Sierra Nevada's Oktoberfest collaboration brewery is Brauhaus Riegele of Augsburg, Germany

Nope.

 

Had it this weekend- way too "light" for me. I felt like I was drinking and Oktoberfest "light" beer. Maybe I just prefer the darker heavier ones. My favorites are Great Lakes and Sam Adams....

 

Not sure just what this means -- is it a left-handed way of comparing this beer to macros? If so, whoever used the descriptor doesn't know malt. From my own review of the beer:

I get that from the SN Okto, too. Hoppier, but not over-hopped, bitter but not overly-bitter -- SN made it in their style without going overboard (this time) and I have to credit them for that.

 

Stay away from Paulaner Wies'n, HB Oktoberfest, and Weihenstephaner Oktoberfest -- oh, and Munich, for that matter. I'll pick up your slack.

 

@sierranevadabill Drove around to 5 different retailers this afternoon looking for the SN Okto -- none to be found. I ran into the distro rep at spot 3 who told me it's sold out all over, but ought to be re-stocked by... Tuesday. He said that even then it's going to be low availability! He was under the impression that the east coast brewery isn't making the beer and also suspected that the Okto will be gone by mid-September to make room for the Winter beers -- I told him to bite his tongue.

ISO more SN Okto before the season ends.

 

I had 3 last night and agree with those who thinks its a good beer, but thinks it's too light on taste. Nothing has beat Ayinger yet for me.

 

We are brewing it in NC, in fact, we just packaged a boatload of fresh beer this week. The beer so far has been really popular, so we've actually been having some trouble keeping it in stock. Luckily, we have a ways to go with it still, at least until mid-October.

Bill

 

man, i didn't realize there were going to be multiple batches...need to start looking at the bottling dates again because i absolutely love this stuff when fresh!

also, just wanted to advocate here for your Vienna to be a standalone seasonal or year-round offering...i'd buy boatloads of the stuff

 

So popular, SN would be crazy not to bring it back next year, right? <crickets> Right? <more crickets> Well, one can always wish

 

What are the differences between this (2015) SN Oktoberfest and last year's (2014) release? I see some good info. on malts used this year in Crusader's post, from which I gather Steffi is new, but I otherwise haven't been able to find anything about malt or hops used previously. Is the yeast culture from Riegele?

To me this tastes quite similar to what I remember from last year. That's not a backhanded complement—I liked the previous 'version' quite well—but I can't discern what's changed aside from the Riegele-collaboration branding. From comparing my own notes, I gather I had very similar impressions: a late burst of nutty, light caramel flavour, lingering breadiness, hints of grassiness and fruitiness.

Also—anyone have leads on what will be the 'something with intensive barrel aging' that SN takes to Germany later thisyear?

 

Loving this beer.

 

Are you still have a hard time finding this? I'm seeing it in plenty of places still (SNBill's forthcoming boatload notwithstanding). Whereabouts are you?

 

Sierra Nevada lists beer stats on their website. The 2014 version is very different from the 2015 version; different malts and different hops.

The 2014 version:

Overview

Alcohol Content 6.2% by volume

Beginning gravity 15.0° plato

Ending Gravity 3.5° plato

Bitterness Units 34


Ingredients

Yeast Lager yeast

Bittering Hops Pacifica

Finishing Hops Pacifica

Malts Two-row Pale, Pilsner, Caramel, Dark Crystal, Roasted Wheat


The 2015 version:

Overview

• Alcohol Content 6.0% by volume
• Beginning gravity 14.6° plato
• Ending Gravity 3.5° plato
• Bitterness Units 30

Ingredients

• Yeast Lager yeast
• Bittering Hops German Magnum
• Finishing Hops German Select, Tettnanger, Spalter
• Malts Two-row Pale, Steffi, Pilsner, Munich

 

Just picked up a 6, chilling now. Been thru Ayinger, Mectoberfest, now the SN. IMO Ayinger and Mectoberfest from Old Mecklenburg were the same brew, both were very good, but I'm looking for something a bit drier on the finish and a tad less sweet.

 

I would suggest Sly Fox Oktoberfest: http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-sunday-week-550.332390/#post-4045230

Cheers!

 

The SN I bought this morning was bottled on 6-30-15, it's on the back label right at the top, can't miss it. Not as fresh as I was hoping for ,but for the style not really a concern, but I will be checking dates if I buy this one again.

 

I wish, I'll have to wait till I get home some time in Oct, meeting my son who's changing bases, going to Wash St.

 

Good things come to those that wait!

Cheers!

 

I'm far northeast in Lake County. I'm going to head out to meet my wife for lunch and just checked a few spots on the SN beer finder that I'll check (though I already know some of them are out of date from travels yesterday).

Since SNBill has said there's another wave coming I'm not concerned as much, I have a lot of other Oktos in my stash. But I still want some more SN before the season is over.

 

While I don't find the SN or Ayinger all that sweet -- especially compared with many other Ami Oktos -- you may want to pick up some Paulaner or H-P Amber Märzen, they always tend toward a drier finish to my palate.