Beer Spotlight!
Oktoberfest Beers
Back in April, Lord Mayor of Munich Dieter Reiter announced that after a two year COVID-induced hiatus, Oktoberfest, the world’s largest outdoor folk festival, would return. It’s been half a year and we are still go for brew! This coming Saturday, September 17, Oktoberfest begins and runs until Monday, October 3rd. If you can’t make it to Munich, you could head over to Cincinnati, OH, where the world’s second largest Oktoberfest celebration starts Friday and runs through the weekend. If not even a beer-laden celebration can take you over to Cincinnati (totally understandable — Oh! Shots fired!) don’t worry. We have the beer to allow you to throw your own festival no farther than your fridge and your stein.
For our Oktoberfest collection this year, we have brought in a couple of classics, a perennial favorite, and one newcomer. Fear not. We can break them down for you.
Spaten Oktoberfest
$11.99 for the 12oz six-pack
Märzen Lager
Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu is one of the six Munich breweries that have tents at Munich’s Oktoberfest. Their Oktoberfest Lager pitches traditional caramel notes against a signature Spaten minerality that we bet comes from the deep well water that they use for their beers. Regardless, the Spaten Oktoberfest is a deserved staple of the season.
Paulaner Oktoberfest Märzen
$10.99 for the 12oz six-pack
Märzen Lager
Originally founded by monks, Paulaner Brauerei München is another of Munich’s six Oktoberfest breweries. This is the brewery that brought the world the first doppelbock, and we see that attention to malt-forward brewing carrying forward into this Märzen — smoother, rounder, and clove-ier than the Spaten, with hints of elderflower on the nose.
Ayinger Oktober Fest-Märzen
$15.99 for the 12oz four-pack
Märzen Lager
Ayiner Privatebrauerei sits in the city of Aying, just 20 miles south of Munich. Though not an official Oktoberfest beer, it’s as legit as you can get without being in Munich itself. Pouring a reddish copper color, the Ayinger gives you caramel kettle corn on the nose and on the palate — a solid reason why this brew is so many of our customers’ preferred Oktoberfest.
Aslin Festbier
$11.99 for the 16oz four-pack
Festibier Lager
The Festbier is the other Oktoberfest style — a light, golden lager, much closer to a Dortmunder than a Märzen Lager. Actually, if you go to the Munich Oktoberfest, you’ll most likely be served Festbiers rather than Märzens. This Festbier from Aslin is very clean, very light, with just a hint of hops tightening up the finish.