New Beer Weekend #63

The end of Festing!?!

Tomorrow (Oct. 3rd) would have been the official end date for the Munich Oktoberfest if it had occurred this year. Does this mean the ‘end’ of Oktoberfest beer drinking? Well not for me. This past week we had the first days were there was just a slight cool nip in the air, my preferred time to drink Oktoberfest beers.

Today’s beer is a ‘new’ beer from Bitburger; first brewed last year. Below is a press release description:

“Bitburger Festbier, a full-bodied yet a delicately malty and clear amber beer, will conjure up Oktoberfest memories for those who have experienced the festivities and will allow first timers to experience the season in the comfort of their home. A very special malt composition, including Pilsner Malt, Mu¨nchner Malt and light Caramel Malt, accounts for its fine color and smooth body. Additionally, the beer is refined with Bitburger’s proprietary and unique hop blend called ‘Siegelhopfen’ (seal hops), which is sourced from a farm just a few minutes from the brewery. This drinkable 6.2% ABV full-bodied beer is the perfect marriage of hops and malt with a slightly sweet backbone, while finishing dry. It’s perfect to pair with traditional Oktoberfest fare such as sausages, pretzels, and cheese.”

https://www.brewbound.com/news/bitburger-brewery-releases-festbier

I was unable to find this beer last year but luckily I was able to purchase it this year.

One aspect I would like to highlight in the above quote verbiage: “amber beer”. So despite Bitburger branding this beer as “Festbier” this appears to be an Amber Oktoberfest beer.

It seems to be popular on BA to conduct an annual ‘debate’ on the topic of Amber Oktoberfest (or sometimes called Märzen) vs. Pale Oktoberfest (or sometimes called Festbier). You can read more about this topic and other Oktoberfest topics here:

https://www.morebeer.com/articles/Oktoberfest_Beer

I am quite intrigued to see what a Bitburger Amber Oktoberfest beer tastes like especially considering they use a proprietary blend of hops to brew this beer.

Served in my Polish Pilsner glass:

Appearance:

Copper colored with a 3 finger white head.

Aroma:

The aroma is mostly a combination of bready and biscuity but in the background there is some herbal hop aroma.

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose bready/biscuity flavor but there is some caramel-like flavor as well. The hop aspect is a tad more notable with flavors of herbal/spicy. There is a low-moderate bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

A medium body with an off-dry finish.

Overall:

I enjoyed drinking this beer. It is malt forward which is appropriate for the style but I did enjoy the hops which provided some balance to the beer.

Cheers!

@rotsaruch @RobH

 

Good morning BAs, and specifically you NBW participants and lurkers. Today I have a Crowler of beer I bought from my local bottle shop had on tap. We sat down for a couple beers and some food from this shop for the first time in over a year and a half, and it was a very nice afternoon./early evening.

On our way out, I tasted a few beers and City-State Brewing (had a style I don't see too often, especially distributed - a dark wheat ale. It tasted pretty good in the sampler cup, so I purchased 32oz for consumption and then returned home to look up some info about City-State Brewing, a "brand new" DC brewery.

Short notes, they opened in June of this year, and claim to be a "a craft brewery, taproom, arts venue and event space." They have 8 beers listed, and 3 are pale ales, 2 variations on a Kölsch, a Pilsner, and a pub ale besides the dark wheat shown here. Although we will be in the city today, I don't think we'll have time to stop by - but we most likely will at some point.

Anyhow, we didn't delve into Equal Marriage that evening, but the benefit is that it slipped into the weekend so I can share it here. Let's give it a look-see...

(improper glassware alert: should be sunrise wheat)

Keeping in mind it is a three-day old Crowler pour**
The head seemed to be struggling even as the dark liquid glugged into the glass over the high lip of the Crowler top. The lightly tanned bubbles hung on for the better part of a minute before giving into the thin ring that surrounds the surface. I vaguely recall a little better performance straight from the tap, but wouldn't stake anything on it.

The liquid allows light to shine through in points, showing a dark liquid that I will sip before smelling. Quick impressions - pumpernickel, weak coffee, banana, a little orange rind; nearing medium feel, and carbonation level is a little light**

Back to the nose, there's a sort of spiced coffee impression that hits me first. Digging in, a little of the pumpernickel comes through morphing into a dry banana bread aroma. Sipping again, there's a light sweetness, and I'm having trouble placing what counters that to balance things, but I think it might be the roasted grain notes that I am getting at the edges.

I am recognizing the qualities from what I was getting earlier this week, which I can say with some confidence because this is the only dark wheat beer I've had this week. It's not impressing me as much in this pour, but I think circumstances may be altering things a tad.

At the very least, this experience is not dissuading me from finding some time to visit the brewery. The GF says it tastes pretty good to her. Cheers, new beer sippers!


** of note, sometimes I open a Crowler and the beer is gushing out from an overfull pour. The store does purge cans before filling, but this can had a bit of head space when I opened it.

