It is that time of year when the Octoberfest beers start coming out, and I love it!!! I am a big Shiner Bock fan, so naturally it made sense to try their version of Octoberfest beer. I really liked it a lot.
From the Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, Texas, and at 5.7% alcohol, this is a really smooth tasting ale. It tastes more like a lager than an ale to me. It has a malty toasted flavor, but the hops give it a nice bite at the end that makes it perfect.
I got my first one in a sampler pack, and actually drove back to the liquor store to get another 12 pack because I liked so much. My only complaint is that they don't make this beer year around.
Nice picture! ;-)
ReplyDeleteIt tastes more like a lager because it is one... as are all the Munich Oktoberfestbiers.
PM Summer,
ReplyDeleteThank you for checking out our site! I am always glad when our guests leave comments, especially when it allows me to further their beer education.
First of all, you are right about Munich Oktoberfestbeirs being lagers, kind of. There are two breweries in Munich that brew Oktoberfest Marzen beer. Any beer that tries to copy them must claim that it is an Oktoberfest Marzen Style. Most of the time in March(Marzen) the brewers in Munich do brew Oktoberfest lagers. However, sometimes depending on the almanac(the cold weather coming early in the Alps can really mess up the fermentation process), they will brew their Oktoberfest beers as Ales, which leads me to the next part of your education.
All beers are classified as either an Ale or a Lager. The difference is sometimes hard to detect. There are two basic things that make a beer one or the other. First, Ales are fermented for a shorter amount of time at a warmer temperature. The other key difference is the yeast that they use. Ales are fermented with a yeast that works on the top of the brew. Lagers use a bottom dwelling yeast. Since most of us have a hard time tasting a difference in brewers yeast, we have to read the label to see which one it is(see Shiner Bock Oktoberfest Marzen Seasonal Ale).
Back to Shiner's Oktoberfest Marzen Style Ale. I will agree with you that it does taste more like a typical lager than it does an ale. However, I will respectfully yeild to the good brewers of the beer as to what teperature and yeast they made the beer at and with. Since it is an imitation of a style of beer, they are perfectly at liberty to make it either way. It is my guess that due to the volume that they brew this beer at, they choose to make it an ale for time purposes.
Again, thank you for stopping by our sight. I hope I was able to explain why I called this Ale an ale.