Best 2017 Oktoberfest, So Far

Pretty crappy photo, but this is number 1 for me so far this year. Definitely on the paler side of marzens like weihenstephaner festbier. Very crushable, nice toasty malt flavor. Sadly I don't think it's available outside of Minnesota.

 

On draft I don't know, but I have gotten Diacetylwhen bottling from a keg. The keg beer remained fine. The bottled beer had Diacetyl.

 

Haven't seen Paulaner Wiesn, anyone see it? Got a case of Hofbrau, plus a 6 of Weihenstaphener and love both. Also got a 6 of SN and not a fan. I'm bias to the lighter Oktoberfest beers and SN was just to malty this year for my taste.

 

Ayinger is my favorite!

 

If you're a homebrewer, get the Oktoberfest kit from Adventures in Homebrewing. It got me loving the style and I have still not found an Oktoberfest that compares

 

Aynger, SN and Millstream I have had this season. All top notch in which Ayinger is my fav all time. Want a Spaten.

 

Love HB.

 

When it comes to Octoberfest beers I enjoy Sam Adams but also like to try new ones whenever the fall season comes around. I really enjoy Great Lakes Octoberfest in the fall. This fall I have noticed a few new Octoberfest beers one being from Bell's Brewery. I love trying new fall beers.

 

Yes. Northern Illinois has it in 12 packs.

 

Seen it at Binny's.

 

Love Weihenstephaner's. I had a couple during the game on Saturday. I also had a couple of SN and I was really disappointed. I've loved their last two collaborations but this one was far too hoppy for me to enjoy (in regards to the style). I have a bottle of Ayinger waiting to be consumed. I'll try to find a bottle of SA because it was a beer that got me deeper into craft but I don't like it all that much anymore.

 

I did a blind tasting of 6 Oktoberfests a few weeks ago and ranked them as follows...

1. Ayinger
2. Hofbrau
3. Paulaner Marzen
4. Sierra Nevada
5. Weihenstephaner
6. Hacker Pschorr

Since then I have had Spaten and Bell's. I would guess Spaten would be ranked number 1 or 2 in this ranking. Bell's would probably be between 4 and 7. I have enjoyed all of these beers, so even my least favorite, Hacker Pschorr, is still to me a good option.

 

@steveh the Ayinger Oktoberfest that I have had this year has been a single 4 pack of .333L bottles. No diacetyl present in this batch. I wonder if your experience with the .5L bottles and draft is just due to batch variation? Without dating, it is hard to know how many batches of Oktoberfest Ayinger is sending across the pond.

 

I got around to trying the Fat Head's and it is very good, can't beat the price in my area either ($7.99 for a sixer which is cheaper than Sly Fox, which are some of the cheaper ones in my area).

Interesting note: I haven't had an IPA in a while and had Troegs Hop Knife. Very good but I preferred the Oktoberfests I have been drinking so immediately followed up with one, just confirmed to me that a well made Lager can still be a thing of beauty for my palate.

 

Worse than that we don't even know if the Ayinger bottle is from 2017.

Non-cheers to no bottle dates!

 

If you're in Columbia, you'll be able to try our Festbier soon. October 7th at the latest.

 

I would say yes, but only because the draft Ayinger I tasted was also diacetyl-ful.

I'd get a 4-pack, but I wouldn't be happy I'd spent that much if it was full of butterscotch too.

 

Still no Oktoberfest imports in Casper.

 

The more I drink the Sierra the more the malt profile shines through the hops. Definitely not a pilsner but hopped like one. The malt is very tasty though and overall I'm going to be raising my scores.

 

Just had a Spaten Oktoberfest. Earlier this year, we brewed a test batch of a Czech Dark using Sinamar. More convinced than ever that Spaten is adding Sinamar to its US exports of its pale(r) Festbier. It's delicious as ever...but definitely seems to exhibit some familiar characteristics of the beer we brewed with Sinamar.