Oktoberfest suggestions

Ayinger Oktober Fest Märzen

 

So are we gonna act like Sam Adams Oktoberfest isn't one of the better ones out there

 

Epic festdevious is a good one IMO. Its a smooth easy drink, not too sweet or lacking in sweetness either.

 

Pedernales Oktoberfest.

For those who may not know. Pedernales is a brewery in Fredericksburg, TX. One of the oldest German settlements in Texas, and predominantly German. Should be easy to trade for as a shelf trade. Drank it side by side with Sierra Nevada, and the SN was not as good IMO.

 

I guess that depends on what you expect for the style. I've had a couple that were over run with diactyl and a couple more that might as well have been brown ales for all of the fruit esters, caramel and roastiness. Conclusion: yes, they may have tasted all right, but they weren't on-par for a good Oktoberfest Märzen.

(And yes, I'm a staunch Okto traditionalist -- it's my favorite style, so sue me. )

 

All three of hear, with the addition of Paulaner and Ayinger, are presently chilling in my fridge.

 

I'm an Oktoberbfest newbie, I've dabbled like most here and there, but I'm making an effort to try all the most popular ones mentioned in these kind of posts. I like Marzen styles, very creamy, malty, low IBUs, a tad sweet at the finish it kinda mucks it up a bit. Being an IPA guy it's a big difference in finishing clean, and a huge adjustment. SN is labeled a Fest Lager, a bit more hops , but far from hoppy, I like the drier finish on this one, just a bit cleaner, crisp right thru to the end. But I like Ayinger quite a bit too, it's just different. I could drink either all night as well, and what surprised me the most was that the Abvs were higher than I expected.

 

SN is called a "Fest Lager" after the German Festbier (basically a Märzen in the German designation per-ABV) which they brew for all "Fest" occasions (HB makes a great one for Winter Fests) not just the Oktoberfest, and it's right in-line to style... with SN's usual twist of adding a little more hops. But -- to their great credit -- they balanced this one just right (at least to my palate).

And you can only go wrong with Ayinger if you can't find fresh examples. I've had their Okto that was on shelves too long and it's just not good (anymore).

But the beers out there calling themselves Oktoberfest or Fests and tasting more like candy-bombs are not for me. They seem to be less-than thought out and sort of lazy attempts at a beer that should be paid good attention and nurtured into something more than the same ol' thing on the shelves.

Take a fresh Spaten or H-P Okto and compare it side-by-side with a Left Hand or Sam Adams and note the differences. As you've already noticed, that soft body and sweet, bready malt up front and dry finish in the German beers just begs you to drink more. The sweetish, syrupy body of the others get heavy on the palate after a while and you want to switch to seltzer water!

 

I can see why American versions would be off, but they basically to throw out a Sept lager with a Fest labeling on it. SN did it right with the collaboration, and I thought it a great beer. I'd expect that Ayinger, HP, and others to get it right, after all..... I'm not so interested in American takes on this, if not for the collaboration I doubt I would have tried SN. There's plenty of very nice Pils being brewed by lots of breweries, but without the experience and knowledge in brewing this style it would be just their interpretation, and while no doubt fine beers they wouldn't be authentic to style. Which is what I'm looking for.

 

Slowly, but surely, I'm turning to this approach on Oktoberfests too. I'm going to remember the American examples that are pretty good, but I'm going to be focused more on the Bavarian imports.

 

Noble Chaos by Short's Brewing Co. if your close to the border or are having MI friends attend.

 

American brewed taste good, but most I have had just aren't really true to the style. Its been mentioned plenty already, but Ayinger, Hacker, Pauler (marzen) and Spaten in that order for me. Beer Christmas only comes once a year, make it count

 

It's not even remotely close to the Sierra Nevada this year. It tastes like someone literally added a sweetener to the batch. It's far too sweet.

 

I would strongly encourage you to buy some Sly Fox Oktoberfest and Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest

I conducted a side-by-side tasting of these two beers and posted about it in last week's New Beer Sunday thread:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-sunday-week-550.332390/#post-4045230

Cheers!

 

Nothing to add, all my favorites are listed so, +1, +1, and +1.

 

In addition to all of the great beers recommended, I absolutely love the Millstream Oktoberfest. Probably in my top 3(with Ayinger and Summit in there as well).

 

Sierra Nevada's Oktoberfest 2015.
Hofbrau
Samuel Adams Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest by Stout's
Dark Tober Fest by Saranac
Penn Oktoberfest

 

I don't know if it's one of the better ones overall as I've only had two Oktoberfest beers so far (Samuel Adams and the 2015 Sierra Nevada) so I can't really compare, but I thought the Samuel Adams Oktoberfest was pretty good when I had some last year. I do prefer the Sierra Nevada version, but they're very different beers and I'd definitely count both of them in the "good beer that I would definitely buy again" category.

 

I wish there was a possibility to Unlike a post without having to Like it first

 

Since you're from Wisconsin, give Surly's Oktoberfest beer a go (called SurlyFest). But aside from that I would go with Great Lakes of Sierra Nevada.