Oktoberfest Crown Challengers - Spaten

So....where did we leave it? Oh that's right, from my perspective the winner of the Fuggled Oktoberfest Taste Off was Sierra Nevada's collaboration with Bitburger. As is the way of things though, the shops suddenly had more beers bearing the Oktoberfest label and so I knew I had to find a way of incorporating those into things.

The plan then is simple, a series of head to head tastings and whoever is left standing at the end will be declared the Fuggled Oktoberfest of the Year, a prize so unmatched in prestige that it is quite literally priceless, oh ok then it has no monetary value.

The first contender was Spaten's Oktoberfest, marketed as the "Ur-Märzen", the original Märzen, it seemed only natural to start things off with this.

Using the Cyclops beer evaluation tool, here's my thoughts on Sierra Nevada

• Sight - copper, medium white head, nice lacing
• Smell - toasty malt, light brown sugar, floral hops
• Taste - slight peppery hop note, toasted teacake, nicely clean bitter bite
• Sweet - 2/5
• Bitter - 3/5

There is a reason I have drunk a lot of this since it came out in August, it is damned delicious. What then about the challenger?

• Sight - rich orange with red highlights, firm white head, good lacing
• Smell - sweet grainy malt, subtle honey, citrus and spicy hops
• Taste - soft toffee, caramelised grains, a bit indistinct
• Sweet - 2/5
• Bitter - 2/5

Ok, so it is a nice beer, good balance leaning more toward the malt, and with a nice clean finish. The problem with it though is that it is just rather forgettable.

Sierra Nevada then holds onto their crown...but other challengers are lining up.