Märican Biere Bought and Drunk...

By "compare" I do not mean to see how it stands up to a traditional example (whatever that means between amber and pale Marzens). Simply how their take on an Oktoberfest tastes compared to how say, Ayinger, one of my favorites tastes.

I am curious though, if the ingredients are completely different than what is typically used for this style, why bother calling it an Oktoberfest at all?

Their Vienna uses Vienna malts correct?

 

Just picked up the Sierra Nevada fall mix pack, a single of Weihenstephan Oktoberfestbier (bottled mid-April? *sigh*), three Firestone Oaktoberfests (5.0% abv, interesting), a single of Acrobrau's Kellerbier and Urfass (both bottled in January, but we just got this in, figured I'd give them a whirl).

Sampling the Vienna Lager now. Love it. A beautiful amber clarity in my glass, and a light toasty aroma in the nose. First sip reminds me of an Oktoberfest light. Soft inviting breadiness that tells me right away this tastes like a job well done. A superbly clean and dry lager. Slight spicy hop bitterness in the finish (noble hops?). A touch of sweetness in the finish that ends dry without being too sweet.

Thoroughly impressed with this one by Sierra Nevada. A hard one to take your time with as it has that "liquid bread" characteristic I know and love, but without the cloying sweetness or higher alcohol that can plague many American attempts at malt forward German styles.

 

The Sierra Nevada Vienna does indeed have some Vienna malt along with Munich and CaraRed.

It also has some interesting hops: Bravo, Mandarino and Crystal.

I don’t know if there are many Vienna Lagers brewed in Germany today but I am willing to bet that if they are they aren’t using this unusual mix of hops.

Cheers to Sierra Nevada for an interesting mix of hops for their Vienna Lager!



See ingredients below:

Overview

Alcohol Content 5.3% by volume

Beginning gravity 12.6° plato

Ending Gravity 2.7° plato

Bitterness Units 28



Ingredients

Yeast Lager yeast

Bittering Hops Bravo, Mandarina

Finishing Hops Mandarina, Crystal

Malts Vienna, Munich, CaraRed

 

Sierra Nevada's ability to get close to a German pilsner using NA 2-row and other non-traditional ingredients in a beer like Summerfest is a true testament to their brewing prowess. They are the rare, rare U.S. "craft" bird indeed.

 

Yeah, but it's a Czech Pils

 

I also find it strange that no Munich malt or Vienna malt finds its way into the grain bill of Sierra Nevada's Oktoberfest beer if I'm going to judge it by how traditional it is (Vienna if we concieve of the late 1800s Märzen, or some of them, as being in the Vienna style). I also think that a straight up Munich (dark or pale) or Vienna malt bill would make for a good point of difference for a brewer. If each malt contributes its own flavor and isn't merely used for color adjustment then it seems wasteful to me to have Munich and Vienna constantly play second fiddle to Pilsner malt/pale ale malt in the grain bill, or leave them out entirely and use caramel malt (and other assorted malts) instead. It has me genuinly wondering what such a beer would taste like, since no beer that I've tasted as of yet has used such a grain bill. Single hop beers are a good concept I think, how about a single malt beer that isn't a pilsner (as much as I love pilsners)?

 

DB Schwarzbier is the best I've had (fyi, the only German one I've had is Kostritzer, the rest US craft versions) and their Vienna Lager is good too, I like it better than SABL. The Schwarzbier has a slight roastiness and a little more body than any other I've had, but is still very smooth and drinkable. I'm sure it's not traditional, but it's a great beer, the best I've had from Devil's Backbone. The bock you mentioned is ok, but probably not worth $10/sixer. DB does the best craft lagers in Virginia, but they're no substitute for the real deal from the source!

 

From what I understand, Sierra Nevada employees quite a few German brewers in Chico. While their hoppy beers get a lot of attention, the only ones I really love are their flagship Pale Ale and Celebration. At the same time, I love Summerfest, their old heller bock Glissade, as well as Kellerweis (and it's brother Ruthless), among other forgotten beers.
I know they're trying to keep up with the new school IPA's, but I think their old school traditional beers are their best.

 

Chris, do you enjoy drinking the other SN hoppy beers at all?

Cheers!

 

I do, but they aren't really my favorites. To me they're a bit too purely bitter and 'weedy' for me to drink a ton of. I find myself drinking a lot of old school caramel malt IPA's and the recent late addition ultra pale ones, but I never got on the vegetal, weedy, ultra-bitter train.

 

Based on that, I'm interested in your opinion of SN's new Octoberfest.

 

Me too. I've got an overflowing fridge after a trek into the mountains, but I'll probably go beer shopping in the next week for some.

 

I'm just having a Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA. Meanwhile, there's a Getränkemarkt near me that carries this for € 3.29/bottle, which is an extremely high price for German standards.
I must say, I'm not really convinced by this. It's not bad, but maybe it's just too plain bitter for my taste. Usually, I quite enjoy strong tastes like bitter or sour tastes, but this beer lacks a bit of aromatic quality. The bittering aspect of the hops is overpowering the aromatic aspects and of course the malty body (that has to be there at 7.2 % ABV) equally doesn't have a chance against the bitter hops.
I really enjoy SNPA for its dryness, its aroma, its perfect ABV, its refreshing quality and its perfect balance whilst retaining a recognisable malty body. What I've been suspecting since I started trying American or American style beers became certainty now: I'm not a big fan of IPAs. I prefer simple, but well made Pale Ales.

 

Totally agree. SNPA is, IMO, a near perfect APA. Torpedo is, in comparison, not as well crafted/balanced. (I feel the same way about Bells Two Hearted vs. Hopslam; former is world-class, latter is cartoonish and "dumbed up.")

 

It ought'a be, no? They pretty much invented the style.

Compared to some others out there, I don't think Torpedo is that bad. Yeah, it's verging on that "extreme," but it doesn't quite kill my palate.

2 Hearted on tap is sublime -- from the cask it's uh, sublimer? But I don't go out of my way for it. It quenches the hop-craving now and again.

I found Hopslam on tap at a restaurant where my wife and I were having dinner; it was a decent price for a good sized snifter, so I decided to see what all the hype was about. I was pretty surprised at how well it hid the alcohol and that it wasn't over-the-top hoppy bitter. On the other hand, it's another I don't clamor for like the tickers.

In hand: Lakefront Oktoberfest. Pretty smooth, bready without being grainy, roasty, or nutty. But still not quite Bavarian. Up next: Weihenstephaner Festbier... and Spaten Okto -- which is still hard to find in these parts.[/QUOTE]

 

I've only bought Torpedo once, but I've had lot's of SNPA. I still think Two Hearted is one of the best IPA's out there, but I till prefer some semblance of balance in my IPA's. I like Hopslam, but one sixer a year is enough for me.

I will be trying Mother's (Springfield, MO) this weekend. It's chilling in the fridge right now.

 

Have you had their Celebration Ale? I think that IPA is far superior to Torpedo. I agree, Torpedo is decent enough, but far too bitter. Celebration is more balanced, I at least pick up some nice caramel in the malt backbone. Blends well with the hops, which don't completely crush everything else in the beer like Torpedo does.

5.6% in the bottle, but even lower on draft at 5%. Awesome.

 

Have any of you tried Brooklyn's Octoberfest this year? I think I had it in previous years and enjoying it, but don't recall much else. I read the malt and hop choices on Brooklyn's website, and it looks very inviting. @steveh I read your review and you seemed to have enjoyed it.

 

Review is about 5 years old, isn't it? Haven't tried it since then that I recall.