Bitburger Brewery Releases Festbier

Yeah, okay. I can see your point. You're in even a worse location for euro styles than I am.

 

I’m gonna have to get my friend in Arizona to send me some. I’ve your beer before and it is good!!

 

Its getting better out here, but mostly in/near cities, but the west coast remains a hop domain. Did I mention that we have really good ipas? No fruit. No lactose. Clear as a bell. Really good, real ipas. Beyond that, and increasingly wild/farmhouse styles, our beer scene is pretty pedestrian outside of the metros

 

People, let's not forget personal preference. You are talking as if your locations are the only variables. Some people here that I respect love Sly Fox's "Oktoberfest." I dislike it. I dislike some imports too. Some people don't like the ones I like. That's how it goes.

 

to be fair, there is fuck all when it comes to domestic examples of any traditional styles on the shelves around me. Other areas (notably SEPA) have lots of local brewers making traditional euro lager styles. I am more than happy with the beer available to me, but if I want traditional european lagers I need to rely on imports since the only local brewer who even really tries to do them is draft only (crowlers to go during the nonsense)

 

That sounds pretty similar to what the US brewers were doing around that time, based on this MBAA chart from '77:

I've always read that "overpasteurization" just added its own problems ("cooked" flavor, etc).

I guess @Snowcrash000 could best answer this - Are the bottles sold in the domestic German market also bottled in the spring but not on the retailers' shelves until mid/late summer - as is the case with the bottles exported to the US? Wouldn't seem economical (warehousing costs, etc.) to hold the beer back.

I've always just assumed the exported German Oktoberfests in the US (since some differ or don't even exist in the home country) are brewed at a different time than the German marketed ones - one reason being the extra time needed for transporting and US distribution.

 

Ah... I guess I've gotten the impression over the years in BA forum discussions when Americans complain about the conventional (but hardly universal) one year "Best By" date of German imports and German BA's reply "Hey, it's the same here..." it was understood there that the packaging date was exactly one year before the "Best By" date in many cases.

Some German exports here now actually list both dates:

01-02-20
01-02-21

('cause they've seen Americans complain about being forced to"do the math", I guess )

 

Some of the German breweries use an 18 month best-by -- looks like Wernesgruner is doing that these days.

 

Yeah, thus my parenthetical "...(but hardly universal)...".

I was trying to think of some other non-conforming US German imports to give examples, but the only one that came to mind was Jever's 15 months. One of those common 4 X 500 ml. canned German brands is also 18 months, too... (was shocked when I first struggled to see it through the shrink-wrap. "That can't be right...").

 

Yeah, I was going to add "yeah" to the beginning of my reply as a sign of agreement, but yeah -- I feel like I've been using yeah in my posts too much.

 

Yeah...

I know what you mean... Altho' I've taken to alternating it was "Yup!" (exclamation point optional) just seems more agreeable.

 

Maybe we need to revive "Huzzah!"

 

Huzzah!



Sorry... Let's not.

 

Please let us know if any of the Munich breweries get back to you with answers. I very much doubt they use a differing best by duration (e.g., lesser value than 1 year) for their one product of Oktoberfest beer vs. they other products.

@jesskidden previously posted: "Wouldn't seem economical (warehousing costs, etc.) to hold the beer back." Yup, this doesn't make sense to me but using a differing best by duration for an Oktoberfest vs. a Helles doesn't make sense to me either.

Cheers!

 

While I do hate calendar math -- and hours:minutes math, too, for that matter --, in my case it is not being able to do the math because the subtrahend is unknown.

(How are you at remembering your elementary school math terminology? )
(Do they even teach kids that these days? )

 

If my post felt abrasive to anyone, I didn't mean it as such. I'm just trying to provide a friendly reminder that you might even still prefer those imports if you had better local options. Or maybe not. I won't say what's "traditional," but I have lots of US and imported lagers available to me... and there are not many on either side that I feel like buying these days. I don't have much experience with Enegren, but it's too bad they aren't in your area. On the bright side, you seem to have very good access to Sierra Nevada... and if I was in your shoes, I wouldn't trade that for loads of other US options available on this coast.

 

I am a fan of Sierra Nevada beers, they produce quality beers. Having stated that I personally would indeed "trade" them for a plethora of locally produced beers. Maybe my 'section' of the coast is an improvement over others?

Cheers!

@unlikelyspiderperson

P.S. Every year I purchase Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. Since it is a seasonal I am able to find this brand fresh and it is still very much a favorite even though it may be deemed 'old school' by others.