31 replies to this topic

[dungeonbrewer]

Sorry to say, I didn't brew my own this year..I do have a nice winter warmer fermenting away down in the dungeon for Christmas. Anyway, my old lady bought me a mixed 12 of all kinds of Octoberfest beers. I must say, I thought most of them sucked..with the exception of Flying Dog's Dogtober beer. Would like to make a similar recipe for that one..(hint..if anyone has one-please share) Just wondering if anyone found a nice Oct fest beer that was good..or is it my taste buds only liking homebrew these days.

[BrianBrewerKS]

Well, I know that Hoptober by New Belgium is not an Oktoberfest......but it's their fall seasonal, and I think it's awesome.As far as a beer that can be considered an actual Oktoberfest, Bob's 47 is my favorite. Mighty, mighty tasty.

[Genesee Ted]

Victory this year. Also liked Sly Fox.

[richt]

I really liked Capital Brewing's Octoberfest this year from Madison, WI. Their Autumnal Fire is awesome as well, but that's a dopplebock, not an ofest. New Glarus' Staghorn is excellent as always. Summit and Surly's fest beers were also good this year too. I was not impressed by Bell's or LeftHand.

[shaggaroo]

Was not impressed by Great Lakes OFest this year but did think that Sam Adams OFest was much better than last year's. Also thought that Beck's had a decent OFest this year.

[cavman]

Weihestephaner, Paulaner and Spaten were all godd this year. For Americans that I've had: Lager category Harpoon was good, SA and Victory were lacking; O'fest with Ale yeast Wachusett was ok but Otter Creek was very nice.

[Thirsty]

Stoudt's is impeccable

[consumptionjunction]

I did enjoy Left Hand's Oktoberfest quite a bit. And, as always, Ayinger Oktober Fest-Märzen brought it home.

[stellarbrew]

I thought the Ayinger and the Paulaner were both excellent. The Sam Adams was very, very good the first few places I got it on tap, but then the quality diminished the last couple of times I had it.

[Thirsty]

The Sam Adams was very, very good the first few places I got it on tap, but then the quality diminished the last couple of times I had it.

I thought it was horrible out of the bottle. Sulfury that lingered, and metallic.

[dmtaylor]

You know... lately I've come to realize that American breweries almost never seem to make a decent Oktoberfest. Even the most respected breweries can't seem to nail it, as hard as they might try. Plus it seems every stinking brewery out there has got one at this time of year, and 90% of them are horrible, or at the very least, nothing (and I mean NOTHING) resembling a good old fashioned German Oktoberfest... and I'm talking about the amber version, not the yellow helles they serve in Munich nowadays.Your best bets will always be from Spaten, Hacker Pschorr, Hofbrau, or Paulaner. But if you must try American versions, I've found that (at least in the Great Lakes region), Capital and Sprecher put out some halfway decent Oktoberfest beers -- these are not what I would consider "awesome", but they are pretty good beers nonetheless. Even Leinenkugel's is halfway decent. But so many others I've tried from all over the Great Lakes are just piss-poor. I imagine the story is the same in other regions. So, be careful what you pick, or, I guess you could just keep your expectations low (but who wants to do that?). In future, I'll prefer to stick with what I know, and will be leery of trying new ones.To the OP -- this is a good topic, thanks for bringing it up. I obviously had a soapbox moment here. Hopefully it helps someone.

[CarlosM]

Lets see.....Lienenkugels O'Fest was decent, nothing to special but for 3 bucks a pint it wasnt badHoptoberfest- alright, I only bought 2 6 packs.Three Floyds - Muensterfest was really good, no complaints about this one. Very malty and very drinkable.Goose Islands O'fest was BEYOND AMAZING FOR ME. By far the best O'fest I have had this year. Cant wait for next years.

[Brian72]

I thought it was horrible out of the bottle. Sulfury that lingered, and metallic.

Really? I got none of that this year. Every bottle I've had was excellent, and I've had a few....lol

[macbrak]

Flying Dog's Dogtoberfest was great.

[CarlosM]

Flying Dog's Dogtoberfest was great.

really? I wasnt to fond of it at all. It was an effort to get rid of the 6'er for me.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

All I had was my own and Spaten. Both were excellent.

[Salsgebom]

O-fest never really knocks my socks off like it does some people, but I've tried maybe 4 or 5 this year and my favorite was Brooklyn.

[japh]

The only two I've tried have been Sam Adams and Widmer- different beets (Widmer is hoppier), but they're both decent beers.

[MtnBrewer]

You know... lately I've come to realize that American breweries almost never seem to make a decent Oktoberfest. Even the most respected breweries can't seem to nail it, as hard as they might try. Plus it seems every stinking brewery out there has got one at this time of year, and 90% of them are horrible, or at the very least, nothing (and I mean NOTHING) resembling a good old fashioned German Oktoberfest... and I'm talking about the amber version, not the yellow helles they serve in Munich nowadays.Your best bets will always be from Spaten, Hacker Pschorr, Hofbrau, or Paulaner. But if you must try American versions, I've found that (at least in the Great Lakes region), Capital and Sprecher put out some halfway decent Oktoberfest beers -- these are not what I would consider "awesome", but they are pretty good beers nonetheless. Even Leinenkugel's is halfway decent. But so many others I've tried from all over the Great Lakes are just piss-poor. I imagine the story is the same in other regions. So, be careful what you pick, or, I guess you could just keep your expectations low (but who wants to do that?). In future, I'll prefer to stick with what I know, and will be leery of trying new ones.To the OP -- this is a good topic, thanks for bringing it up. I obviously had a soapbox moment here. Hopefully it helps someone.

I couldn't agree more.It is my goal in life to find an American O'fest that even approaches the German ones. Either they're too bitter, too hoppy or not malty enough. Every once in a while I find one that I think is pretty darn good and then I try it along side a H-P or Spaten. That's when I find out we've still got a long way to go. The most consistent one I've found so far is Sam Adams. I've got a sixer of Dogtoberfest in my fridge and it's nice and malty but it's just a bit too bitter. One of these days, I'm going to go to GABF and sample nothing but festbiers in the hope that I find one that measures up.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I couldn't agree more.It is my goal in life to find an American O'fest that even approaches the German ones. Either they're too bitter, too hoppy or not malty enough. Every once in a while I find one that I think is pretty darn good and then I try it along side a H-P or Spaten. That's when I find out we've still got a long way to go. The most consistent one I've found so far is Sam Adams. I've got a sixer of Dogtoberfest in my fridge and it's nice and malty but it's just a bit too bitter. One of these days, I'm going to go to GABF and sample nothing but festbiers in the hope that I find one that measures up.

why not just make your own? you have the technology and it will probably be closer to what you want.