Beck’s Oktoberfest

Ahoy hoy fellow snobs!

The Quest for the Best Oktoberfest continues this evening with another German brew but before we get to that, the current standings are:

#1) Ayinger Oktober Fest
#2) Sam Adams Octoberfest
#3) Spaten Oktoberfest
#4) Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest

Many of us are familiar with the Beck’s label – many grocery stores have it, it’s often on the imports list at various restaurants and they make pretty decent beer. However, because of it’s mainstream status in comparison to its German brethren, I know a lot of people overlook it a bit. Of the Oktoberfest brews I’ve reviewed thus far, I’ll admit, I have a bit of a bias for this beer. Sam’s Club often gets shipments of this beer around this time of year and years ago we’d often grab it and head to the lake for one last hurrah before it got too cold. I can remember many a day floating on the lake with one of these in hand. I haven’t had one in quite a while though and this one in particular came from our friends at Leaf & Ale.

This beer contains the same amber hue it’s fellow Oktoberfest brews had, perhaps a little more golden. After the pour I immediately got some fruit scents that were very strong – apple and maybe a little pear. After the head died down the malts became very evident along with some spice. On the tongue this brew is very bready, there’s a little sweetness but there is a bitterness to this beer that overpowers and stays on your tongue. This beer clocks in at 5.0% ABV and is fairly easy to drink but either I’ve gotten more snobby over time or my memory of this beer has set the bar too high.

Final snobs: Not a bad Oktoberfest example and if you like this style, be sure to give this one a shot. Overall doesn’t stack up very well to the competition in this quest but I wouldn’t turn one down.

Cheers!

Current Standings:

#1) Ayinger Oktober Fest
#2) Sam Adams Octoberfest
#3) Spaten Oktoberfest
#4) Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest
#5) Beck’s Oktoberfest