Märican Biere Bought and Drunk...

Tetnang hops.

 

Had a New Belgium Ranger IPA on Fri eve..

.. it left me totally underwhelmed

 

There is some Tettnanger hops used in brewing the Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest beer.

From the Sierra Nevada website:

“Yeast Lager yeast

Bittering Hops German Magnum

Finishing Hops German Select, Tettnanger, Spalter

Malts Two-row Pale, Steffi, Pilsner, Munich”

Cheers!

 

Found my first, and maybe my last (was the only one on the shelf), 6 pack of Summit Okto this season. I forgot how much I liked the big maltiness of this Ami Okto. It's probably the biggest ABV Okto out there... at least besides the ones that consider themselves "imperial" Oktoberfests (whatever the hell that really means outside the marketing brainstorm room).

 

Palate fatigue!
Then again, I have to wonder how well it traveled to Europe.

No, it's not a head-banger, but it's tasty.

 

I've had Ranger quite fresh and was blown away, didn't expect it from NB. Great prices too, I think $8.99/6pk.

 

Anyone try beers from here? It is located in the north Dallas, TX metro area...

http://franconiabrewing.com/Franconia/

 

The last time I had them, I though they made decent, but not great, interpretations of German styles. It does look like they have a new head brewer now, so maybe they've gotten better.

 

But Dennis Wehrman is still listed as being the “Brew master”.

From the Franconia website:

“Name: Dennis Wehrman

Title: Brew master and Owner

Dennis studied brewing in Munich at the University and shortly after moved from Nuernberg to Dallas. He opened Franconia in February of 2008. His Family brewing history dates back to 1800 and is still actively in the German brewing business. For more information at about Dennis and the Franconia History, please visit the History link.”

Cheers!

 

Agreed. And I think there are much better takes on German styles from other Texas breweries like Karbach, Live Oak of course, Real Ale, etc.

 

Ranger tends to be a love/hate IPA. The NB "merlin" gives it a very fresh note that some people can't get enough of, while others can't stand it. It's grown on me, but I used to despise it.
While I'm not 100% sure, I think they've also changed yeasts at least once, too.

 

Just received an e-mail from Binny's that they have Urban Chestnut Oachkatzlschwoaf Oktoberfest in stock.

 

First sampling of Victory's Oktoberfest this year -- maybe even first time in a couple years. Big caramel nose and big caramel hit up front with an underlying nuttiness to graininess in the flavor. Not as impressed as I once was. I like Lakefront, Schells, Schlafly's and even Point Oktos much better. Don't even bring up Sierra Nevada's new Okto in comparison.

Strange to get so much caramel out of 2 Row Vienna and Munich malts using a decoction mash (according to the web site).

Funny thing is, the labels on my bottles don't look at all like what Victory shows on their web site, mine have the labels that have been around a long while, and the Best-by date says to enjoy before mid-December of 2015... very odd.

 

Yeah, I heard they have it tap now. I thought they brewed in kind of late this year so I thought they were lagering longer.

I'm heading down there tomorrow.

 

I went down to Urban Chestnut today and met up with @biermark and his wife.



I had the Oachkatzlschwoaf which is their Oktoberfest. It's one of the better American Oktoberfests I've had this year. I also appreciate their Zwickel a lot more after my recent trip to Franconia.

I had a good time having a few beers with Mark and Ann.

 

Both myself and @boddhitree reported on their Dunkel a while ago. Pretty good beer, depending on what you are expecting. I'd love to hear your thoughts on their stuff.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/communi...-and-american-pils.100623/page-5#post-2495347

 

Interesting...read your debate, and I'm asking myself- would do you two, and other users here in general, expect from a Dunkel?
I mean, Dunkles is, in my experience, the most diverse german beer style there is, ranging from kind of amber,soft, very drinkable lagers with <4.8%abv to very dark, heavy, sweet-spicy-roasty-hoppy affairs with >5.5% abv.

 

On my second round of SN's new collaborative Oktoberfest -- reinforcing my original assessment of such a nice beer. Not at all like most Ami Oktos -- a well-crafted recipe.

 

My understanding is that each region will have their own 'dark' beer, and there really is no overarching 'style' so to speak- although there are some places, like Munich, where it is more defined. In other words, a Munich Dunkel is a type of beer, but just saying Dunkel by itself isn't descriptive enough.

 

You're not the only one, it's the highest rated Oktoberfest on this site (I don't count Augustiner's with ~15 reviews) and is one of Sierra Nevada's highest rated beers period.

After multiple bottles I concluded I wasn't as high on it as everyone else, but not due to execution, just personal tastes. I realized the other day in fact, while I don't love every beer they brew, I've honestly never had anything approaching a "bad" beer by them. They brew excellent beer, end of story.

Might have some pictures later, but again this year, my favorite American Oktoberfest is Brooklyn's. It's the richest/breadiest American version I've tasted, but still clean and drinkable. No cloying sweetness at all, and only 5.5% abv, which is awesome. I also had Jack's Abby's Copper Legend, after not having it for a year or two. I can't remember exactly how long, I just remembered not liking it and avoiding it. It was quite pleasant! Not as good as Brooklyn's, and just a notch below Sierra Nevada's. Very enjoyable, and it is a solid attempt at the amber style, I don't believe caramel malts were used either. These guys just keep improving and improving, I even sampled some Hoponious Union after quite some time and it's just an oustanding IPL.

I also took a sip from my roommate's Dead Ringer Oktoberfest from Ballast Point, very very tasty, albeit quite sweet initially (something that COULD become cloying, but I don't know because I didn't have the full beer). I checked the ingredients, and it's very traditional aside from the caramel malts. Ballast Point might be one of my top five American breweries, quite a portfolio these guys have.

Finally, I had my token Sam Adams Octoberfest on draft the other night. It's, well Sam Adams Octoberfest. I don't mean that to be a bad or a good thing, the beer is what it is, a "traditional" American Octoberfest.

I don't think it would be an issue on this forum, but things get even more confusing because when you use the word Dunkel, I think most Americans assume you're talking about a Dunkelweizen.