2019 Imported Oktoberfests Blind Tasting

• Pale Oktoberfest / Märzen / Festbier
  
• Amber Oktoberfest / Märzen / Festbier

Jack, your future self might agree, but for now, try to keep an open mind until you actually try it.

Jack, @nc41 has compared the 2019 Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest to an AAL numerous times. @nc41 , I know you like Bud and you don't think of yourself as a technical beer taster. Despite what you think of your ability, I bet that if you had the SN Ofest and a Bud in a blind side-by-side, you'd be able to identify them without a problem. You've commented a lot about the Ayinger Festbier and I think that beer might be throwing you off. If you take that specific beer out of the mix, I don't think you'd find many "amber" German Oktoberfestbiers to be as "heavy and brooding" as you think.

 

Sounds like some of you people would like KLOSTER ANDECHS: Spezial Hell. I had it on tap a few days ago, thought it was good but a little light duty for me.

 

I didn’t compare SN to Budweiser, there’s no way I believe anyone could confuse the two, I called it aalish because it’s a bit grainy and a bit harsh on the finish. I think it’s closer to perhaps Fat Tire or even Yuengling. Ayinger is imo a completely different animal at this time of year, not super educated on the styles obviously, but imo Ayinger is more of a stand alone. I’d buy SN again, it’s super easy to drink it’s just different, perhaps it doesn’t taste like it looks fools me a bit, don’t know. Red Oak is right down the road from me all they make are German brews good ones too, but I find most of their beers to be a bit malty, whether it’s a Bavarian Lager, or a Helles, Bock. The only beer they make that’s pale is obviously a Pils which is fairly new. I’m super sensitive to malty beers, most I can drink but I don’t love them but I assume they’re true to style. The Head Brewer training and lived in Germany for a decade, still I’d call myself a novice on these kind of beers.

 

OK. I guess I put more literal meaning into it than you intended based on your posts below. I only picked Bud because I know you drink it. (BTW - please don't interpret any of this as a knock in any way)

 

Absolutely no way at all there. I just drink it and give my impression, because I’m not really comfortable with adjectives as descriptors in some cases I try and use parallels. So beers most have had I try sometimes use them as similar but not always better or equal, just something that perhaps might be relatable.

 

What I really mean though, is that any ranking is ultimately personal preference as opposed to anything else. It's not like HB Oktoberfestbier is going to be more of an "accurate" Oktoberfestbier than Paulaner Oktoberfestbier. They can be different, but is one more accurate? And if one thinks so, then who is the BJCP consulting for their yard stick? The brewer with more comp table reservations?

 

So far this year I've had the Paulaner, Spaten, and H-P. The Paulaner and H-P were really close but I would go with H-P if forced to choose. Spaten was a distant third - not much flavor and a little skunky.

Ayinger has been my favorite for years but didn't dig it last year. Can't wait to try it this year to see if it's still what I remember from previous years. I haven't tried Hofbrau in years since, like Spaten, it always tasted skunky.

 

Hofbrau is now in brown bottles so give it another shot.

 

People have already discussed your labeling of this year's Sierra Nevada as a "Festbier", but Spaten?

That's typically (to my palate anyways) the darkest and richest of all the amber Oktoberfest imports.

Don't feel bad. I was looking at it from a computer monitor and didn't notice them.

I would move.

Which Paulaner? Marzen or Wiesn?

The Spaten had a best by date of July 2020. Pretty damn fresh for an import!

@JackHorzempa

Interesting take. So far I've had Sierra Nevada's, Jack's Abby's, Idle Hands', Paulaner's Marzen, Paulaner's Wiesn, Spaten's and Weihenstephan's.

My favorite, amber/pale style aside, has been Weihenstephan's. It's the lightest, but as I said, that's an interesting way of looking at it comparing it to a Helles.

Hofbrau's is definitely the beefiest at 6.3% (as opposed to Weihenstephan's 5.8%).

That one is excellent, I'll be having it on tap this month.

 

Well, to be fair, it was so skunky it probably would not even matter But you are right, should be in the "Marzen" category. Thinking I will eliminate that all-together though for the tasting, as it's painfully obvious what it is and it won't win, that's for sure.

 

I thought that I'd mention my own little blind tasting. I had a bottle of the Weihenstephaner Festbier and Hofbrau Oktoberfestbier so I had my wife pour them in glasses for my own blind taste.

It was absolutely clear to me that Hofbrau was a better Oktoberfestbier / Festbier.

The Weihenstephaner lined up with my past few years of experiences with that and the other Oktoberfest beers. It tasted like a generic Euro Pale Lager. It wasn't even as malty or rich as Paulaners Munich Helles or Spaten Original.


Edit: I forgot that I had quoted Jack. I had a different response to him. From my tasting of my pack of the SN Oktoberfest it would be easier to judge the SN version as a pale Festbier and ding it for the color being dark than judging it as an Amber version and dinging it for maltiness.

I really like the beer but I don't think it hews all that closely to the classic examples of the Amber Märzens and I don't think it really should.


But I have been thinking that most of the Amber examples I've been trying of my local Oktoberfests would fit into the hybrid category between Pale and Amber. They all have the dark color but don't have the rich melanoidins that I was getting the last few years from them. I'm not even getting any caramelly character from them. They've mostly just been light a bit malty sweet beers.
That includes Rahr & Sons which was last years GABF winner for Oktoberfest. This year seems to have taken a big step back.

 

Definitely should be two sub-categories.
I ended up with 18 different oktoberfest beers; 6 German & 12 American. All but three of those (Wiehenstefaner, Benediktiner, Hofbrau) were amber beers. Von Trapp & SN were borderline, they looked light amber, but the flavor profile leaned towards the pale style.

 

Appreciate the blind tasting. Guess if some don't agree they should put in the time and post their own results.

 

Mine was May 2020, but when does import freshness debate become moot when talking about Pasteurized beers? In the past I've kept cases of Spaten Okto into the next summer and started tasting oxidation... couldn't quite make it last into the next Okto season ('course, this was long before the Okto season crept up to August).

It was the first taste that made me stop with the Weihenstephan and think, "This is pretty thin compared to other Festbiers." Still tasted good, just didn't impress me as much as HB.

 

I was just impressed by the fact that an import was only about a month old.

 

Great stuff, here @WesMantooth Sounds like I'm overdue for a Paulaner amber revisit

Never sleep on Spaten. Paulaner amber was always my favorite amber marzen up until a few years ago. Spaten is the better beer by a good margin IMO. Now, if only they would do what Hofbrau did and switch to brown bottles!

 

Have you had Paulaner Wiesn before? How about that Hacker-Pschorr Superior festbier from a few years back? If so, how would they compare to the others you listed?

 

I was a bit taken aback with just how light the Weihenstephan was myself (and posted as much in the NE forum). But I loved it for what it was and as @AlcahueteJ mentioned the nose especially popped for me, presumably because of how fresh it was.

 

Paulaner Marzen.

If Spaten ever was shipped here in brown bottles, Its entirely possible I wouldnt drink anything else in the marzen category. They could at least do us the favor of sending some over in a mini-keg if they insist on green bottles!

 

It's definitely a good drinker and yeah, the nose had a doughy, yeastiness to it with soft DMS.