Shiner Marzen-style Oktoberfest. Just came out and I picked up a sixpack this AM.
Cracked a bottle and poured into a pilsner glass. Nice bright copper color. Effervescent and long lasting head. Malty, but not as much as the real German item. Slight initial metallic taste which could be the hops?
Not as sweet like I feared it would be. Nice. Not earth-shattering but the whole six will be consumed. Unlike the Commemorator that I still have a couple bottles left after several years.
Shiner is pretty solid with all their seasonal offerings. I never hesitate to give them a whirl when I see something new. The Commemorator was kinda lackluster IMO. The recent Shiner Smokehaus (Mesquite Smoked Helles) was great. Shiner 101 was excellent, Shiner Fröst was good too.
I like it. As blasphemic as it may be, my favorite O-Fest had always been Sam Adam’s, but as soon as this year’s Sammy comes out, I can’t wait to do a side-by-side. I’m thinking Shiner’s may be better. I have to agree with MDixon, their recent seasonal offering have been great. 101 was very nice, and Smokehaus is my new go-to summer beer for out by the pool or next to the grill. Kinda nice knowing a brewery in TX is finally pumping out some great beers. Now I can only hope they come out with a new holiday beer. The peaches and pecan beer just wasn’t my thing.
When I was in Tennessee last year visiting relatives, Shiner Bock was the only thing close to craft beer I could get where they live. I liked it pretty much, and the $7 for a pitcher was not a bad price. Of course, I was beer starved all week but never broke down to ordering a BMC.
I agree, the Sam Adams Octoberfest is amazing (and is one of my favorites). Having said that, I picked up a six of it a week or so ago and I feel like it doesn’t taste like I remember. This might be a change in my palate, but something seems off. I’m still working on my beer vocabulary but I feel like the malt isn’t as robust as I remember and that the alcohol flavor comes through a bit. I’m going to need to sit down and really think about (and drink about) what seems off. Let me know if you notice anything different.
Are you sure it’s this year’s? I was up in Waterbury, CT two weeks ago and there was no SA O-Fest to be found. My uncle, who loves everything Sammy, said that the O-Fest usually doesn’t arrive until the first week of September at the earliest. COuld be some distributer’s are trying to cash in and get rid of last year’s leftovers.
This year’s Sam Adams Octoberfest is available and has been for a little while. I bought a case of it last week for $25 at the Sam’s Store near my house (I love the great deals at Sam’s). I haven’t tried it yet but I know that it’s 2010’s because they have a brand new label.
It’s like Christmas decorations in October…they keep coming sooner and sooner. I’ve seen it here in NH as early as a couple weeks ago. I mean pumpkin ales were in the stores as early as August 4th this year…I love pumpkin ales so I didn’t mind so much. I’d drink SA Octoberfest year round if they provided it.
Had a Sam Oktoberfest on draft today… not good at all. I used to think it was a decent (if American tasting) beer, but this one didn’t even taste fresh. I’d blame the bar but I doubt it’s even been out for more than a week or so.
Guess I need to go shopping again. A buddy had them side by side and said the Sammy was bad too. Wonder if they changed up the recipe.
OT: Had the Barleywine from the 2010 Longshot sixer. Blah. Cloying bomb. The Old Ale was decent and haven’t gotten around to the Spiced Saison.
The Octoberfests are popping up on the shelves. I counted at least five domestic craft Octoberfests last weekend that I’d never seen before.
I’d rather buy singles instead of a $10 sixpack (or fourpack in some cases) but I want to try them all!
rather funny - I think this year’s SA O-fest is the best I’ve ever had of theirs, and one of the best Fests of the season so far (though I haven’t picked up any German versions yet). Better than Shiner, Harpoon, Flying Dog and Left Hand, though I like Left Hand as well.
I bought a 12 pack and will definitely buy more.
Maerzen is my second favorite style, too. go figure ???
I suppose this is just a case of different strokes for different folks.
Swung by the local and picked up some SA O-fest. More on this later.
I’ve had both the Shiner and the Real Ale releases. Both were excellent, and slightly different but whose malt character said “Oktoberfest”. The Real Ale Oktoberfest is quite nice and drinkable. I was surprised to see them release it but “our first lager” in the description clears it up some.
SA O-fest Is a rich drinkable beer. I don’t get much if any of the Bavarian malt character the other two possess. Sam Adams doesn’t seem to share this particular aspect. Is it meant to be an American Octoberfest?
It’s good- I’m having another.
I liked the BW… a bit on the heavy side, but it’ll be nice in the winter.
The old ale was good too. Its a beer thats too often over-hopped, which SA avoided. When I buy an old ale, thats what I want… not an Imperial Red.
Saison was decent as well… its better suited for the “saison” category and not the “spiced” category… couldnt pick up much lemon or pepper (which is good - not a fan of either in beer, unless its chipotle!)
That, ultimately, is what keeps the whole ‘beer thing’ interesting.
There will be as many percerptions about any beer as there are tastebuds sampling them.
After the O-fest tasting Ron and I had last year, I think I will stick to Spaten or Hacker-Pschorr. The American versions, while drinkable, and some tasty beers in their own right, are missing a flavor component that the German verisons all seem to have.
A big +1 to that notion.
Not that American examples are bad. Just not true examples of good German festbier. Of course you have to go to Germany to get the real thing. At least we have the opportunity to get some export examples.
Ayinger - thank me later… ;D
^^^^This brewery makes great German Fest bier.