Episode 27: Mendocino Oktoberfest Lager– Bicostal not bipolar

We finish up our Oktoberfest series with Mendocino Octoberfest. This is a West Coast beer, so all of those who may complain that we are too East Coast focus can shut yo mouth.

News

Huge news in the beer industry this past week, so huge that it actually made all of the big news websites not just the beer related ones. SAB Miller and Molson Coors are going to combine US operations to compete with Anheuser Busch. Miller will hold the majority share of the new business with 58% share and Coors will have 42% share. All in all, this follows the trend in the industry of consolidation, and I would not be shocked to hear of another major deal between AB and InBev in the future.

Oktoberfest Lager

• So last week I said that we are going to be doing a beer from a West Coast brewery, Mendocino Brewing Company.
• Starting as the first brewpub in California since prohibition under the name Hopland Brewery in 1984, growing every year and starting to distribute 12 ounce bottles in 1989.
• In 1997 capacity at the brewpub (yeah, they were still bottling there) was more than at it’s peak and they invested in a state of the art brewery in nearby Ukiah.
• Now comes the two coast thing. In 1997, to give the beer national recognition, they started to brew in a brewery in New York, Olde Saratoga Brewing Company.
• There products are available in 35 states, so this is a rather widely distributed product, and you should be able to get it just about anywhere.
• The official name is Oktoberfest Lager, and it weighs in at around 6.1% ABV.
• The taste has a bit more hop bite than the one we looked at last week, Spaten, did. That being said, there are still lots of the sweet bready flavors from the caramel malts used to make it.
• As we wrap up this series, I want to ask for other suggestions for next year. I know that this is one of the types of beer that I know a little bit less about, and with such the short time that they are out on the market, I don’t always get a chance to try them all. Let us know what we may have missed.

Next Week

Well, next week we move on to pumpkin style beers in honor of Halloween. We will be doing two beers, one next week which you can find everywhere, Blue Moons Harvest Ale, and one that may be a bit more difficult to locate, Dogfish Heads Punk.

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Episode 26: Spaten Oktoberfest – Back to ye olde country

How do you like the old timey speak? Nice eh? Another jump across the pond to look at Spaten Oktoberfest, and of course ramble a bit.

News

As Jim mentioned in passing last week, the Pittsburgh Brewing Company has been sold to an investors group and is now going to be called Iron City Brewing Company, for their namesake beer. Pittsburgh Brewing Company has been bankrupt for several years now and the sale is a welcome site for Pittsburgh. The brewery is currently making millions of dollars worth of renovations and are not shipping any beer, at least not to Chicago, for the meantime.

Spaten Oktoberfest

• Well I promised that we would get to it, Spaten Oktoberfestbier, from no other than Munich Germany. Truly the grandfather of all Oktoberfest beers, the website claims that this beer was first brewed in 1872 and is the first Oktoberfest beer.
• Spaten is not a young brewery it was first registered in 1397.
• Spaten was actually one of the first good beers Jim ever had. A good friend and listener Scott introduced me to Spaten several years ago and well it all kind of snowballed from there.
• This beer in particular weighs in at around 5.9% alcohol by volume and is a traditional Marzen Style lager.
• The color is a deep amber, with very little head but lots of carbonation. This is a really clear beer, as opposed to the hefeweisens and some of the ales that we have tried here. Again, this is due to the lagering and filtering process.
• The flavor is a light bready taste, with just the hint of bitterness. This beer really doesn’t have the depth of flavor that we have seen in the past, but it is still a good beer to introduce people too.

Next Week

Well, we originally planned to do Brooklyn Brewing Companies Oktoberfest beer, but I can’t find it, so instead we are moving away from our East Coast bias and we are going to Mendicino Brewing Companies Oktoberfest.

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Episode 25: Penn Oktoberfest – It’s a polka night in Pittburgh

Ok I know we said we would cover Spaten Oktoberfest, but neither Jim nor I could get it, so we took a bit of a detour talking about Penn Oktoberfest and a bit more of the history of Oktoberfest.

News

September 30th was the national toast to Mr. Michael Jackson. All around the country last night at pubs, bars, restaurants, and beer joints, glasses were raised to honor the legendary beer writer. It was said that Duvel, a belgian beer which we have not yet covered but will when we get to that series, was his favorite beer. I know that I am going to be raising my glass later this week to him, because its is better late than never.

Oktoberfests both Gross and Specific

• The actual Oktoberfest heald in Munich Germany each year is made up of 14 tents that each serves a separate purpose, from Schottenhamel which is considered the most important tent because it is where the festival starts, to the Augustiner-Festhalle tent which features the local beer Augustiner.
• Penn Brewery throws their own Oktoberfest in Pittsburg, PA. The brewery is located in an area of town that is within view of the old Hienz Plant and looks very much like an old bavarian brewery.
• The Penn Oktoberfest and the Penn Dark beers. The Penn Oktoberfest beer had a distinctive bready taste, while still have some light hop character. The Dark, a german dunkel by contrast had a bit more roasty flavor, but still some of the same smoothness that you would expect from a german lager beer.
• In addition to Penn Brewery, I visited Church Brew Works. There over a dinner of Sauerbraten and peppercorn spaetzel, I enjoyed their version of the Oktoberfest, which was much more hoppy than the Penn Brewerys verison.
• While we are talking about Oktoberfests, we thought it would be great to mention one that Jake and I have worked the past two years but are unable to this year, Capital City Brewing Company and Shirlingtons Oktoberfest. This is a great fest that has a great variety of beers from a variety of brewers. And of course, it had a pretty good selection of german food and a great umpa band.

Next Week

So next week, I promise we will be talking about Spaten Oktoberfest. No, really, I swear we are going to. Finally, its about time we go with a real German beer.

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Episode 24: Sam Adams Octoberfest – Roll out the barrel

We start a new series this week with Sam Adams Octoberfest. You might notice a slight echo when I’m talking. Jim’s speaker/microphone setup needs some fixing, so bear with us for a bit.

News

This is actually an update from a previous story in regards to Pizza Beer. Thats right, we liked the story so much we decided to take another look at it. It seems that a Wisconsin brewery, which one I do not know, is going to start to make pizza beer for sale at local stores here in Chicago. Yeah, you heard me right, Pizza Beer for sale in local stores. The question really is, when are we going to do a show on Pizza Beer.

Sam Adams Octoberfest

• Oktoberfest is a two week long festival held in Munich Germany every year.
• It originated in 1810 over the celebration of the marriage of the Crown Prince Ludwig and the Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghhasen.
• It has grown in popularity in the US in recent years with the resurgence of craft brewing and the craft beer culture.
• Before refrigeration, it was nearly impossible to brew beer in the summer due to the hot weather and bacterial infections. Brewing ended with the coming of spring, and began again in the fall. Most were brewed in March (Märzen).
• You are generally going to get some spicy flavor out of this one, but by spicy I mean spice and herbs not spicy like chili spicy.
• As for this weeks beer, it is Sam Adams Octoberfest, which weighs in at 5.7% ABV. This is also one of those beers that may change from year to year in subtle ways, so this years beer may not taste like last years beer.
• This years version is, frankly, a bit ordinary. It’s a good märzen, but nothing special.
• So if you like yourself a good lager with a bit more malt and hops you should pick this one up.

Next Week

We go back to the roots of look at Spaten Oktoberfest.

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