Good Octoberfest beers thread

[swenocha]

A nice list of [this writer's opinion of the] best O-fest beers. I don't necessarily agree with Werewolf or Warlock's inclusion (as the author acknowledges, they are not an O-fest beers, so I don't know why they included them in a list of best O-fest beers), and I would order them differently, but the beers on the list ain't bad. I think I'm one short of trying all of these (Schell's):

10. Hacker Pschorr Oktoberfest. The original. Still the best and truest representation. Lighter color and a great beer to just drink and enjoy.

9. Paulaner Oktoberfest. A little darker than the Hacker Pschorr, and 5.8 percent alcohol. But smooth and bracing on the finish.

8. Weihenstephaner Oktoberfest. The oldest brewery in the world, since 1040 — almost a thousand years of beer-making experience. They should be good at it by now! It is good — but doesn't stack up to the Paulaner and Hacker Pschorr!

7. Samuel Adams Oktoberfest. Americas No. 1selling Oktoberfest beer. It pours a little darker than the traditional German Oktoberfest beers. As usual, Sam always puts a different twist on their beers. This is a little sweeter than many others.

6. Schell's Oktoberfest. Minnesota's oldest brewery. Nestled in the hills of New Ulm, Schell's is a sixth-generation German brewer. Thus you would expect the German flavors to shine thru, But they have reduced the hops to allow the sweet malts to take over.

5. Newcastle Werewolf. Not the traditional style of Oktoberfest beers. It is an Irish red style beer. Still good — but not a true Marzen style and more of a marketing gimmick to play off the venerable Newcastle name.

4. Summit Oktoberfest. Minnesota's largest craft brewer. Great representation of Marzen style beers. I love it — but be careful, it is 6.7-percent alcohol. Medium color and lightly hopped — perfect beer for autumn!

3. Great Lakes Oktoberfest. From Cleveland, Ohio. But don't worry, they don't use Lake Erie in this great beer. Great color and flavors of toffee and caramel. A little spice on the finish. Really good!

2. Southern Tier Warlock. An imperial stout. Huge beer and a meal in itself. Not an Oktoberfest beer — about the total opposite. But an amazingly dark beer with a pumpkin twists.

1. Lefthand Brewing Oktoberfest. A malty representation of German Oktoberfest beers. Has a little biscuit flavor to it that is unique. Brewed in Colorado and all natural.

[mashani]

> But don't worry, they don't use Lake Erie in this great beer

Hey a bunch of us here on the borg make good beer from Eerie water LOL.

[swenocha]

Oktoberfest (2014) from Emma Christensen's recipe book (book due out in '15). This is among the favorite beers I've made. Super clear, super clean flavor. Best lager I've made by a long shot. Surprising, as I had a fermenter malfunction on this and figured I had oxidized it. I wish I had made more than one gallon, but I was following the recipe and technique as described. Will definitely work this one in again.

[swenocha]

I have at least a few left in the beer fridge, so I'm in this until the bitter end...

Paulaner Oktoberfest-Märzen - Very traditional. Toasty, caramel, and bready on the nose, with a bit of spicy hops. Same on the flavor, with a dry finish. Not very sweet. A classic in the style.

[Kealia]

I was out with friends tonight and we ended up at a pizza place with a limited selection. But they did have Sam Adams Octoberfest so I had one. Still a pretty good beer IMO.
Too tired for a proper review, sorry.

[Wings_Fan_In_KC]

Sammy's Ofest always comes off as a little "flat' to me. I had a couple last night out with the family. I'll have to go down to the basement and check out all the Ofest's I've been drinking over the past few weeks - I've been picking them up as I see them. Love this time of year!!!

[Wings_Fan_In_KC]

These are the ones I've picked up so far this year.....other than Sammy's OFest in restaurants as it seems that's the only one most have. We do have some places that have fuller selections so I need to head to those in the next week or two.

