BeerAdvocate Oktoberfest Tasting! (Sep 17-Oct 3, 2022)

New Glarus Staghorn Octoberfest, thanks to Luscious_Malfoy
I have been waiting for this one a long time. Usually you get a bit disappointed because your expectation are so high. But I like this one a lot.
Nice, clean, toasted bready malts with a hint of sweetness.
The hop note is very subtle and no bitterness to speak of.

 

It is classified as a marzen style and it has the elements, but with the addition of caramelized sugar. Seriously tasty take on the style.

 

Something outside my "beer comfort circle" as my daughter would say, Hofbrauhaus Festbier

 

You mean "Hofbräuhaus Freising" Festbier

I have some that I can't wait to try myself.

 

I did really enjoy it, I was a bit surprised, I have been on the Porter and Stout train for a very long time, might need to try expanding that comfort circle

 

Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen

Well,... somebody was going to add this to the thread. I guess that somebody will be me. I'll be That Guy.

We have had a cool to chilly day and night with rain and storms off and on. What better time for Rauchbier? A Rauchbier that is also a Märzen. OK, ok... that's just a strength designation here (or whatever does define a "Märzen" in Germany) but hey - a Märzen is a Märzen is a Märzen.

Pros't!


500 ml bottle
Glassware: 0.5 L Festmug
Temp at Pour: 51.8 F
ABV: 5.1 %


Look:
Clear chestnut brown that becomes red-tinted mahogany when held to a light. 2+ finger creamy tan head slowly dissolves into a thin but consistent cover after I had to take a sip to keep from overflowing the glass. Good lacing is left on the sides of the glass.

Smell:
Bready malts and a deep, fairly intense smokiness. The smokiness brings to mind a well-used fireplace or a smokehouse, and also smoked cheese and smoked meats. Faint scents of dry hay can barely be detected in the background. As time goes on, notes of toasted bread and toasted caramel emerge.

Taste:
Smoke leads the parade (of course) and is present throughout the sip. Toasted bready malts jump right in and join the party. Then some earthy bitterness shows up and starts to quickly dry things out. Things finish on a dry, toasty, and (surprise!) smokey note. A lightly sweet toasted caramel flavor comes thru as the beer warms. As does an interesting faint chocolate note.

Feel:
Very smooth and somewhat creamy. Body is medium-light.

Overall:
An excellent Rauchbier that is pretty much the benchmark for the style. Nice and heavily smoked, but yet quite drinkable.

 

A Spaten Czech-styled dimpled mug?

 

Their Optimator mug is a Czech-styled dimpled one.

 

Just a follow-up from my previous Dovetail Festbier. Pouring murky today, never cleared up. Comparing against the 2020 version (dimple mug) which looked as it should. Not sure if it's part of Dovetail canning issues, batch variance, or a change in recipe or brewing technique.

2022



2020.

 

Always enjoyable stuff...



Cheers!

 

A local brewer, really tasty.

Konstantin Austrian-Style Märzen - Schilling Beer Co.

 

Ha my brother calls himself a “thirst responder”. Sent this to him, he’ll love it.

 

Had three cans left and didn’t want anymore alcohol for the evening. So why not?

 

BTW -- that's just too purty.

 

More Hefeweizen for the 'Fest. This is as good as the #1 Weihenstephaner.



Back to bashing the mango mussolini

 

That was so good two will be better! Am I right?

 

This is the way…

 

That was just before they went for a naked swim.

 

Founders Oktoberfest



A first for me. A very clear beer with white foam. Just a hint of malt sweetness and an overall crisp, clean taste. A good beer I'd certainly buy again.

 

Drinking a Leinie's Oktoberfest from the Kroger. It's good. Very slight hint of bitterness in the finish rounds it out nicely. BB date 12/19/22. Cheers

 

Hmmm. I didn’t know it was a Czech-style. (Worthy of a little research on my part.) It looks just like the below, when turned 90°.

https://www.casketbeer.com/home/2022/3/7/the-dynamic-czech-beer-glass-culture

https://www.casketbeer.com/home/2020/11/21/not-all-mugs-are-created-equal

 

More often than not you see dimpled mugs in the Czech Republic but there are exceptions like my mug of Budweiser Budvar at the U Medvídků pub in Prague:



Na Zdravi

 

Triptych Brewing - Alpine Hat Party
Thanks to @Luscious_Malfoy for this one!
Clear amber color with a bubbly head, good retention.
Rich bready malts with a subtle hop note and a semisweet finish.
Robust and solid, good one!

 

Can #3. Three strikes you’re out. I’m enjoying this beer more with each visit... but I still don't quite like it. Can #4 will go the reserves/cooking/company stash. Prost.

