Oktoberfest Beers

Oktoberfest starts today so I'll throw out a few Oktoberfest beer/Marzen reviews that I've been holding back and reprint some that I've already done.  I thought I was going to have one from all of the Munich Big Six but I didn't get down south like I thought I was going to so I'm missing two, make that one, you get to figure out which ones  they are it is. 

On a different note;  I AM GOING to Oktoberfest whether or not Shantel and the boys go or not.  There is no way I'm living in Germany and not going to make the trip to Munich.  Right now we are planning on meeting some old friends and making a weekend out of it.  If that falls throw I'll still head down there though.  Now on to the beers

Munz Marzen - This is from the Munz-Brauerei L. Bundschuh and Co in Gunzburg, Germany.  I picked up when we went to Legoland Deutschland in Gunzburg.  It pours a pale straw gold with a  generous white head that stayed around for quite awhile leaving lacing on the sides.  I got my flu shot today so the aroma eludes my stopped up nose.  The taste is light and malty sweet and the finish lingers and is slightly bitter.  A pretty interesting Marzen or Oktoberfest bier.

Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest Marzen- This beer pours a dark copper, almost a brown, with golden tints. The generous head is a light beige that disappears quickly, but leaves light lacing on the sides of the glass. The aroma is malty and slightly sweet and the taste starts outs the same with a slight bite at the end. The bite is more of the heavily roasted malts then the true bitterness of hops. A very drinkable beer and probably one of my favorite from Hacker-Pschorr.

 Paulaner Oktoberfest beer - This beer came with a 1 liter glass mug to go with it. I mean how could I pass that up. A liter beer and a mug all for 1 Euro. Here's what I thought of it.  This beer pours with a dark coppery tint and nice fluffy head that lasts about 5 minutes. In essence it looks exactly like all of the pictures of the beers that those well endowed barmaids are serving to all of the revelers in Munich during Oktoberfest.  The aroma is fine balance between hops and fresh cut grass and the flavor is just as balanced with just a hint of hops and a slightly dry finish. Most definitely a very drinkable beer. I've enjoyed the the other Paulaner's I've had and this beer just reinforces that.

Gunzburger Radbier Marzen Spezial - This is another beer from our trip to Legoland.  It's from the Gunzburger Radbrauerei, mainly known for their weizen, they do a Marzen Spezial for Okotberfest.  It pours a coppery gold with hints of amber.  A slightly off white head never quite disappears and leaves plenty of lacing on the sides.  The aroma is floralish and kind of sweet.  The first mouthful is interesting, somewhat bready and definitely malty sweet  Almost reminiscent of honey?  Pretty interesting.  The finish is clean with no after taste, a definite plus.  I really like this beer, too bad I'd have to drive 2 1/2 hours to get more.

Spaten Oktoberfestbier - According to the Spaten website this was the first Oktoberfest beer.  It's the one that all the others are trying to imitate.  It pours a light copper gold and has a pretty generous head that slowly dissolves leaving hefty lacing on the sides.  The aroma is malty.  The taste is malty sweet with a clean wet finish.  A fine example for all of those other Oktoberfest beers to imitate.

Lowenbrau Oktoberfestbier - The lion's brew, that's a rough translation of lowenbrau.  Their Oktoberfest/Marzen offering pours a coppery gold like the others but the head seemed to disappear a little faster, although the lacing remained on the sides.  The aroma is still malty.  The taste is malty sweet with a more pronounced hoppy bitterness.  Interesting.  The finish is crisp and wet and with that extra hoppy kick.  Tasty but not my favorite.

Hofbrau Oktoberfestbier - This beer pours a dark amber with a slightly off white head that starts off generous but slowly dissolves but leaves light lacing on the sides of the glass. The aroma is straight up malts with maybe, just maybe, a hint of hops. The taste is sweet malt and this beer finishes with a slight tartness that calls for another drink. I'll happily oblige.