 

Saw that beer at the store as well, but we still have a bunch of IPAs from our trip up north, I reluctantly skipped it. Now I sorta wished I had just grabbed one four pack (we had cans on the shelf).

I'm with you, here, Jack. I just purchased a handful of local Oktoberfests packaged no earlier than mid-August for consumption. I don't think I'll get to them all for the tasting thread, but that won't stop my enjoyment (hopefully) of the beers well beyond "official" celebration end.

 

Where did you find the Bitburger Festbier? I have been keeping an eye out for it but haven't seen it.

 

I purchased that beer at my local Wegmans supermarket.

My local Retail Beer Distributor has it as well.

Cheers!

 

I'm a sucker for any tie in to Robert E Howard and Conan the Barbarian

 

Ah, OK. I will be heading to my local Wegman's today or tomorrow. Hopefully they have it.

My local distributors haven't had it, so far. One didn't know that it existed.

Thanks!

 

You can always ask your local Retail Beer Distributors to order the beer. The worst they could say here is "no".

Cheers!

 

Thanks to @colby600 . . .

Burst IPA from Fox Farm Brewery

Slightly hazy light golden color with white cap and good lacing.

Aroma of bright citrus with herbal hops that have a bit of sharpness. This is a clean scent that has an air of almost Spring like freshness.

Taste is a beautiful balance of citrus juiciness and hop bitterness. Citrus influence is more zest like than fruit juice because the citrus flavors have an edge we would normally associate with hops. The hops are certainly there but sing a complementary converging melody. Clean finish with a pleasant lingering aftertaste.

Medium slightly creamy texture with balancing carbonation.

All in all a Goldilocks beer which is to say not too light, not too strong, just right.

 

Last time we'll be at the lake until next spring. It's a chilly, overcast day tailor made for a fire and a few beers. Up first is Wheat Bock, a dry hopped wheat ale from Ever Grain brewing in Camp Hill, PA. I received this from @sulldaddy a few months ago and am finally getting around to giving it a try.


3.73/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Beer pours a hazy burnt orange with a nice amount of fluffy white head with solid retention and decent lacing. Overall, an attractive beer. Aroma has loads of citrusy hops. If I smelled this blind, I would not pick up that it was a wheat ale at its base. The hops are a little more subdued on the tongue than on the nose. The flavor profile overall is a little weak for an 8% beer. Not bad, just punching a little below its weight. There are some citrus notes with the wheat beer more noticeable on the finish. The wheat base does contribute to a softer feel. Good beer. Thanks, Sully!

 

Great Raft Rindstone Life, a Wheat IPA with grapefruit, 7.0% ABV; 4.15 overall

Pours a hazed gold with a pinky of beige head. Great lacing & head retention

S: Plenty of grapefruit, the featured ingredient

Grapefruit, green melons, dryness , some lime up front. Sweet pink grapefruit & line, plus dryness as this warms. Finishes dry with plenty of pink grapefruit, both sweet & a little bitter

MF: Medium body, soft carbonation, nice balance

Nice flavor, super easy to drink, ABV is well hidden

 

Good afternoon NBW
A new pumpkin beer from Clown Shoes

Pumpkin Sombrero


16oz can stamped 07/19/21 (about 10 weeks old) poured into a nonic pint glass at fridge temp 7% ABV. The beer pours bright medium brown in color with sticky light brown head. The head recedes to a thin cap and leaves rings of lacing around the glass. The aroma is pumpkin, pumpkin spice and pepper. The taste is semisweet roasty malt with pumpkin and sweeter pie spice before the chocolate and pepper heat finish things off. Mild bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, good although I prefer the original Chocolate Sombrero.

Cheers all!

 

Sweetwater Brewing HAZY IPA

Hazy light yellow gold color with solid white cap and lacing.

Nice citrus aroma, I get something like ripe pineapple but could easily add a few more tropical fruit aromas. A more earthy sort of ripe fruit aroma.

Taste on entry is rich, ripe, full citrus. No shrinking violet here, this stuff comes on full blast. That's not to say brash, rather straight forward with no apology. My first thought is full flavor yet I'm also struck by balance of flavors. I've had IPAs that were over citrus or over hoppy but this one goes in a straight line down the middle. Clean finish with pleasant lingering aftertaste.

Medium full texture with balancing carbonation.

Very good example of an NEIPA from a Brewery that routinely hits home runs.

 

Thanks @ChicagoJ for stepping up this week. At Vulgar Brewing with my boy and drinking Keep NH Brewing. Pours a clear straw yellow with a half finger sticky white head that leaves thick streaks of lace with nice retention. 4.25

Aroma is citrus, pine, apricot, and grapefruit. 4

Taste follows citrus, apricot, pine, and grapefruit really well balanced, crisp clean, with little bitterness. 4

Mouthfeel is about average, plenty of carbonation, maybe a touch dry, and at 6.5% it goes down very easy and drinks exactly like that. 4

Overall this is really nice, almost drinks like a hoppy lager. Well done, a hot weather crusher. 4 Cheers all.