Best 2017 Oktoberfest, So Far

Warsteiner is a strong oktoberfest. I have seen NO SPATEN in my wegman's and to whom do I state this fact? Also awesome is weihenstephaner and my personal favorite this year AGAIN is Ellicottville. See ya at the tasting on . . . uh today! Bells was excellent and I haev Rochester Three Heads in the fridge. =)

 

Well, I realize this is some sort of inside joke, but for others looking for a beer the usual route is:

Talk to the retailer's beer buyer to find out if they ordered it. If so, they'll blame the lack of beer on the wholesale distributor. for Spaten, it's likely (but not always, given state laws) the local AB house.

I forget which AB house covers Ithaca/Tompkins County (been decades since I lived there). Either Binghamton's Rocco J Testani (29 Phelps St) (607) 722-6476 or Elmira's Seneca Beverage Corp. (2085 Lake Road) 607-734-6111? Neither lists a website on AB's Wholesaler website - lots of distributors are still not "consumer friendly" (consumers aren't really their direct customers).

If you beer shop during the day, looks for distributor's reps in stores - look for the guy with a notebook or their cars in the parking lot and check the brands they're messing with (AB folks in particular are usually very obvious).. One-on-one casual discussions are often more informative than canned responses via phone or email.

AB took over US importation of Spaten a few years back, via it's wholly-owned subsidiary, Import Brands Alliance (rear label w/AB's toll free phone number below) so if the above AB wholesalers don't carry Spaten in that Southern Tier/Finger Lakes region, they should know which other distributor(s), if any, do.

As usual when going up or down the Three Tier system's local participants, be prepared to be frustrated and/or disappointed. It's always possibly that it's just not available.

 

Khoffner in Ft.Lauderdale had a nice Dunkel in the five flight sampler I opened with, but their Helles Bock was outstanding, downed 4 pints of the stuff.

 

I got really turned off by Octoberfest beer due to not liking Sam Adams'. It's just super cloying to me and I had trouble finishing one pint of it. However, I did like Sierra Nevada's Octoberfest last year, so I'm determined to make this the year that I give the style another chance. I think I'll buy a six pack of Sierra Nevada's tomorrow. If I like it, I may give some other breweries' a chance, such as Warsteiner, Bell's, or Left Hand.

 

There are so many great festbiers out there that have a nice dry finish. Many American Marzens can be cloying and Sam Adams version is the worst of the bunch. I say that as someone who generally likes SA beers too (but its usually better on draft). There is nothing cloying in a Paulaner Oktoberfest Wiesn, I recommend starting there.

 

Also @tzieser -- a local grocer just added Paulaner Wies'n 12 packs to their Okto collection -- can't go wrong at $14 a 12 pack -- drinking quite nicely in our record-breaking heat wave.

And no, nowhere near cloying.

 

Okay, gonna add my picks for 2017 (though I'll bet they're about the same as '16, '15, '14...)

German Amber Märzen:
1. Spaten Ür Märzen
2. Paulaner / Hacker Pschorr tie
3. Ayinger

German Wies'n Fest:
1. Weihenstephaner
2. Paulaner / Hofbräu tie

Ami Okto*:
1. Bell's
2. Urban Chestnut O-Katz (though I've only had it on tap, still looking for cans)
3. Schell's / Lakefront tie

*Full Disclosure: I didn't pick up a lot of Ami renditions, but I can't pass up some of my old favorites. Capital was okay this year, a little lackluster. Haven't seen Sprecher, yet. Avoided all the rest due to past disappointment or sticker shock.

 

http://www.gooseisland.com/our-beers/goose-honkers-ale

RECIPE INFORMATION
Style: English Style Bitter
ABV: 4.3%
IBU: 30
Color: Golden Sunset
> Hops: Golding Celeia, Pilgrim, Styrian <
Malts: 2-Row, Caramel, Roasted Barley, Wheat

 

Thanks for taking the time -- I meant to do the same back when the question came up, but got involved with arm's-length-life!

FWIW -- I think Honker's used to be hopped with only Styrian Goldings (not East Kent) in the past, but my memory could be foggy.

 

Happy to share vital info whenever I can.

 

Ah, thanks for that. I swear I googled it and went to their website and there was no recipe information.

That's an interesting hop profile, mostly because I have virtually no knowledge of what those hops taste like. And to me, it tastes like a fairly traditional English Bitter.

Also, the addition of wheat in the malt profile is interesting as well. To add body maybe?

 

Ha, yup, no surprises there. Hopefully I'll get to try some Paulaner from a wooden keg this Saturday. Although the last Oktoberfest they had from a wooden keg didn't taste like it held up well during its trip.

I'll reserve my final vote for when the season is over. At this point I've had roughly > 30 different Oktoberfests I think, with some more to try (and re-try).

Spoiler alert: The imports are still in the lead...

 

Best Festbier of 2017? Easy - Traunsteiner. I waited 2 frickin years to have this beer again and I still love it. This isn't just my favorite Festbier/Oktoberfest of the year... it's one of my favorite beers of the year.

Sorry @TongoRad , I couldn't resist it.

 

Styrian Goldings was crossed with other hops to get Celia.
https://ychhops.com/varieties/celeia

Those hops have a British influence. Styrian Goldings is Fuggles grown in Slovenia, so different terroir. Pilgrim is British.
https://ychhops.com/varieties/pilgrim


Wheat is often used in British and some American Ales at low levels for head retention.

 

Enjoy, my friend, enjoy!. By the looks of it I would have gotten home way too late for sure.

I'll just have to make a point of getting there early one day this week- will report back if (or when ) I do.

 

Looking forward to this at the Zum Schneider Oktoberfest this weekend. Where is this - do they have it on tap already?

 

Well, I know what I'm getting at Olde Magoun's this Saturday for their all day German festival. The only place locally in Boston that I know of that has it.

I've sampled it in the past and didn't care for it, but I'll suck it up and try a half liter this weekend.

 

Yeah, that's the place.

 

Hofbräu Oktoberfestbier is great, it might be tops for me over the Paulaner Oktoberfest Wiesn, my usual favorite. I wish I didn't pass it by for so long.
Until I have the Hofbräuhaus Traunstein at least.

 

For German brewed beers I'll go with the Hofbrau Oktoberfestbier.

For US brewed beers I'll go with Bell's Oktoberfest.