Trouble locating German festbier

Discussion in 'New England' started by dkoehler42, Sep 20, 2020.

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  1. dkoehler42

    dkoehler42 Savant (1,038) May 18, 2007 New York

    I don't know if anyone else has had difficulty, but I'm struggling to find classic German festbiers this year. I've tried a few local stores as well as Total Wine(who had tons last year). Even the US Paulaner/Hacker Pschorr website doesn't show any around the NYC/LI area.

    Is it just a regional thing, or did the pandemic impact the brewing process too?
     
    #1 dkoehler42, Sep 20, 2020
  2. Spacegrass

    Spacegrass Devotee (359) Jun 12, 2003 Virginia

    That stinks, we’ve been getting the classics around here in northern VA and MD (two states distribution channels).

    That said, the smaller beer specialty shops I’ve been at lately have been getting more nano/micro festbiers than the traditional Munich ones. I haven’t been to bigger stores lately but have seen some Paulaner, etc and friends have as well. Paulaner even released their Weis’n traditional in six packs.
     
    #2 Spacegrass, Sep 21, 2020
  3. TongoRad

    TongoRad Grand Pooh-Bah (3,884) Jun 3, 2004 New Jersey
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Weihenstephaner and Hofbrau seem to be plentiful just across the river. Maybe do a search for those on Beermenus.
     
    #3 TongoRad, Sep 21, 2020
  4. zid

    zid Grand Pooh-Bah (3,132) Feb 15, 2010 New York
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    It sounds like you might be referring to the Total Wine in Nassau. Not sure why you missed them. Maybe you were there too early in the season. Their import Oktoberfests are spread throughout the store and are in at least 6 different locations - import 6 packs, import singles, fridge, seasonal, end cap, and stacked in the back center. The last time I was there they had (if I remember correctly): Hofbrau, Weihenstephaner, Paulaner, Ayinger, Bitburger, Spaten, and maybe Erdinger. I did not see any Hacker Pschorr this year.
     
    #4 zid, Sep 21, 2020
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  5. dkoehler42

    dkoehler42 Savant (1,038) May 18, 2007 New York

    I went a couple of weeks ago, so maybe I just missed them. I called around and found a place in Islip that had a six pack of Hacker Pschorr festbier, so I'm okay. I went with the intention of buying one six pack and ended up dropping almost $80 on beer. I swear it's not a problem, just a consumable hobby. :-)
     
    #5 dkoehler42, Sep 21, 2020
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  6. dungledauf

    dungledauf Zealot (520) Nov 8, 2005 Pennsylvania

    I have not seen Ayinger Oktoberfest in Pittsburgh yet
     
    #6 dungledauf, Oct 9, 2020
  7. dkoehler42

    dkoehler42 Savant (1,038) May 18, 2007 New York

    I only found Hofbrau and Spaten last weekend. I fear we're past the deadline.
     
    #7 dkoehler42, Oct 9, 2020
  8. SudsDoctor

    SudsDoctor Pooh-Bah (1,739) Nov 23, 2008 New York
    Society Pooh-Bah

    Not surprised if we are. Everything gets released too far in advance these days. This was a month ago, but Islip Cold Beer had both Ayinger and Hofbrau at least.
     
    #8 SudsDoctor, Oct 9, 2020
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  9. dkoehler42

    dkoehler42 Savant (1,038) May 18, 2007 New York

    That's where I found the Hacker Pschorr festbier a few weeks ago.
     
    #9 dkoehler42, Oct 9, 2020
  10. zid

    zid Grand Pooh-Bah (3,132) Feb 15, 2010 New York
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Last time I was at Total Wine (a week ago maybe?), they had all of the ones I mentioned in my post above plus they had the Hacker Pschorr in at that point. (I don't remember if the Ayinger was sold out by then though... I know they had it in both bottle formats at one point.)
     
    #10 zid, Oct 10, 2020
    anfield86 likes this.
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