ZAP's 18 Beer Oktoberfest Blind Taste Test

I've done these a variety of ways over the years. This year I went with six groups of three beers tasted on a fresh palate over the course of about a week. I simply scored the beers 1-100.

I put all 18 in my beer fridge. My wife then pulled three random beers each time. She kept the key until the very end and disposed of the empties without me seeing them. So, I really had no idea which of the 18 I was tasting at any time. Only after all 18 were rated did I look at the key and place the beer names with the scores. I had most of these beers this years but there were a few I did not taste prior to the taste-test.

Basic grading method
A=90+
B=80-89
C=70-79
D=60-69
F=59-and less

Here is how they finished.

1. Ayinger 93
2. New Glarus 92
3. Hacker-Pschorr 91
4. Paulaner 90
5. Portage 89
6. Lupulin 88
7. Earth Rider 87
8. Bemidji 85
9. Bells 82
10. Summit 80
11. Surly 75
12. Schells 71
13. Founders 69
14. Half Acre 65
15. Hoops 62
16. Indeed 60
17. Sprecher 58
18. Pearl 55

A few notes:

There are always some interesting results when doing blind tastings......No surprise though the German beers Ayinger, Hacker-Pschorr and Paulaner were at the top......kind of surprised to see New Glarus so high. I've had a few and didn't think it would score that high.....For all the funky type beers Portage puts out they show strong brewing aptitude also nailing their fest beer.....Lupulin and Earth Rider make great lagers so no surprise they scored well....Bemidji is just a rock solid brewery and it shows with their score here......Half Acre is a good amber lager with nice hop impression but not a good example of an Oktoberfest. I thought I liked Surly's a little better than I scored it blind.....VERY surprised to see Hoops score so low because I consider them to be one of the best lager breweries in the state.. That was one I hadn't tried yet. It boiled down to being a bit musty, and dirty tasting. My guess is it's from the yeast strain used. It was a bit odd...Indeed came across boozy with fusel alcohol impressions. The two worst beers by far were Sprecher and Pearl Street. Both had buttery/butterscotch notes. Pearl was much stronger in that characteristic but both had it. I did not include Capital but based on the six pack I had earlier this summer that would also be in the F range. Apple and fruity notes.