Already Craving Oktoberfest Beers?

Brewing one this weekend! My first attempt at brewing with a friend and seasoned brewer.

 

I was just the opposite -- I took my first swallow and didn't taste any oak and thought it was odd... then I looked up the story of the beer on the web site.

 

There's was something odd about that beer in general if I remember correctly, and by the power of suggestion I may have perceived it as oak (I honestly have a hard time picking up oak in beers that are supposed to have it, or any wood characteristics).

 

I remember being pleasantly surprised by it -- after I understood it wasn't supposed to be oaky.

 

Chris,

Maybe another visit to Philly is in order to drink Traunstein Brauhaus Schmitz Oktoberfest beer?

“The Traunstein Brauhaus Schmitz Oktoberfest beer is only available at Brauhaus Schmitz and it is specially brewed for them by Hofbräuhaus Traunstein, a brewery in Traunstein, southeastern Bavaria, Germany.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-sunday-week-550.332390/page-2#post-4045528

Cheers!

 

When I had that beer, it hit the spot so perfectly that I was feeling like it was a case of the right beer at the right time. I am interested in revisiting it to see if it has even half that impact again. Maybe it won't.

The beer I had was so heavy handed in this department that I would suspect that you wouldn't have enjoyed it (based on how I see your preferences). It wasn't drinkable like a German version in this regard. I did think it was delicious though. Give this year's a shot if you can, maybe it will be in that sweet spot for you.

I love that place and would go back just for the brats. (Drinking some Andechs Spezial is a bonus)

 

Melanoidin? I wish I could find more of that character in beers -- American beers rarely carry it and many of the German brands that used to have it in spades have now thinned out.

I'll look for the Bell's this year and see how I perceive it.

 

Well, knowing you, you would likely say something like, "as much as I loved the last iteration of Sierra Nevada's Oktoberfest, the new American-German hybrid scales new heights".

 

Sounds like it's more Doppelbock than Maerzen?

 

Big melanoidin doesn't necessarily mean big all around.

 

Hell no. This is like asking do I like to see Christmas stuff in the stores in September.

 

Think of a really well baked soft pretzel and that's how I'd characterize last year's Bell's draught beer.

 

Wait... draught? Did you try it in the bottle?

 

Nope. Never seen it in that form in these forsaken urban parts.

 

The ending should read: "scales new heights of depravity and homogeneous sixer wickedness... I'm a fan."

 

hats off to admitting that and i am sure lots of BAs wouldn't do the same! one reviewer in particular (not gonna name names) was surprising because he/she is quite a frequent reviewer/contributor to the site (and is in "wbaydn" alot as well), writes very good reviews and i expected a bit more from him/her considering his/her knowledge and experience in beer.....so it just goes to show that even seasoned veterans are susceptible to notions of flavor in a beer's name

same here....and that is how you know you really are a picky beer geek! (can't review until you know for sure)

 

Get ready for a rant here:
<rant>

Ayinger is fantastic, if a little bit pricey (I can never buy as much as I really want to)

Its really tough to pick an overall favorite. It really depends what I'm in the mood for. If I'm looking for a nice Amber märzen I would have to say
-Spaten
-Hacker-Pschorr

I've been enjoying the pale "weisn" style festbiers as well...my personal favorites so far:
-weihenstephan festbier
-paulaner weisn (so glad they make 12 packs now, i have too many 1L mugs as it is!)
-hacker-pschorr festbier (cool flip-top bottles!)
-Hofbrauhaus


American marzenbiers have been really improving lately. I already mentioned SN as being my favorite, but some of my other favorites are:
-Victory Festbier (they also make a great weisn style I've heard)
-Jack's Abby Copper Legend
-Sly Fox Octoberfest
-Berkshire Brewing Octoberfest
-Narragansett Festbier

If I'm going the cheapo "not really craft" route (you could probably throw Narragansett in here):
-Shiner Octoberfest
-Saranac Octoberfest (not a big saranac fan but they make a good octoberfest, IMO. haven't had it in 4+ years though)
-Michelob marzen (i know its gone now but it was pretty okay for what it was)

Would like to try:
-Live Oak Oaktoberfest (FW must be angry)
-Augustiner festbier
-yuengling octoberfest
==============================

Dog house/pet peeves:
can we talk about how bad Sam Adams Octoberfest has been? I understand that BBC likely didn't change their recipe....our tastes have changed. But when you compare SA to any of the beers above it is embarrassing how badly they have fallen off. SA Octoberfest was one of the first beers that got me into craft. I still try one every year and every year I have become progressively more disappointed; last year being the apex (nadir?) of disappointment after how delicious SN's was....SA needs to wake up and brew a "true" marzenbier, not this malt tea or whatever it is they've been pushing on us lately. If they can brew Rebel IPA just because our tastes have changed then they can easily brew up a decent festbier for the same reason. I think I might have to make a post on this subject some point down the road....

Lastly, I hate it when brewers make an "octoberfest" or a "marzen" and brew it with ale yeast. Stop trying to fool us by taking shortcuts (no lagering time), go ahead and call it a fest ale or even an altbier. There is nothing wrong with that but when you make a marzenbier with ale yeast and pretend its a lager you are doing an injustice to the style (my opinion of course)

</rant>

 

Yes. I've been on a German lager kick lately. Oktoberfests have always been a favorite style of mine and this year I'm looking forward to them more than ever with my recent explorations into more german imports.

Still looking forward to the ones from this side of the pond too - namely penn oktoberfest and victory festbier.

 

I can't say I'm craving them yet, but I'll definitely start early once they start showing up. Well, my favorites, at least. I'll probably go through at least 5 cases of various O'fests now that SN is in the mix, so the earlier the better .

 

I start early as well. I used to wait until September, but I quickly learned not just IPAs are best fresh. And since some of the imports already show up three months old...