The German / American Fest Beer

The 16 days of Oktoberfest 2015 will have come and gone; another fantastic festival in the beer books with the traditional gun-salute finale on the steps of the Bavaria Monument at the Theresienwiese fairground at noon on Saturday, October 6. The Märzen will have flown like water, and Germany’s largest folk festival will again come to a close.
Of course, in America, beer-fest season is just kicking off, with the Great American Beer Fest last weekend, and numerous regional Oktoberfests scheduled throughout this month, it’s a great time to embrace the fiesta and its yummy amber lager.
It’s always interesting to compare a classic version of a style to a modern (often this equals American) recreation of that same beer. Not surprisingly, the beers are often dissimilar, although seeking out universal threads, correlate elements and common ground can be appealing.
As discussed last week, Märzenbier, Oktoberfestbier and the original amber lager, Vienna lager are quite similar, with the first two being nearly indistinguishable. In any case, German fest beers use the malty and fragrant Munich malt, but they show up as dark gold in the glass. Even so, these beers will offer bready and toffee malt flavors, not sweet, yet very little in the way of hops. Medium-bodied, a bright clear beer that finishes dry, you’ll find this to be a better class of lager.
In contrast, American versions lean toward earlier examples of the style, and are closer to Vienna lager, if not Bock bier. Expect darker colors of red-amber to even brown in some cases. Many extant versions teeter on the sweet side, and tend to be loaded down with a variety of malts. Lest you forget that it’s an American made beer, hop presence will be moderate to strong, far outweighing the German counterparts.
Of the major German breweries, Hacker-Pschorr Original Oktoberfest is one of the best, original examples of the style. The beer has a decent sized, off-white head of frothy, almost creamy foam that dissipates quickly, but leaves a top on the beer, and great rings and lace down the glass.
A hint of fruit or a floral note sneaks past the nose, followed by moderately strong malt essence and toasted bread and grain. Taste is mostly malt, as it should be, and very nice. Well balanced, there is a touch of hops and that keeps the toasty and caramel taste from being sweet. This is a nicely integrated and easy drinking Oktoberfest. Smooth, yet crisp at the finish, there is just enough carbonation to keep the beer from being full-bodied.
The most widely available and I guess standard American version of the traditional German brew is Sam Adams Octoberfest. Overly-malted and late hopped sum up the beer. Think toasted sugar bread malt combination overtop herbal hops, although strangely I still enjoy it. These days I’m much more enamored with the examples from Great Lakes and Foothills, and I hear fantastic reviews of the Oktoberfest from Coast. That said, as I have written before, typically the best examples of most beers are the ones from their respective countries of origin, but damnit, ‘Merica y’all, happy Oktober. Enjoy the brews. … Cheers.
Gene’s Haufbrau has at more than 200 beers in bottles or on tap. While they don’t have every beer the Beer Snob writes about, they probably have most. Gene’s is located at 817 Savannah Hwy. 225-GENE. E-mail the Beer Snob at publisher@westof.net.