 

Avery Brewing Co. -- The Kaiser
Imperial Oktoberfest lager
ABV: 8.0%; pouring temperature: 65 °F; canning info: CANNED ON 08/02/22 WALTER; WE MISS AND LOVE YOU



...okay, I poured this one a bit warm, but it's still good...the heavy malt presence really mitigates the warm pour yet still retains its lager smoothness...the 8.0% ABV doesn't hurt...warm yet malty, spicy, and decidedly delicious...

 

Hofbrauhaus Freising Festbier


I came across this brew at my local distributor last weekend. It showed up along with Tucher Festbier, Bitburger Festbier, and Yards Unterdog. A bit late in the season, perhaps, but I am not complaining.

This is the first time that I have had Hofbrau Freising's Festbier.

I find this beer tasty and very easy to drink, if a shade light on the malts and body. I prefer a little more bready malts and body in a Festbier, but this beer isn't bad at all.



1.5 x 333 ml Bottles
Glass: 0.5 L Fest Mug
Serving Temp: 54.4 F


Look:
Clear Golden yellow color with an off-white head. Upon pouring, the head is 2 fingers high and foamy.. The head fades to a very thin ring and island cover.

Smell:
Doughy and yeasty malts with a very faint touch of lemon. Light notes of grass are also present.

Taste:
Mild and laid back sweet malts at the outset along with the faint lemon note. The hops jump in fairly quickly providing a mild zest and bitterness. The sip finishes ever so lightly dry.

Feel:
Crisp and clean and also soft. The body is light-medium.

Overall:
A light and mellow Festbier. This brew is well-made, tasty, and quite quaffable.

 

That is a nice mug. AND, much larger than I had thought from your prior posts.

 

I had each on draft at Oaktoberfest this weekend. Agreed, the Festbier was the better of the two I thought the same last year as well.

 

I had it on draft recently at Bad Apple. Definitely do not remember it looking like that. Looked more like the 2020.

 

The 'standard' pour in the Czech Republic is 1/2 liter of beer. They allow for significant head space as well.

Below is a photo from my visit to the Únětický Pivovar beer garden illustrating the head space aspect to the Czech pours:



Cheers!

 

Had the Hofbräuhaus München tonight. Damn, that’s a good beer! Usually, a bottle or two of this is good enough for me, but I’m glad I picked up a 6-pack and might grab another.

Still not liking the Weihenstephaner cans this year. I’ve been having my wife pick something and serve it to me blind. Both times she gave me Weihenstephaner, I identified it right away. There’s a very odd metallic quality I’m perceiving, which is doubly weird because I’m drinking it from a glass. It’s like a sharp, stinging, iron sensation. 90% of what I drink is canned and I have never encountered this before, so I don’t know what the h*ll is going on.

 

Yards Unter Dog

As I mentioned in my previous post, I came across this brew at my local distributor last weekend along with some others. I tried one of those earlier, so why not try another?

Well ... something must be off in my sample. Or I hope so. I am not overly fond of this. An odd fruity/grapey/vinous note is in the aroma and the taste and throws things out of whack. I'll finish this, and see how it goes.


Glassware: 0.5 L Festmug
Temp at Pour: 52.1 F
ABV: 5.6%

Look:
The color is a clear golden copper with an off-white head. The head starts at an initial 1-finger thickness and is very fizzy. The head dissolved quite quickly leaving no cover and little lacing.

Smell:
Light sweet bready malts with some caramel. Notes of grassy and herbal hops clash with the caramel, yielding an odd fruity or perhaps a vinous characteristic.

Taste:
Very sweet caramel leads off and stays around. This is joined by some sweet bread dough and that vinous or white grape note. A light bitterness does show up towards the end along with some notes of grass and hay, but these don't quite cut through the sweetness.

Feel:
Smooth. The body is medium to medium-light.

Overall:
A drinkable beer, but not what I expect in a Marzen. This does hew to (or try to hew to) the caramelly-sweet American Okto standard, but that grapey or vinous note throws things out of whack.

 

Phase Three Brewing P3 Oktoberfest. pretty good Märzen but for as much as i like their other lagers i expected to like this more.

 

...this actually is from this past Wednesday (September 21st, the day we arrived in Taos, NM for a few days of getaway time)...The Taos Ale House and Burger Stand had this on tap...

Ex Novo Brewing -- German Overalls
Oktoberfest
ABV: 5.8%; pouring temperature: n/a; tap info: n/a



3.59/5 rDev -4.5%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Clear, dark copper body: almost no head, a few sparse patches of foam. An interesting light malt nose with a healthy presence of fruity esters; apple juice.; Sweet taste, not cloying; slight malty note; spicy apple juice. Medium body; slick and smooth.

An interesting märzen but not one that moves me.