Märican Biere Bought and Drunk...

Haven't had much free time between the various holidays social obligations, but my first impressions taken while drinking at family events are as follows:
Two Roads Ol'Factory pils is a good beer. Good pale color and fairly transparent, but as expected the dry hopping gives it a bit of harsh hoppiness that isn't well-integrated with the rest of the beer. Stoudts Pils was significantly better, and closer to what I expect from a German-style pils. Decent malt flavors, not too thin. Quite hoppy, though not overly bitter for the style. Hop flavors better-integrated than in the Two Roads pils. Very good.
Narragansett had the fullest, richest malt profile of the three, though as a "Bohemian pilsner" that's what I was hoping for. The hops here are much more subdued with a little metallic hop bite in the end. Surprisingly, I think I've enjoyed this one the most so far, if only because it seemed most to-style.

I've also got some Mama's Little Yella Pils for New Year's but I'm not sure how well I'll be able to critique it that night.

(I having a sneaking suspicion the Stoudts wasn't all that fresh)

 

Not sure I got any roast, per se, out of Staghorn last night, but it wasn't especially rich and toasty either. As my experience with other NG brews, it was very clean, very easy drinking. I did get a bit of nuttyness, which you mentioned, as well as a light spice, assumedly from the hops. It was decent.

Oktoberfest isn't a style I have a ton of experience/expertise in, but so far this year, I'd say my rankings would be somewhat like so. Honestly, there's a decent gap between #1/2 and the rest of the group, though.

1. Weihenstephaner
2. Ayinger
-------------------------
3. Hacker-Pschorr
4. Paulaner
5. New Glarus
6. Firestone Walker
7. Samuel Adams
8. Hofbrau

 

You and I must have similar palates since my two favorite German brewed Oktoberfest beers this year were again: Weihenstephaner & Ayinger.

My two favorite Oktoberfest beers this year regardless of country of origin was:

1. Sly Fox Oktoberfest

2. Firestone Walker Oaktoberfest

Cheers!

 

The wide gap between Weihenstephaner and HB strikes me oddly for 2 of the Wies'n Fests, but who's to say how fresh one or the other may be.

 

It was funny, HB was the last one I had of the German stuff, and I only went out to grab it because of how much I enjoyed the Weihenstephaner Wies'n style. The HB had some pretty noticeable DMS on the nose, though, and a grating sweetness to it that I couldn't get into. As you said, of course, who can say how fresh/well cared for it was prior to purchase.

 

We did a tasting with some of those beers in September, and HB was the clear winner for me. There was no DMS (although there was a hint detected in the Sly Fox), but it was what I would call 'closer to a Maibock' than the Weihenstephaner. Definitely maltier, but I didn't find it grating at all- handling could have definitely played a part in all of that, though, I agree.

 

I live in a part of the country with brutally warm summers, and I wonder if some of these German Oktoberfest beers (one of which I know was bottled in May) arrive to the states and then sit in (poorly climate controlled) warehouses for a while before finally being sent out in August/Sept. If so, God help them.

 

Yeah- overheating can certainly exaggerate DMS, especially if it started in the barely-perceptible range. That could be a plausible explanation. I usually consider myself fortunate with the condition I normally find German imports in- too bad it can't be like that everywhere else.

 

I seriously wish the folks from Augustiner would up the ante on their exports to the US. The two offerings (Edelstoff and Doppelbock) are very good but obtrusively expensive, and therefore move at snail's pace and (as an INDEPENDENT) they could be doing their Oktoberfest and potentially other neat offerings like Schneider.

 

Also @herrburgess -- Made a foray across the cheddar curtain today (I speak fluent Cheesehead, ain'a hey) bottled in order to find some fresh Two Women; bottled Sept. 24 of 2014 was the best I could find in the small gas station closest to my area -- and it's very fresh stuff.

Mr. HerrB remembers me saying that the 2 Women gets a little vegetal, even sour, when it ages and isn't quite the best -- this fresh batch is the smooth, bready beer I remember when it was first bottled full-time. One of the best U.S. takes on a German beer you can find.

 

And to think back in my day (1984/1985) we would drive up Route 47 to Cheeseland for any beer we could get our hands on, as the drinking age in WI was still 18 and 21 in IL. If we had a few extra bucks and were feeling "spendy" it was usually Löwenbräu, Special Export, Augsburger or Michelob and some Bartyles & James for the ladies in our lives.

 

Actually, they raised the drinking age in Wisconsin in both years; to 19 in '84 and 21 in '85 -- in order to be compliant with Federal rules for highway funding. If you were getting away with it, more power to yeh! I was legal when it was 19 for beer and wine in Illinois and Guv. Thompson took it away and I was left out for a year-and-a-half! Never voted for him again.

I can remember that there was one convenience store in Kenosha, WI that somehow carried Coors -- before it was fully available east of the Mississippi. My friend and I went up in the late '70s and got some... couldn't figure out what all the hype was for and went back to Löwenbräu!

The thing that's great about being able to make the (close) raiding runs across the border is being able to get all kinds of beer unavailable in my area -- N.G. especially!

 

@steveh indeed you are right, but there was a Grandfather law allowing us "FIBs" to make the frequent trek north to Lake Geneva...

 

Pretty sure the grandfather law only applied to Wisconsin residents... fake I.D? Not that I know anything about that sort of thing or the need for one...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_laws_of_Wisconsin#History

 

Don't know - we never had a problem. Maybe publicans didn't enforce it as they should? Weird that they could allow Wisconsinites the Grandfather law and not out-of-staters. I'm no lawyer, but that sounds fishy.

 

I sort of (sort of) remember Lake Geneva being a little more "lax" on carding back then. I think that if they cracked down they would have lost a lot of business. Took all the angst over drinking and driving (The Bloody Border) to swing things around.

As to the Grandfather Clause -- it's because it was a state law and the Wisc. legislature (if not bar owners) wanted to stand up for the Ill. legislature. I remember being P.O.'ed that there was no Grandfather Clause in Ill. when I was legal at 19, but suddenly not at 20.

 

My wife (then just my girlfriend) went through the same thing in Michigan. The drinking age was 18 then the legislature raised the age to 19 but grandfathered people who were already 18. Then there was a ballot referendum that raised it to 21 with no grandfathering so there was about a year where she was no longer legal.

 

to drink....

Prosit!!!

 

Thoughts on Grand Teton Howling Wolf Weissbier?