Oktoberfest Beer

Today is the first day of October and the last week of Oktoberfest -- a 16-day festival celebrating beer in Germany.  In honor of Oktoberfest, we held a little Oktoberfest beer taste test competition this past weekend (and we had some extra time on Friday to go to Total Wine). 

Since this was not my idea, I got to relax as my husband prepped the competitors for the main event.  Bonus.  There were six beers entered in the race: 

• Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest-Marzen
• Spaten Oktoberfestbier Ur-Marzen
• Paulaner Oktoberest-Marzen
• Weihenstephaner Oktoberfestbier
• Harpoon Octoberfest Beer
• Dominion Octoberfest Maerzen

Reminded me a little bit like the "waterfall" drinking game from college

Almost all of the Oktoberfest beers had the dark amber hue, but the German beers were definitely darker than the American versions.  The obvious outlier was the Weihenstepahner, which was light honeyed color.  We both tried each beer, starting with the Hacker-Pschorr. 

The first three beers tasted very similar (the Hacker-Pschorr, Spaten, and Paulaner) - malty and smooth.  The Wiehenstephaner was really light and smooth, didn't feel as heavy as the other three.  As an extra bonus, it had this awesome picture on the six pack box.

Had I known this was what nun life was like, I might have chosen a different "path"

The other two were the American Oktoberfest-style beers.  I am no beer connoisseur, but these beers paled in comparison to the German brewed beers in terms of flavor and smoothness.  The Harpoon was decent, I would drink it if I were in a bar and it was on tap.  But the Dominion beer was pitiful.  It was like they just added more malt and slapped on the "Oktoberfest" label.

Finished everything else, except for the lonely poor-tasting Dominion

So, I went back to try my hand again at the three German Oktoberfest beers that were the amber color to discern a difference.  This time, I noticed a slight difference in the Spaten.  It took me a while to put my finger on it, but there was a different malt flavor that lingered after you drank the Spaten.  It was a little sweet.  And that did it for me, I declared an Oktoberfest beer winner -- the Spaten!

Winner, winner, pork and kraut dinner!

My husband was okay with my declaration of the winner, but he really liked the Weihenstephaner.  I think it had to do with the "woman in a uniform."  Turns out, he's not so picky when it's in the fridge and the game is on.

Enjoy the last week of celebrating Oktoberfest with some delicious beer!