Oktoberfest Beers in April

Locals or imports?

Spaten, Paulaner, and Hacker Pschorr have one year best-by dating and hold up pretty well. I've been drinking down some Spaten Okto best-by dated September, 2022.

I'd take the chance on others (and have).

 

Unfortunately, nobody can really answer that but you.

Maybe you will. In my case, I wouldn't buy them (especially not at full price)... which is a very different criteria than "would I enjoy them"... but that's just me.

 

@jgido759 - Let me add: Make sure you are careful with checking dates at that store when it's Oktoberfest season later this year.

 

Yes, an Oktoberfest beer will 'tolerate' age better than an IPA but those beers will indeed be stale at this point in time.

I always purchase Sly Fox Oktoberfest beers and those cans typically have a best by date sometime in early January. I make it a point to drink the last few cans during the holiday season (between Christmas and New Years) and while they are still drinkable then I do notice they just aren't as vibrant (tasty) as they were fresh.

Entirely up to you how to spend your money but these beers would be a hard pass for me.

And while some breweries will list a one year best by duration for business reasons there is no way those beers are still 'good' at one year of age.

Cheers!

 

How you gonna know without taking a chance?

I agree on the pricing of such out of season stock, but if it was a brand I was familiar with (in season) and enjoyed, I'd grab a six.

A newer local had a great Fest last season and one retailer had a lot of leftover stock -- into February -- that I bought the bulk of. Yeah, I could detect it fading, but it was still one of the better, fresher-tasting lagers out there.

 

I wouldn’t purchase them because if they are coming out in august or September then I assume they are brewed around now and could potentially be almost a year old at this point. Even refrigerated they may taste off at least to me

 

That's why I had to change the question.

I certainly take chances with other beers. This style of beer is one place where I don't feel the need and am happy to drink seasonally. If I suddenly got word that Hofbrau was discontinuing their Oktoberfestbier for import, I'd be singing a different tune and starting the antique hunt.

 

I would at least pickup a sizer or two and see how they are tasting. Hopefully if they local they weren’t overly hoppy like too many of the West Coast breweries tend to do.

I bought a paulner about a month ago and enjoyed it.

 

Paulaner Oktoberfest Märzen is available year-round. It is not a seasonal.

 

I guess that’s why it was good!

 

This might be a better question...

...do you really want to have a beer bottled/canned possibly as far back as last summer for one of your 6 or less beers for the week?

Also, do they do singles? That would be an economical way of taste testing them.

 

As I'll continue to stress, not everywhere.

Unfortunately.

 

The big 3 from Munich clearly date their bottles. No excuse not to check out their freshness when buying them.

That is, of course, if you care about that sort of thing.

 

Since I prefer a good Okto Marzen over many other styles, I probably would. But I'd probably hesitate close to the 12th month mark.

 

This one is brewed right around this time of the year if anybody is interested.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/125/4646/

 

Funnily enough I was just thinking about this a couple days ago while perusing the shelves. It was entirely local Oktoberfests so far as I could tell that were left.

A lot of the locals, around me at least, are already unbalanced or poor versions of the style so they won't age as gracefully beyond their best by date but your mileage may vary based on your local breweries.

We get year round Paulaner Märzen thankfully but my usual spots have been cleaned out for weeks which is a big disappointment. Even if we didn't though, I'm far more trusting of older imports for these beers.