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Whether you spell it Oktoberfest or Octoberfest there's one thing that's for sure, there's going to be some great beer. Oktoberfest Marzens offer something special, there's just no other lager out there that tastes quite like a good Marzen. Their rich complex malt flavors combined with extreme drinkability offer something special that no other seasonal beer does. This is a beer designed specifically for a celebration. By pure design it's meant to be consumed in copious amounts and sloshed from heavy liter glasses in tents filled by the thousands. For this and many other reasons we look forward to Oktoberfest every year. But the question is, which beer do you serve at your party? With so many options which beer do you choose? Well we got together with some friends and put in the painstaking hard work (ok perhaps it wasn't that hard) to sample 8 offerings this year, both American and German varities. Read on to see how each beer fared.  1st Place: Paulaner Oktoberfest Marzen
Appearance: On the darker side of the orange/copper spectrum. Tan head, about an inch or so barely rising above the top of the glass.
Smell: A little spicy and less malt. Less lager smell as well. Very clean.
Taste: This is everything we look for in an Oktoberfest beer crisp yet malty, superbly drinkable a little nutty, just great flavor all around. It's not too carbonated but not undercarbonated either... just right. Almost juicy... we don't know what we mean, but we all agree: almost juicy. At 6% abv, it's on the high end, but it's so drinkable we don't think you'll care!
 1st Place...errr the other 1st Place: Weihenstephaner Festbier
App: Very light colored and a huge white head that recedes quickly.
Smell: Dry, light and crisp. A little sweet, maybe.
Taste: Okay maybe it's a little lame we have a first place tie but to call this or Paulaner second to the other just wouldn't have been true. They are both fantastic beers. Crisp, easy to drink and a little malty. Perfest for all day drinking. It packs a little bigger punch than would be expected for a beer this light, 5.8% abv. It's like a combination of a pilsner and and Oktoberfest... and we love it!  2nd Place: Spaten Oktoberfest
App: Lighter... gold to hints of copper. A bit of white head, but not much.
Smell: Malty but crisp... not sweet. A hint of orange zest.
Taste: Well as you may have noticed the Germans have a bit of a trend here. We can't say we're too surpirsed though, they have been making these beers for a couple hundred years. This beer is smooth and easy to drink. Nice malt flavor upfront but it dies off faster. Similar at the beginning to the Sam Adams, but drops off making it easier to drink. Starts off malty, but then you get a hint of the hops and finishes a barely noticeably nutty. At 5.9% abv it's a bit on the high end for alcohol, but is quite easy to drink.  3rd Place: We have another tie: Clipper City and Harpoon
Clipper City Oktoberfest
App: Light gold... Definitely the lightest of the beers
Smell: Lagery... Sweet and a little earthy.
Taste: Really light and drinkable... swallow it and it's gone. At 6% abv it's up there in alcohol, but the lightest to drink so far. Still some crisp malt, but not very sweet. It's a bit nutty even with a light caramel taste.  Harpoon Octoberfest
App: Dark amber to red with a tan head that really lingers.
Smell: Dry and lagery... almost like an underhopped pilsner.
Taste: Crisp, dry and light... very little malt flavor... bitter for an Oktoberfest. Flies through the flavor profile from malty to bitter to done in under a second. Super easy to drink, though, and pretty good. Hops on the finish, which is unusual for the style. By far the hoppiest Oktoberfest we tried! It tastes like an extra malty pilsner. At 5.5%abv, it's very well balanced.  4th Place: Samuel Adams Octoberfest
App: Dark copper... dense off-white head, which there is quite a bit of
Smell: Malty sweet, bready... smells like lager
Taste: Quite sweet on the finish, smooth, feels heavy, not a heavy beer, just heavy for something you're supposed to drink by the 1L mug. This beer does have a great malt flavor which is fairly complex, if it finished a bit less sweet we'd probably rank it higher. With 5.4% abv, this is right on par with what you should expect from an Oktoberfest.
Overall: Docked for spelling Oktoberfest with a "c." not really, but come on guys.  5th Place: Brooklyn Brewery Oktoberfest
App: Darkest of all so far... almost red. About an inch of off-white head.
Smell: Nuttier than the rest, a little toasted malt. You can smell the alcohol a bit... just a bit, though.
Taste: Thin with a mild taste. Very low carbonation. Does not taste like a traditional Oktoberfest. Mildly astringent and dry. The others got better as we drank it... this one doesn't. One thing Oktoberfest needs to be is a session beer, you need to want to have more and more and more. We wanted less after less than a pint. Brooklyn makes great beer, this just isn't one of our favorites from them
 Special Review: Avery The Kaiser imperial Oktoberfest (Not rated, as it's an anomaly to the style)
For those of you counting you might be thinking hey, they said 8 beers, and this is 9. Well you'd be right! We had to check out Avery's imperial Oktoberfest. We were a little apprehensive about imperializing a beer that by definiton shouldn't be imperialized but decided to give it a go anyways. App: Dark orange with a dark tan head. The darkest of both beers so far. Not much head.
Smell: A little boozy (it's 10% abv... it's what happens). A bit fruity, and some malt. Sweet.
Taste: Hoppier and crisper than expected. Not as sweet as we expected. It's definitely a big beer. There's a lot going on here. It's harsh and tastes alcoholy. It's definitely based in the Oktoberfest roots... but maybe this is a style that shouldn't be imperialized or doubled. Sadly our instincts were right and this just doesn't work, most of us didn't finish our glass. Nice shot... but no thanks.
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