After four straight days of pumpkin beers, I thought I’d break it up a little bit with an Oktoberfestbier. My picture from my post announcing my Octoberfest Challenge is from a couple years ago when I had dinner at the Hofbrau Haus in Las Vegas and had a huge glass of this beer. Much like the Spaten Oktoberfestbier I had last week, it doesn’t get much more traditional Oktoberfest than this beer. I only felt like I should have been drinking it out of an enormous mug or a boot.
It had a thick soapy white head, although it fell after a few minutes to a thin head. There was a fairly skunky aroma – sort of like other imports in green bottles – but also a bit of a breadiness.
The body was light-medium and there was a tiny bit of carbonation tingle, but smooth otherwise. There was a bit of a bready/wheat beer-like flavor up front with little bit of German hop spiciness in a slightly hop bittering finish. The hop flavor and breadiness both come through a little more in the aftertaste.
All I could think about eating while I was drinking this beer were pretzels and mustard. The bready/wheaty flavor of the beer really made me think of sitting in a German restaurant prior to dinner snacking on pretzels.
The skunky aroma was not what I was expecting, but it didn’t seem to have much of an impact on the flavors of the beer. It was crisp and refreshing, but it still had enough body and flavor to give it some substance. Overall, I thought this was a good beer, and I think I could really enjoy a liter of this while hanging out with friends at a big Oktoberfest celebration.
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