Don't be too surprised, because it is time for another review! As I said in the last post, Coren got ahold of a ton of beer, so I'm just doing this in one big effort, one beer at a time. It is a tragic life being someone that drinks beer to learn from it and offer their insights, but I am willing to take up such a heavy mantle.
This time, we are looking into the Oktoberfest from 3 Floyd's, Munsterfest. For those that don't know the history, the beers given the brand Oktoberfest are required to be brewed within the city limits of Munich, Germany (sorry, Indiana isn't quite close enough for that one). They also must be made in accordance to the Reinheitsgebot, or the German Purity Law that says you can only use 4 ingredients: yeast, malted barely, hops, and water. On the latter point, 3 Floyd's was very accurate and used only those ingredients, at least that is what they indicated on the bottle.
The heritage of Oktoberfest beer is the Märzen, which is March in German. In the Middle Ages, the brewers had to make a ton of beer for the summer months in advance, like the month of March, because it was hard to make it then (no fridges makes room temp a hard thing to pull off!). When they would get to the fall months, specfically October, they needed to unload all of the left over Märzen they had left, so a party was held.
This party was used by a certan Prince Ludwig to celebrate his marriage. For this party, the brewers would have undoubtedly wanted to make something a bit more special, so we end up with Oktoberfest bier, something a bit bigger in every category. The Märzen party and Ludwig's reception merged into one at that time, and from that point forward, you have what most call Oktoberfest (the Bavarians call it die Wiesn after the place it is held, so who are we to judge?).
Now then, with the quasi-history lesson out of the way, which I hope at least one person appreciates, let's get to the brew!
Color: The traditional color of a festival beer is unmistakable, and they totally nailed it. A nice ruddy brownish-orange shows through the glass on this batch, but I'm always preferable to the slighty more brown than orange/amber colors. Still, a solid demonstration of the style.
Head: The style would dictate a head that is wildly strong and lasts until the party ends. They got this part right too, with a stupid thick head that has crazy levels of retention. I let it sit for a good 5 minutes (so agonizing to wait that long!), and it barely moved.
Aroma: The nose on this was slightly sweet and malty, but not as big as I would have expected. When this beer walks into a bar, it should stand shoulder to shoulder with them all, but I found this one's aroma lacking in the malty notes meant to celebrate the end of the season and Ludwig's wedding.
Taste: The malt is always the first thing you get from an Oktoberfest, and this was no different. It was very smooth and had a great sweetness to it, not to say the noble hops weren't present, because their earthiness helped to balance out the sweet of the malt. Again, the pieces were all in place, I just didn't get as much as I would like in the flavors. The body on this actually seemed to be a little watery too, very surprising for a beer with tons of malt in it, which is another aspect I was disappointed in.
Overall: This was a beer made in as much a way to uphold the purity law, but I found myself thinking the whole time that the recipe could have been bigger and bolder. The malt was there but not as forward as I would like it, which impacted the aroma's ability to draw me in and left the body of the beer a touch on the watery side. I would say this is in line with the style, but not the tradition of celebration. If you were looking for a beer this Oktoberfest, this is a good choice but there are some others out there that may be more worth your time.
Score: 7.0/10
As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!
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