This month's Session is hosted by, well, me. My theme for this month is Oktoberfest lager, and I have had a few well meaning people ask me why I chose the theme of Oktoberferst for the September Session. It's quite simple really, Oktoberfest begins in the middle of September, that and the fact that given the weirdness that is American brewing's obsession with having season beers in the shops well before a season actually starts, the shelves of supermarkets and bottle shops are already groaning with Oktoberfest style lagers, so why not drink a load of them?
In my original announcement of the theme I said:
"Feel free to dress up for your tasting, dirndls, lederhosen, that Australian backpacker outfit you keep in the back of your wardrobe for special occasions. Hire yourself an oompah band, play the birdy song, and generally get into the spirit of celebrating for the 117th time the marriage of Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese. Whip out the grill and buy all the bratwurst you can find, proper bratwurst that is, from Germany. Shout "O'zapft is!" at the top of your lungs...you get the idea."Well, sadly I don't have any lederhosen, or an Australian backpacker outfit, nor to I have a thing for the birdy song. I do however love German sausages and mustard, so I gleefully paired my tasting of Oktoberfest lagers with a plate of bockwurst, fried potatoes, and Dusseldorf mustard...
This though is a beer blog, so on to the beers themselves, of which there were 5, said 5 being:
- Leinenkugel's Oktoberfest
- Blue Mountain 13.5 Oktoberfest
- Great lakes Oktoberfest
- Otter Creek/Brauerei CAmba Oktoberfest
- Sierra Nevada/Brauerei Miltenburger Oktoberfest
Leinenkugel's Oktoberfest
- Sight - copper, small white head that vanishes quickly
- Smell - some bready malt, lightly spicy in the background
- Taste - very lightly toasted bread, slightly grassy, crisp finish
- Sweet - 1.5/5
- Bitter - 1/5
Blue Mountain 13.5 Oktoberfest
- Sight - deep burnished copper, half inch of linger white foam
- Smell - noticeable noble hop character, floral, citrus, some toffee
- Taste - lightly toasted bread, a very subtle smokiness, bit of a metallic tang
- Sweet - 2/5
- Bitter - 2/5
Great Lakes Oktoberfest
- Sight - dark honey (thanks Mrs V for that description!), voluminous slightly off white head that lingers for the duration
- Smell - fresh scones and a floral meadow in the height of summer
- Taste - caramel and toffee up front, bready backbone, malts definitely the star of the show
- Sweet - 3/5
- Bitter - 1.5/5
Otter Creek/Brauerei Camba Oktoberfest
- Sight - rich golden, white head that disappears pretty quickly
- Smell - saltine crackers, floral hops, lemongrass
- Taste - fresh bread, some yeastinessm abd a good hop bite in the finish
- Sweet - 2/5
- Bitter - 2.5/5
Sierra Nevada/Brauerei Miltenburger Oktoberfest
- Sight - golden honey, firm white head
- Smell - black tea, bread, and hay
- Taste - sweet doughy malt, floral hops, quite grassy, juicy (not in a ridiculous NE "IPA" way though)
- Sweet - 2/5
- Bitter - 3/5
So there we go, five Oktoberfest lagers, all of which worked fine with my bockwurst, kartoffeln, und senf...and I am pretty sure it won't be the last time this autumn that I pull a package of German sausages from the freezer, fill up my 1 litre glass with lager, let's be honest it'll be Sierra Nevada's until the shops run out, and pay homage to my Germany ancestors and my own Germanophilia. Prost!
Sierra Nevada keeps knocking these collaborations out of the park. I've bought almost nothing else since this year's batch started appearing on the shelves at the local Wegman's.
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