Hofbräu München Oktoberfestbier

Brewed by Staatliches Hofbräuhaus München
Style: Oktoberfest/Märzen
Munich, Germany

Bottle- Sampled @ Siebel during the German style tasting- Clear golden color white head. Nose is DMS, vegetable-esque. Drinking is much nicer, sweet finish.

Bottle. Huh... this is much higher rated than I would have guessed. It has a very light color for an Oktoberfest... golden with a fluffy and big white head that quickly fades away. Aromas are strong of Becks... you know, that skunky hops smell that is just slightly more offensive than Heineken and has some metal note in for good measure. Flavor is lager all the way... corny, metallic and skunky. Can’t see what others are seeing in this.

Green 12 oz bottle. Poured fizzy, gold and with a disappearing head. Grass and hay aroma with a sweet scent as well. Sweet straw, cereal and honey flavors, which sounds harmless enough, but unfortunately makes me think of some cheap corned up lager instead of a traditional O.F. More disturbing was the absence of any real hop balance. Cardboardy aftertaste. Pretty weak.

On tap at HB Tent at Oktoberfest. Had many liters of this. Golden, massive head. Eggy taste and refreshing. Had fun tasting these.

Rerate: Bottled (33cl). Gold with a thick white head. Rich malty grain aroma with a touch of floral hops. The flavor is what you would expect given the color, but is very rich, bordering on a helles bock, with a snappy yet subtle hop balance. Medium bodied and lightly sweet in the finish. A pleasure to drink, though it does taste like it got shipped halfway around the world. I wish that I had been more experienced when I had this at the source becuase it really is good stuff, though very modern in style. Original rating: Maß at HB tent on 9-27-07, second of the first night. Slightly deeper gold than Augustiner, but just barely. Huge fluffy white head, but that could be due to the massive amount of beer in front of me. Bready aroma. More body, malt, and bitterness, but still tastes like a helles. I’m beginning to accept that the München oktoberfestbiers are all just light lagers. Figures, since they have to sell millions of litres of them at the festival. It is what it is though, and its still a tasty, although not exiting beer. (6,3,6,3,14=3.2)

Would not have guessed that was an oktoberfest. Tastes like stella plus honey. Pours an orange yellow color and smells sour. Weak taste that is unblanced and lame. Not thanks dont buy.

Tap @ Front Door, Boise, ID: Pours a fairly clear gold color, decent head and lacing. The nose is light with some thin malt and up front cheap hoppy notes. The flavor is thin, with some husk and sweet malt, but very little caramelization, and a sharp pilsnery hop bite. The finish isn’t balanced, with a much more bitter up front note along with that husky cheap malt note. Lame oktoberfest.

Keg (Gallows Bird, Helsinki, Oktoberfest 2007) Light lagery aroma. Late dry hoppiness in the taste, but very thin body. Plenty of fizz, very little guts.