The Schlafly, Free State, Mothers and Goose Island were what I expect from a Märzen style. Not hoppy, nicely malty and honestly, my favorite style of beer. The Breckenridge Brewery offering doesn't specifically say it's an OFest but the label and carrier state that it's made from Munich malts and noble hops so the style was kind of implied.

The Breckenridge beer was darker than expected when poured and had a dark, roasty flavor that I find mildly annoying since I don't associate that with the Märzen syle at all. As a dark amber ale, it is quite pleasant but it's definitely not an OFest type beer. It seemed like someone had taken a rather pedestrian light ale and mixed it with a stout to create the amber ale that Breckenridge made. Like I said, when NOT interpreted as a Märzen this is a good beer, I just felt disappointed because I was not anticipating what I got from the packaging. It also did not smell like goose butt so that was a plus. (nod to the other thread with the video of the guy lampooning beer snobs)

My own OFest brew tastes a lot like the offering from Free State with a bit more hop presence. I've set up several flights with my 4 oz tasters and I've been having a ball comparing my own brew to those commercially available.

[swenocha]

This is the last unique o-fest currently in the fridge (I still have plenty o' homebrew from '12 and '14, as well as some Ayinger, and several of this beer), though I'll likely buy additional varieties as I find them this year:

Yazoo Fall Lager



Plenty of Munich malt goodness, and a strong bitter, with Magnum hops for bittering and Tettnanger hops in the finish. This is among my favorite oktoberfest beers, and it's been fun to see it progress from it's beginnings as Fall Ale, and each subsequent tweak from what was a rather ordinary lager to what it is today.

Drinking this in honor of the Titans actually playing well, and in honor of Yazoo's (and Embrace The Funk's) big win at the GABF yesterday!

[mashani]

Titans actually playing well

That's funny... I've got some Ayinger and Great Lakes in the fridge that I'm gonna drink later to celebrate the Titans falling apart in the second half... who woulda thunk the Browns would pull off the biggest away game comeback in NFL history. Don't know if the Browns suddenly turned Hyde or the Titans turned Jeckel but something happened there.

[BlackDuck]

I'm not sure what happened either, but I'll take that Browns win too.

[Kealia]

I really wasn't looking to buy beer today, but....

I went to Safeway to pick up groceries and they had this for $3.99/bomber:



I may just drink this tonight since it's already chilled.

"Our Oktoberfest has a slightly higher ABV than most Bavarian-style lagers, followed by a more prolific aromatic hop profile. With a deep copper color, this lager has a toasty-malt flavor and a dry finish with earthy, grassy hop notes."

[swenocha]

Oh, wow. Want...

[Kealia]

I'll let you know how it is. I didn't drink it last night and I have to drive tonight so I won't tonight, either.

Then, I'm out of town until Friday, so that will be the soonest I'll have a chance to partake.

Keep in mind, like I said when I started the thread, that I'm no Octoberfest expert. I will however comment on how I like it and how it compared to others I've tried.

[Kealia]

In keeping with my self-proclaimed Octoberfest tradition of using nekkid cat glassware for my Octoberfest sampling:



Pours a wonderfully clear, burnt-orange color that is slightly darker than the picture indicates.
The aroma is malty, rich with a noble-hop undertone. They call this a hop-forward version but it isn't overly upfront at all.

The taste has more hop presence than the other versions I've tasted, but it's definitely holding true to being a malty style.
The hops are: Sterling, Willamette, Tettnang (which may not be true noble hops, but some of these all smell the same to me and I how I think of them).

Overall, it's better than a few that I had, but doesn't come close to the Firestone Walker version IMO.

[Kealia]

Because October isn't gone yet, last night I tried the OKTO Festival Ale from Widmer (of HEf fame):



It looked just like this picture, amber and rich looking. It also smelled of malt and bread, like I would expect.

The taste was rich with hints of something that I'm finding in most of these beers that I don't love, but I can't nail down what it is quite yet.

All in all, it as "good" but nothing I would go back for.

So, far Firestone still wins.