Stoudt's Oktoberfest

Appearance: Goldy copper, quite white head
Smell: Just malt... smells that we normally find in lager... bready malt

Taste: Bready... in a good way. Malty, but not sweet. A little breadier than average. This has a nice bittering hop flavor. It's not a bitter beer per se, but it taste a bit more bitter than most Oktoberfests that we've tried

Why we like it:
1. A little hoppier than usual
2. Super easy to drink
3. We can't think of anyone who wouldn't like it

Flying Dog Dogtoberfest

Appearance: Darker than Stoudt's... More amber. The head is darker too.
Smell: Clean and sweeter than Stoudt's. Less bready. 

Taste: Sweeter... way less bitter. Very very smooth and even... good finish. Only sweet up front, but not in the finish. The flavor builds nicely as you drink and really make you want to have another.

 Why we like it:
1. So smooth!
2. Very traditional (and sometimes that's nice)
3. AWESOME label by Ralph Steadman.

Buzzards Bay Oktoberfest

Appearance: Rich copper color, off white,
Smell: Rich bready tones

Taste: Holy crap this tastes good. It's richer tasting than many Oktoberfests we've had, but still very smooth and very drinkable. We happened to get a six pack that was bottled less than a week ago, so it's pretty much as fresh as you can get. The downside is that unless you live on the south shore in MA, you probably can't get it. So why are talking about it? Because IF you do live on the south shore or can drive there, it's worth it.

There's a nice spice to it, we don't mean actual spice but the grain and hop combination blend to create a very nice balanced flavor

Why we like it:
1. Richer flavor than many Oktoberfests
2. Smooth (we say that about almost all of these but hey it's true and that's why Oktoberfest time of year is awesome)
3. The "spice" is a nice unique flavor that we really enjoy

Paulaner Oktoberfest

Appearance: Medium amber off white head (hey it's all the same style, so no shockers here)
Smell: Bready, a bit sweet

Taste: Nice malty sweetness a little hop spice, and overall a damn good traditional Okotberfest. We personally get a keg of this for our Oktoberfest party each year. As far as traditional German Oktoberfests go, this is our pick. We tried a few last year in a blind taste test and this won out. This is the first time we've had it this year and it still tastes awesome. Don't get us wrong, we love a good American Oktoberfest, but it's good to see what inspired those to be created in the first place.

Why like it:
1. It's from Munich, it's in the REAL Oktoberfest
2. Its our favorite REAL Oktoberfest beer
3. It's been brewed for over 360 years, no mystery why it tastes awesome

Berkshire Oktoberfest

Appearance: Darker than many others. Off white head.
Smell: A little sweet... a little boozy... a little bready

Taste: A little too sweet for an Oktoberfest. A little boozy for style. Fruity, and not in a good way.

We've had some great stuff from Berkshire. Their Coffee Haus Porter is killer! Unfortunately, this is just not up to par. Don't overlook their stuff, just maybe pass this one up. Dieses Oktoberfest bier ist nicht so gut.

Victory Festbier

Appearance: medium amber a bit redish.
Smell: Smells like an Oktoberfest beer... OK let's be honest, we've tried six or so Oktoberfest beers now, they all smell really similar

Taste: While the smell might be similar for many, the taste is not. This beer is VERY clean tasting, it loses some of the malt funk (funk isn't a bad thing, this is just different) and adds a nice bitterness that we'd pretty much expect from Victory. We love Victory and this beer is what we'd expect them to put out for an Oktoberfest. It feels like an american oktoberfest but isn't overdone in any way. There's just enough hops to make it feel like it's from Victory without ruining the style.

Why we like it:
1. Another great beer from Victory (we swear they don't pay us to say this, we really just think their beer rocks)
2. Little more hops makes it a little more tasty
3. Goes really well with food (even Kung Pao Chicken...which we're eating right now)

A couple months ago we began noticing an interesting trend. People who used to bring light beer to a party were now bringing Blue Moon, a witbier made by Coors. For us this is both good and bad. It's good because people are looking beyond a typical light beer, but we felt like people were missing out on so much. The selection of witbiers made by craft breweries is quite vast and we wanted to help showcase some of the other options out there. In our minds there were much better offerings than Blue Moon, but we wanted to see what other people thought.

Above: One of ourt tasters takes notes

In conjunction with our article, "A Battle Of Wits: Craft Beer Takes On Blue Moon", we're featuring 3 witbiers for your enjoyment. Summer is winding down, but it's not over. With a holiday weekend approaching we wanted to give you sampling of great summer beers that go down easy.

This month's tasting will be held on August 30th at Bauer Wine and Spirits on Newbury St from 5-7pm.

So, without further ado, we present you with our August selections!

Avery White Rascal
Appearance: White cloudy fluffy head; it's like Bob Ross in a pint glass...happy little clouds. Hazy very light straw color.
Smell: Light banana, wheaty

Taste: This beer is nice and light with smooth earthy tones. It's falvorful without being heaving in any way and is just plain refreshing. There is a nice wheat balance in this beer that makes it smooth. In short, this beer rocks, despite the creepy dude (rascal?) on the label.

Why we like it:
1. It's wonderfully refreshing... it's 93 degrees on the porch and this hits the spot
2. Lots of flavor for a light colored beer
3. It won the taste test












Allagash White
Appearance: Golden Hazy
Smell: Lots of wheat and a slight hint of banana

Taste: More body than many wits we've tasted. Quite dry, hint of lemon. Strong wheat finish. You'd be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't enjoy this beer.

Why we like it:
1. Another nice wit, simply put
2. Very easy drinking... We could certainly have a few
3. It's still really hot out and this helps















Otter Creek White Sail
Appearance: Very light very clear for style, white fluffy head
Smell: Sweet, lightly citrusy, wheat

Taste: Nice light orange flavor. Its the flavor we wish the whittier white had pulled off. And just by chance, we also happened drink this on another 90 deree day and it went down VERY easy. This may not have been in our blind taste test, but that doesn't mean it isn't every bit as good as the ones that were.

Why we like it:
1. Breaks a bit from style, not too hazy, and tastes a bit more like a regular ale with bit of wheat rather than a "wheat beer"
2. Nice citrus flavor without being overwhelming.
3. It tastes different and after trying a bunch of witbiers, that's nice
 

Our final destination of the trip was Stoudt’s Brewing in Adamstown, PA. Basically, we’re talking right near Amish Country. This isn’t so much a brewery as a village! There is a huge complex that includes a banquet hall, antique shops, a bakery and a whole bunch of houses we didn’t have time to check out. But don’t let any of this fool you, there is also a top-notch restaurant and brewery on premises! We grabbed lunch and each had a Scarlet Lady ESB, which we’d never seen before. Beth met up with us again right about now and, while waiting for the tour, we went to the banquet hall and had some blonde double maibock. It was a bold brew! We went to the tour where we had the pleasure of getting shown around by the owner, Eddie Stoudt, a lively man who loves the craft beer scene, thinks you should drink local beer and is totally committed to putting out a quality product.

We got to talk with him for a few minutes after the tour and it was a great experience! At this point, we had to call it a wrap. We picked up some six packs of Scarlet Lady ESB and Blonde Double MaiBock and headed for Boston…