Community Corner
Time for Oktoberfest Beer, Lederhosen and Oompah
A centuries-old style of beer best known for its sweet, malty character, is the beverage of choice at this traditional, seasonal festival. You'll find many renditions at local shops.
It’s the time to don your lederhosen.
Oktoberfest, Germany’s most famous beer festival gets underway in Munich on Sunday and runs through Oct. 3. It’s a century’s old tradition marking the wedding celebration on Oct. 7, 1810 of Crown Prince Luitpold I and Princess Theressa of Bavaria. http://www.oktoberfest.de/en/
Oktoberfest is also a beer style. Typically brewed in the spring, because heat in pre-refrigeration days made summer brewing impossible. Most beers consumed in the fall were brewed in March, often with higher alcohol levels and kept cold, deep in caves over the spring and summer. Märzenbier, as some call the style, typically is full-bodied, rich, toasty, with brass, amber or dark copper color and an alcohol content of 5-6 percent.
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In Germany, only beers brewed within Munich can be served at the festival, exclusivity limited to Augustiner, Hacker-Pschorr, Hofbräu, Löwenbräu, Paulaner and Spaten. Nevertheless, brewers elsewhere in Germany and U.S. craft brewers have embraced the custom, too.
There’s a bewildering array of Oktoberfest beers at local emporia. The American offerings were copper colored, maltier, nuttier and fuller in body than the German imports, which were golden or brassy with a tad more bitterness. Some tasting notes:
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Stoudts Oktoberfest. Adamstown, Pa. Delicious. Copper-hued. Biscuity notes. Slight resiny hop character.
Harpoon Oktoberfest. Boston. Garnet color. Caramel and bready notes.
Saranac Oktoberfest. Utica. Copper color. Toasted bread notes. Hint of bitterness.
Brooklyn Oktoberfest. Amber. Sweet nutty notes, juicy malt, hints of hop spice.
Thirstydog Barktoberfest. Akron, Ohio. Very good. Amber. Juicy caramel and sweet bread notes. Feint hop character.
Samuel Adams Oktoberfest. Boston. Smooth, easy drinking. Deep amber. Caramel notes.
Otter Creek Oktoberfest. Middlebury, Vt. Light copper. Malty notes. Odd floral, honeyed character.
Narragansett Fest Lager. Connecticut and Rochester. A winner. Roasty malted nose. Big malty taste.
Magic Hat Hex Ourtoberfest. Burlington, Vt. An ale, maltier and fuller in body and bitterer than others.
Ayinger Oktoberfest. Aying, Germany. Stereotypical Oktoberfest. Brassy colored. Lots of roasty, malt notes.
Kostritzer Oktoberfest. Bad Köstritz, Germany. Light copper color, buttery, bready notes, toffee sweetness.
Beck’s Octoberfest. Bremen, Germany. Herbal, soapy notes. Some caramel and bready flavors.
Paulaner Oktoberfest. Munich. Pale gold, bready nose, spice, oranges, light sweetness. Easy to drink.
Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest. Munich. Brass color, malty, sugary notes. Soft grassy character.
Spaten Oktoberfest. Munich. Pale copper, bready nose, some sweetness. Easy drinking.
Hofbräu Oktoberfest. Munich. Golden hue. Hoppy nose, bready, fruity flavors.
Wolters Fest Bier. Brunswick, Germany. Golden, hoppy, skunky character.
Erdinger Oktoberfest Weissbier. An oddity. Brewed with wheat. Clove and fruit notes of a hefeweissen.
