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I like all sorts of collaborations as is evidenced by the amount of posts tagged with that title but I do really like cross country versions like this Sam and Schneider one…
Samuel Adams meets SchneiderWeisse for a Fest Weisse offering called Beer Garden, which is a great name by the way.
Firestone Walker and the fine folks at the Full pint want to do a Credit Czech in the form of a “Polotmavý Garnet Lager”. We are in a great time for those who love the gamut of Czech lagers.
Now that we are in September, I can commence talking about Festbiers in 2023 and I will start with…
Dopetoberfest from local to L.A., Crowns & Hops.
Second is the Oaky Marzen from Firestone Walker.
Lastly, the classic OktoCollab from Chico, with Hamburg’s Kehrwieder Kreativbrauerei .
Who will be the Fest Winner? California, the U.S. or Germany?
The Contestants
Smog City Smogtoberfest – dark orange in color. smells hoppier than the other two. simple and crisp. lots of malt flavor here with a bit of a spice kick.
Half Acre Lager Town – pours a dark orange with a malty and orange peel taste. a bit heavy to me with caramel notes. minerality here too as well as a viscousness.
Weihenstephaner Festbier – the lightest of the trio. bubbly in the glass. a bit of malty sweetness with a tiny touch of minerality. very clean and crisp.
The Winner
I think I have to choose the SmogtoberFest. It is the lowest ABV but also the fullest of the three beers.
Weihenstephan has added a wrinkle to the festbier this year. The ever popular 16oz can. The design of the label is clean and classy and I will be looking for this in four-packs.
Today we compare / contrast two Central Coast Oktoberfest beers.
Firestone Walker Oaktoberfest, an oak aged lager, pours a pretty orange hue. You can smell the malts from arms distance away. Crisp with malt taking center stage. Simple and straightforward. A slight metallic note at the back but this is a lovely fall beer.
There Does Not Exist Oktoberfest Lager is another orange gem but this version is say more silky and missing some of the crispness. I get an Navel orange citrus note as well that mingles with the malt notes.
Winner – This is a tough call. I would like to merge the crispness of the Oaktoberfest with the TDNE complexity. But if asked which I would get seconds of, it would be the Firestone Walker.
I have been holding off on the Festbier posts until now because I believe in seasonality and not drinking PSLs in August.
And I thought what better way to usher this beer style back into our lives, than with the Smog City version. Not only is it one of the better names, it is also a damn fine beer.
Time to get FEST-ive.
Sometimes when you look at a Modern Times label design or even just the name, you don’t really know what might be inside. Pretty, yes but not greatly informative.
All you really need to know about Tentbier is the name of Heater-Allen from McMinnville, Oregon. You know this is going to be a traditional beer. A 16oz can of Festbier that collaborates the Portland Arm of the Modern Times empire with a well-loved Oregon brewery.