Bayernbiere Bought and Drunk

Not the best picture, and it's in a plastic cup, but this is what the Hofbrau Oktoberfest looked like today. I also had Paulaner's Wiesn and Marzen yesterday on draft. The Marzen was ok, the Wiesn was extremely underwhelming. The Hofbrau which is pictured was outstanding. I drained that cup in about ten minutes.

 

I purchased a 6-pack of Paulaner Wies’n beer last year. My thoughts on that beer last year was in lock step with what @AlcahueteJ posted concerning this year’s Paulaner Wies’n: “extremely underwhelming”.

Cheers!

 

I find the Paulaner stuff that's on shelves in the U.S. to be on par with Oettinger. All of the bottles I have had exhibited a husky/grainy taste. Not good. That said, the Hofbrau products really are excellent, pretty much across the board. Very underrated beers....

 

Spaten won my blind taste test so I decided to stop by the tent Sunday morning for a confirmation tasting. I was not disappointed. IMHO, it's the best of the fest.

 

Agreed. There's just something rough around the edges about their imports...or at least the bottled imports. Back when Ft. Collins Brewing was very German-centric they had that same flavor.
In general, I think the HB beers are wonderful and are phenomenal when properly cared for. That's in spite of their green bottles, of course.

 

@JackHorzempa have you tried Hofbrau's this year?

 

Yes, I had a draft pint of the Hofbrau Oktoberfest a few weeks ago. I enjoyed it.

Cheers!

 

Been dutifully working my way through some Oktoberfests, a style I'm terribly unfamiliar with, thanks to advocacy of so many folks in this group. Appreciate your encouragement to branch out!

Mentioned in another post that the Hacker-Pschorr and Paulaner tasted fairly similar to me, and both exhibited a slightly grainy taste, which @herrburgess mentioned, in addition to a bit too much caramel sweetness. To my untrained palate, anyway.

Popped open a bottle of Hofbrau last night and had trouble finishing it, to be honest. Slight vegetal smell, palate had a honey-like sweet note and a malt taste just didn't suit me. Didn't smell skuny, so I don't think it was a light-struck issue with the green bottles. I don't know -- maybe just not for me.

That said, the Weihenstephaner Festbier I had a week or so ago was really, really good. Exhibited an incredible lightness, which contrasted with the Paulaner/H-P. So clean, so smooth. That'll be a repeat buy for sure.

Anyway, just wanted to chime in with a novice's experience. Thx again for the encouragement to try some new stuff.

 

Sounds like the HB you got was too old.

 

With HB beers insist on buying them either by the case (usually the dunkel), or a 6-pack straight from one. That way I can see when they were dated and know that they weren't in the light.

 

Certainly a possibility. The HB had some crazy number on the back label that I couldn't decode to help pin down a bottle/best by date. Will have to see if it pops up on tap anywhere and give it another run out.

 

“…honey-like sweet note…” is an indication of oxidation (i.e., an ‘older’ beer).

I have no idea why a seasonal like Hofbrau Oktoberfest should be in an aged/oxidized state right now.

Cheers!

 

Me either! Lord have mercy if the place I bought it from somehow held onto last year's stock.

 

Another potential explanation is that the beers were stored warm/hot for a period of time. For example, if the beers were sitting in a hot (e.g., 90-100 degrees F) warehouse for a few weeks that would accelerate the aging process significantly.

Cheers!

 

Now that is certainly a possibility here out West, where as recently as a couple weeks ago we had triple digit temps. Would love to believe the distributor has a climate-controlled warehouse, but the Total Wine I bought the HB from...kinda doubt it.

 

"Would love to believe the distributor has a climate-controlled warehouse,..." Don't we all!?!

Cheers!

 

This was my experience with a bottle I took a few sips of back on Labor Day weekend. We bought a mini keg of it as well, and while not as pronounced it still tasted off.

Last weekend I had it on draft and it was superb.

 

To my own tastes, there are different levels of the whole honey/oxidation thing.
I get at least a little bit of honey character (specifically clover honey) from most well-made lagers. However that honey note turns more into honeycomb with age. The sweetness almost tastes crystalline and I get that odd dusty/papery note that a lot of people say is cardboard-like. In tiny doses I actually like it with some beers, but it has to be minute. With anything more than a few months that turns into a flavor that I associate with salinity.
If an Oktoberfest has a lot of that note, it might be last year's version. I'm not sure what kind of distro HB has, but I've seen their seasonals showing up on shelves around here 2 and 3 months early in some cases. I'm a little paranoid those are the ones from the previous year.

 

I love both the Spaten and Augustiner Oktoberfestbiers, but I, too, have had problems with the Hofbrau Oktoberfestbier. I know for sure it's been fairly fresh when I've had it as the best before date(one year after bottling) was clearly labeled. I find it to be a little too vegetal on the nose and there's just something about the malt character that's off to me. Not to mention that I feel the alcohol comes through a lot more in HB's than in most others. Just my humble opinion though.

 

It would seem so cynical on the distributor's part to hold on stock from last year, but I guess you never know. Honeycomb/crystalline is a good descriptor for that note, by the way -- well said.

Was hoping after my positive experience with the pale-style Oktoberfest in Weihenstephaner that HB would also fit the bill, but no dice (at least for now). Any other pale versions you know of that tend to be easy to find here in the US?