The Oktoberfest beer style is boring; So prove to me it's not!

The summer seasonals are currently taking their final bow for the year as they will soon be replaced by a tsunami of Oktoberfest & pumpkin beers, along with other fall seasonals. To some of my longer term readers, you may have noticed that during the fall months, you don't see too many Oktoberfest beers being reviewed, if any at all. Well there's a reason for that and I know some of you are going to hate me for this but frankly, I think this just needs to be said:

The Oktoberfest is one of the most boring, bland and uninspired beer styles out there and I think many of us are afraid to admit it.

Now before you get those pitchforks and torches ready, let me explain. Speaking in my capacity as a beer writer, my big gripe with the style is that I think that they all taste the same. I feel like regardless of where the beer comes from, there is virtually little to nothing that makes them stand out from one another.

I have honestly yet to see an Oktoberfest beer that people will actively go out of their way for, just to try it out. As boring and as uninspired as the style is, part of that fault lies with brewers. I get it, you want to honor what is a classic German style and draw in a larger crowd, but where is that innovation and creativity that I see in styles like IPAs, Imperial Stouts, Saisons, and even Pilsners? Actually, a better question would be: Is the Oktoberfest style even capable of being amazing? Is the style so restrictive to the point that putting even a slight twist on it will totally ruin the style?

As someone who has taken graduate-level economics courses along with keeping close marks on the brewing industry, I know that Oktoberfest beers are huge sellers for the likes of breweries like Sam Adams, Leinenkugel's and Goose Island; Which explains why numerous craft breweries always seem to have Oktoberfest beers at the ready and that's understandable. However, if you're going to release an Oktoberfest beer, make it stand out from the others. Hell, making your beer stand out from the rest is one of the main foundations of craft beer. Without it, we wouldn't have the likes of Heady Topper, Surly Darkness, Pliny The Elder, & Three Floyds' Zombie Dust.

I understand that the casual beer drinker will drink up any Oktoberfest beer out there, and that is their right to do so....but that doesn't mean we have to keep it plain and simple. The craft beer drinking community deserves so much more than just an army of what I consider to be an indistinguishable array of one type of beer style every year. We've come too far along to settle for something like that.

The Challenge

So I'm going to throw down a challenge to all my readers who don't agree with me regarding my views on Oktoberfest beers: Prove it. Prove to me that there is an Oktoberfest-style beer out there that will knock my socks off. Send me an email or a tweet and let me know which Oktoberfest beer I should have. In fact, send me a beer mail in the event that a supposedly amazing Oktoberfest beer isn't available in my area. I want to be able to prove to people that there is an Oktoberfest beer out there that can floor any seasoned craft beer drinker.

Summit Fest Bier Review

Name: Summit Fest Bier
Style: Märzen/Oktoberfest
ABV: 5.5%

Well, it's been a very long and eventful weekend but it was a very good one nonetheless. After everything that has transpired over this busy weekend, it's time to unwind and take a look at the latest offering in the Unchained Series from Summit Brewing Company.

For their newest release, they have decided to give us Fest Bier: an Märzen/Oktoberfest beer.....during the spring season when most beers tend to be....not Oktoberfest style beers. It's an unusual choice for a style especially at this time of year I will admit. However, I'm not ready to discount it on those merits so let's dive right in.

Fest Bier pours a clear orange color with a white & voluminous foamy head. There is some moderate carbonation visible in the glass and the lacing left behind is fair and sticky

The nose starts off with a toasted barley and Munich malt aroma. Followed by that are some faint spiced notes and a mild hoppiness. Smells pretty good but again, it's rather weird to be having this at the time of year.

The flavor is has some strong yeasty and toasted barley notes. There's a fairly strong Munich malt back here with some pretty strong floral hops and light spiciness. The palate is moderately weighted and the carbonation also matches the weight in terms of intensity.

Oktoberfest/Märzen style beers are not exactly at the top of my list of favorite beer styles but this was pretty good! The flavor is different enough to where it's able to set itself apart from others in the same category (something which I think is an issue with the style), yet it tastes good enough to where I would have no problem drinking this again. Since Summit already has an Oktoberfest, I'd love to see them use the recipe they used in this beer for their annual Oktoberfest.

Summit Fest Bier - 8.5/10

Leinenkugel's Big Eddy Uber-Oktoberfest Review

Name: Leinenkugel's Big Eddy Uber-Oktoberfest
Style: Oktoberfest/Märzen
ABV: 8.5%

After a couple of weeks of waiting and searching, I've finally been able to snag a bottle of Leinenkugel's other Oktoberfest called "Uber-Oktoberfest" as part of their Big Eddy Series. I mentioned in an earlier review that the Big Eddy Series is the line-up of stronger beers to appeal to the craft beer drinking crowd which, in my opinion, has been fairly successful in making some good beers.

The other thing you'll probably notice about this beer is it's 8.5% ABV, which is very strong for this style of beer considering that most beers in this category fall in-between the 5-<6.5% range.

Uber-Oktoberfest pours a clear dark amber color with a foamy yet fizzy head that fades away after a few minutes. The lacing left behind is pretty good and rather sticky.

The nose kicks things off with a pretty strong citrus hoppiness and caramel malt notes up front. This is followed up by roasted barley & malts, yeasts and some mild nutty notes.

The flavor has some strong floral hop notes up front with  strong roasted barley, nuts, yeasty and citrus/grapefruit notes. Quite hoppy even for an Oktoberfest beer.

The body is fairly moderate in weight but it feels thick at the same time. The carbonation is actually quite mild compared to Leinie's other Oktoberfest beer.

Well the term "Uber" was properly utilized in the name because this is a strong tasting Oktoberfest. I thought this was rather good. It has some really strong flavors in it's profile, particularly with it's hops and is also bit boozy at the same time. If this were available in 6-packs (as opposed to 4) and a couple dollars cheaper this would be my go to Oktoberfest beer.

It's hard to describe how a stronger Oktoberfest beer tastes after having so many of them, so my advice to you is to try it out and make the call for yourself.

Leienkugel's Big Eddy Uber-Oktoberfest - 8/10


P.S. Keep your eyes open for a special review tomorrow night as I'm going to be looking at something completely different (and awesome!)

Leinenkugel's Oktoberfest Review

Name: Leinenkugel's Oktoberfest
Style: Oktoberfest/Märzen
ABV: 5.1%

Tonight I'm doing something a bit special, as I will be doing two reviews of same style of beer made by the same company, Leinenkugel's. My first review will be their regular Oktoberfest beer, which is released around this time every year and the second beer I'll be reviewing is their Big Eddy Über-Oktoberfest beer.

With the case of many Leinie Seasonals, you're bound to find this in pretty much anywhere in the Midwest, whether it's a bar, grocery or liquor store; Though I'm unsure how widely available Leinie's is available in the rest of the country.

Leinie's Oktoberfest pours a clear orange color and a foamy head with excellent retention. The carbonation has a very mild appearance and the lacing is fairly decent.

The aroma has some light caramel to it, but the majority of the nose is grain adjuncts, cooked corn and some grassiness.

The flavor starts out with a mild caramel and Munich Malt-esque taste but aside from that it's grain adjuncts, corn, and grassiness make up most of the flavor. The finish is also quite dry so it doesn't linger on the palate

The body is quite light but the carbonation is quite intense for what it is, a sharp contrast compared to what I saw earlier.

There isn't really too much going on here: it smells like a typical adjunct lager and while the flavor somewhat resembles what an Oktoberfest should be, it just doesn't cut it. You're better off getting something else if you're looking for a decent fall seasonal.

Leinenkugel's Oktoberfest - 6/10