Who's the guy that buys a pallet of Oktoberfest every year?

GrumpyBiker

I drink Stiegl Pils year round – including October. Fine stuff.

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Originally posted by GrumpyBiker:

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Originally posted by RogueJSK:

If you wait until cooler weather, there will be little to no Octoberfests left on the shelf.

Yeah, sorry about that !

And GB wins the internet today.

Someone point me to one of those that tastes similar to a Bavarian hefeweizen. Please.

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Originally posted by slabsides45:
Someone point me to one of those that tastes similar to a Bavarian hefeweizen. Please.

Sorry, brother. No can do.

Nearly all "Octoberfest" beers are a style of beer called a Märzen. Märzens and Hefeweizens are two very different styles. Märzens are an amber, medium-bodied lager brewed from barley, and have a rich, toasty, malty flavor. Not really anything like a light, yeasty, wheaty Hefeweizen.

There is one other traditional style of Octoberfest beer, known as the Wiesn. It's a bit lighter and brighter than a Märzen, and you could consider it to be slightly closer to a wheat beer, but it's still fairly different. Wiesn style Octoberfest beers are less common/popular than the Märzen style, but there are a few companies that offer Octoberfest Wiesns, like Paulaner. You might check those out first.

But in the end, if you go around trying Octoberfests hoping to find one that tastes like a Hefeweizen, you're just going to be disappointed. That's like trying all the oranges at the grocery store, hoping to find one that tastes like apple.

Two different styles, for two different weathers. Don't get me wrong... I love Hefeweizens. They're my overall favorite style of beer, and they're nearly all I drink during the warmer weather of late Spring and Summer. But once the weather cools down in Fall, Winter, and early Spring, I love a good Märzen.

Nothing beats a cool, crisp Autumn weekend afternoon, sitting on the patio or on the couch inside with the windows open, drinking a quality Octoberfest.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RogueJSK,

Ok, I see your point, and my statement was poorly worded. I really meant to say "point me to a good weizen."

I might have made one or two Oktoberfests back in the Ansbach/Frankfurt regions, back in the day. Never was disappointed, but still wasn't my favorite.

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Originally posted by slabsides45:
Ok, I see your point, and my statement was poorly worded. I really meant to say "point me to a good weizen."

That I can do.

Weihenstephaner is the best German Hefeweizen, by far. My favorite beer, bar none.



Ayinger is almost as good.



And there are several other good choices out there for quality German Hefeweizens. Other good ones that first come to mind include...

Franzikaner:


Paulaner:


and Weltenburger:


But there are a number of other good German Hefeweizens too.

There are also several domestic craft brewers that produce decent German-style Hefeweizens, some of which are almost as good as the German imports. The best of these domestics is probably Sierra Nevada Kellerweiss:

You are both a gentleman and a scholar, Rogue. Danke.

Mit Vergnügen, mein Freund!

Swung by Spec's this evening and they had 3 varieties of Octoberfest. The Spaten was a 6-pack in green bottles so I didn't buy (too often green or clear bottle 6-packs are skunked including last year's Octoberfest).

I did pick up these 2 locally brewed beers and look forward to trying as Saint Arnold was one of the best Octoberfests last year.

This year's Saint Arnold is very good

Swung by H-E-B and they had two Octoberfests.

Sierra Nevada was actually manning a sample stand for their summer beer, and he shared where he had stashed the last 6-pack of Octoberfest. This year's partner is in Miltenberger. It's more flavorful than the Saint Arnold's but not as light and refreshing.

The Shiner Bock Oktoberfest was out when I made a grocery run this morning at my local grocer. Tomorrow I may stop by the local Army base BX to see what is out there. Oktoberfest is still a month away from the official start, but I love the season. The grocer had replenished the Sierra Nevada stock BTW.

This is my favorite time of the Beer Year !!


Picked up a few Märzen offerings today.
Having some Barktoberfest at the moment.
It has a distinct Brown Ale flavor to it in the background.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: GrumpyBiker,

Nice finds.

I hit my usual liquor stores this afternoon. The only new arrival this week was Paulaner's Octoberfest Marzen, so I grabbed a couple packs. I imagine that things like Sierra Nevada, Shiner, and Spaten will be along shortly, since they're already out in other areas.

I put my order in with our largest and best-stocked beer store for a couple cases of Ayinger Octoberfest. He said they should be available in the next week or two. In the past several years, Ayinger has been in very high demand, with limited supply. A few years back I was only able to get one of the two cases I ordered, and my beer guy said that it was the lone case he was able to get his hands on that year. (And it was mine! All mine! Muahaha...)

I had Hoffbrau Octoberfest a few years ago in another city. Very tasty. But none of the local distributors around here carry Hoffbrau stuff.

Scored two more Texas Oktoberfest beers. Karbach (Houston) was my 2nd favorite last year (Paulaner was favorite), and Legal Draft (Arlington).

I bought a mixed six-pack. Paulaner-Martzen, Spaten, Hacker-Pschorr, Wien'er, Erdinger-Weissbrau, Hofbrau. They are still cooling. The Ayinger, which I usually do not like, is very nice this year. The bier is early.

Alles frisch!

Slabsides45, BOLO for Wien'er Wiezenbock, and Erdinger Festbier-its in the Weissbier style.

Nothing more around here still.

So i snagged a hofbrau and spaten. I was unimpressed so far. Maybe its the heat. What is the prized jewell this year?