I lied. I’m not done for the day with just the category 3 awesome Hardywood Rum Barrel Pumpkin Farmhouse Ale. Feeling like dessert I reached for another JackieO’s. Black Falls. Imperial porter brewed with spice bush? I’m not big on porters, more of a stout guy. Conditioned on vanilla beans and aged in apple brandy barrels and bourbon barrels. 13.5% abv. A collaboration between JackieO’s and Burial. Brewed with North Carolina rye and Athens spicebush berries, then barrel aged for 17 months. It’s got oak, caramel, rye spice, sweetness from the brandy and a boozy bourbon chocolate finish. It is spectacular. I bought one each of 24 different JackieO’s and Zaftig beers, if I have a job and the money I’ll be driving back and spending another fortune on high abv unusual and awesome BBA beers from JackieO’s. This might be category 4
From Last night;
Genesis - Wicked Weed - Sour - 6.6 % ABV - 18 IBU - "brewed with over 200 pounds of mango, papaya, guava, and pineapple. Aged 6-12 months in a variation of white wine barrels"
Hazy Golden. Smells like white wine,
Really tastes like white wine - super dry. The sour is light. More wine than sour. I don't taste all that tropical stuff at all. If it's there I think it got dominated by the white wine, maybe some chardonnay.
Maybe not my favorite style. Fuse Category 1 for me. I think you'd be better off with something like this from Haw River, but just my one cent.
They are all starting to run together a bit now. That has always been a trend for me with Oktoberfests. Similar amber color to most of the others. Similar flavor profile. Fits in somewhere between Sam and Clawhammer. A good beer, but nothing terribly distinctive.
"Amazing what a minute can do."
This to me was the fascinating challenge when you selected Octoberfests. Ahead of a month ago, I would have told you “they all taste the same”.
I’ve had a half dozen different Octoberfests before today, with a bunch lined up for today.
I agree this is a difficult style to really get a lot of differences. That said, there are some differences more easily perceived, like colour, where the flavours are super similar.
I haven’t had them today (yet), there were some interesting character in Foothills and Victory that were reminiscent of a Fat Tire sharpness that I felt was both unusual and distinct.
DBR Virtual Pub - 9/21/2019 - Septemberfest
Oktoberfest 2019 - Sierra Nevada collaboration with Bitburger Brewery - 6% ABV - 22 IBU
Pour - Brown, Orange, Clear with thin quickly dissipating bubbly head. Caramel malt on nose.
The taste is well, good. It's malty, some caramel, but more wheat bread, nutty, and then nicely balanced with a nice bitter, light hoppy finish.
This is a good beer. Fuse Category 2. I still like the Clawhammer better, but I'd drink plenty more of this.
DBR Virtual Pub - 9/21/2019 - Septemberfest
Round 3, Sierra Nevada 2019 collab and Victory
Other than the SN head being spectacular, my eyes cant tell a discernable colour difference. Copper all the way down.
Victory is probably my least favorite- blind tasting I’d probably guess it was Fat Tire.
Maybe not a bad thing but not how I’d like an Octoberfest to taste.
The SN lacks the biting sharpness of Victory, but otherwise tastes fairly similarly.
I thought the same thing and agree with this. I haven't had many Octoberfests in the last decade or so and I looked upon this as a great opportunity to broaden my horizons/expand my knowledge/challenge my taste buds and, read the reviews so far, I have learned a bunch. We had 3 Octoberfests at our tailgate today and learned even more and were able to separate them to some degree WRT tastes and quality. My regret now is that I didn't buy a couple of the Germans to compare and/or look a bit longer at our son's local craft beer shop/convenience store (really-I'm not kidding) for some of the others on beeradvocate's top 100 list.
[redacted] them and the horses they rode in on.
For those keeping score at home, my present ranking seems to be:
6. Victory. Won’t buy again.
5. Duck Rabbit. Also not planning any future purchases.
4. Sierra Nevada. Will be different next year.
3. Hofbrau
2. Ayinger
1. Clawhammer
Still have AMB, Foothills, and Sam Adams on deck.
Will the remaining beer earn a coach’s decision DNP, or have a shot at shuffling the rankings above?
I did pick up the new BBA Sexual Chocolate from Foothills today thanks to T-Will's heads up. They're $20 a bottle.
If anybody wants to claim one for trade, I'll save it for you. It is an imperial stout with coffee. Devildeacs have claimed 2 bottles, but I have a few more.
Great call on the Oktoberfest/Septemberfest in advance Tripping Bill! I really enjoy them and fuse's article confirms they are perfect for September. Thanks for hosting!
Last one. SoPines pours the second darkest, behind Foothills. A pretty copper color. The second largest head, behind Deep River. The smoothest drinking of the bunch. A little bitterness at the end. Might be favorite, very close to Deep River.
"Amazing what a minute can do."
What better to start with than:
Franz-Rheingeist Brewery
C'mon, ya can't get much more German than the beer and brewery names.
Poured from a 12 ounce can into large wine glasses. Color was light amber with a generous off-white head. Nose of toasted wheat bread and tastes of light brown sugar, toasted bread and herbal European hops. IBUs at 20 and ABV at 5.4%. Solid starter to pair with some chips and a game of corn hole. Fuse Cat 2.
[redacted] them and the horses they rode in on.
From 11/1/16:
From this afternoon:
Munsterfest-Three Floyds Brewing
An interesting one to find in the archives, especially in November.
Pretty similar review to 3 years ago but with no Clawhammer to compare. Shoulda bought one at Bottle Revolution last week for that purpose but figured we might get 3-4 NC reviews so I passed.
I thought this had a bit more body and maltiness than Franz and was a bit more amber. Nice pairing with burgers and dogs. Fuse Cat 2.
[redacted] them and the horses they rode in on.
Final entry of the night:
Oktoberfest-Great Lakes Brewing Company
Over-rated: clap, clap, clap/clap/clap
This can't possibly be the #3 Octoberfest on the beeradvocate top 100 but it is.
Poured from a 12 ounce bottle into the wine glasses we used for tailgate and appeared the darkest of the 3 we sampled but only a medium amber. Pleasant malty/grainy nose with toasted wheat bread, light caramel, earthy hops and a smooth mouthfeel. IBUs were 20 and the ABV was 6.4%. Nice pairing with our burgers, wieners and a chocolate chip and a macadamia white chocolate chunk cookie.
[redacted] them and the horses they rode in on.