perfect balance of the Munich malt character lets you know this is no pils. Both depth and drinkability that remind you this beer should be consumed by the liter. One of my favorites. Prost!

 

Get packin'!

 

So... what's your excuse?

I have two .5l waiting for a quiet evening tonight, but I'll probably only pour one as you did. Probably.

 

Ha, I know, I'm weak.

As I got older I rarely drink anything by the liter anymore. As I mention every year, the bar up the street from me has every Oktoberfest imaginable (well, practically) and I still order 0.5 liters so I can try more of them. Any way you slice it, it's still ~6% abv for nearly 34 oz. of beer.

I'm extremely health conscious and work out constantly. I'm good for maybe 15 or so beers in a week...that one liter would put me over 3 in one session of the same type of beer. I had some Rothaus in my fridge that needed to be consumed, and I had to try some Urban Chestnut as well! (pictures and thoughts coming soon...you're right, the Zwickel is amazing).

 

Hah!

I feel your pain.

 

Up until last year, this is how I always found the two. To my palate, the H-P always had a more rounded malt character that made it one of my Okto faves, while the Paulaner was unpleasantly dry, so I seldom drank it.

Glad to hear it's back to its old self!

 

Same here (though darker in color), last year was the first time they both tasted identical to me.

I'm looking up my images from the side-by-side I did with Spaten, Paulaner, & H-P last year, going to attempt similar pics this year to confirm my observance... or not.

 

I had good intentions of photographing the "Big 3" Amber Märzens today, but time ran short. Nevertheless, I sampled all three and I have to say that the Spaten* is still my favorite, but I'd never turn down any of them if offered.

Found a spot that had 2 fresh 6 packs... that's the way the Distro Wars are going around here. Funny thing is, all of the "3" have best-by dates of 05/16. I think the freshness campaigns are getting to the breweries and the distros.

@AlcahueteJ Still didn't get to the Ayinger -- maybe tomorrow, maybe not until Friday.

 

Spaten has been my favorite the past few years as well. I haven't had it this year yet, but I'll at least have it on draft if I can't find bottles. It hits that "liquid bread" character better than maybe any beer I've ever drank. Textbook.

You'll get there! I still haven't had the Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest, I saw 12 packs last week, but I want a six pack and they hadn't unpacked them yet. I had other beers to buy, it's only August....but I want this one as fresh as possible (Sierra Nevada seasonals get here a month or two after bottling, usually more like two). It will be fine in my local's fridge though until I get to it.

I love this season, but there's SO many Oktoberfests I want to try, good thing I can start in August.

 

Having an Ayinger "Oktober Fest-Bier" (odd labeling) now. Just about the freshest I've ever had an Ayinger Okto -- very nice. Poured into my Dinkel-Acker .5l Krug for effect, it sure is tasty and smooth.

It would be interesting to try the SN Okto alongside this for comparison; the SN is cracker, the Ayinger is bready. They both have a very similar hop spiciness, though the SN is more pronounced. I'd say the colors are near identical.

I agree, I love this season... maybe too much.

 

Sorry, Oktober Fest-Märzen. Still odd punctuation.

 

Bavarian beer is all good, ja?

 

Still waiting for that Oettinger IPA.

 

I was really disappointed that the Schumacher Alt barrels never got delivered to the Great British Beer Festival, though today I did get a bottle of Uerige Alt to take away which I can't wait to crack open.
I had a few others on tap though - Lowenbrau Buttenheim Kellerbier and Vollbier Hell, and Schlenkerla Fastenbier.
Also on Tuesday I discovered a Bavarian cafe in Richmond-upon-Thames called Steins, recommended to me by a German friend I work with, with a few Bavarian beers on tap. I just dipped my toes in first with some Paulaner Helles and Bratwurst. A simple but pretty great lunch I thought, especially as it's an outdoor one, right next to the river.

 

They had HP and Paulaner Oktoberfest at Costco today, best by 6/2016. But I really don't need a case.