Beer of the Weekend #390: Schlafly Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest kicks off in Amana tonight so I thought it would be fitting to drink a märzen this weekend. And having written that Schlafly’s Pumpkin Ale may just be Oktoberfest with pumpkin and spices added, I thought it was necessary to find out.
The beer of the weekend is Schlafly Oktoberfest, brewed by the Saint Louis Brewery of Saint Louis, Missouri.
Serving type: 12-ounce bottle. The “Bottled With Love on” date is “08 15 2012.”
Appearance: Straight pour into a pint glass. The color is medium copper with an amber tint. One finger of light, eggshell-colored head dissipated to leave a lacing and thin ring around the edge.
Smell: Corn adjunct, sweet caramel, pale malts, toasted malts, sweet fruit (reminiscent of apple), and hair spray. As it warms it exhibits a very strange hop aroma, like skunky tofu. Not necessarily appealing.
Taste: It is something akin to beer soaked bread. Bread, pale malts, light toasted malts, sweet caramel, toffee, stick butter, light floral hops, and a little hair spray.
Drinkability: The hair spray always gets me. Perhaps it is something else, something much more constructive, but I always think of hair spray. Not cool.
Fun facts about Schlafly Oktoberfest:
-Style: Märzen.
-Price: $8.49/sixer at the New Pioneer Coop on Van Buren Street in Iowa City.
-Serving temperature: 40-45ºF.
-Alcohol content: 5.5 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: Probably giant pretzels, weisswurst, and fried chicken — all that traditional, Bavarian drinking grub.
-IBU: 25.
-Color: 14 SRM.
-Nerdiness from the website:
-As best as I can tell, my German ancestors were Hessians and Saxons. Oktoberfest, as I have probably mentioned many times, is a South German/Bavarian thing. Bavarians are not my kin but they enjoy their beer. I will enjoy it with them.
The Quiet Man’s grade: C+.
The beer of the weekend is Schlafly Oktoberfest, brewed by the Saint Louis Brewery of Saint Louis, Missouri.
Serving type: 12-ounce bottle. The “Bottled With Love on” date is “08 15 2012.”
Appearance: Straight pour into a pint glass. The color is medium copper with an amber tint. One finger of light, eggshell-colored head dissipated to leave a lacing and thin ring around the edge.
Smell: Corn adjunct, sweet caramel, pale malts, toasted malts, sweet fruit (reminiscent of apple), and hair spray. As it warms it exhibits a very strange hop aroma, like skunky tofu. Not necessarily appealing.
Taste: It is something akin to beer soaked bread. Bread, pale malts, light toasted malts, sweet caramel, toffee, stick butter, light floral hops, and a little hair spray.
Drinkability: The hair spray always gets me. Perhaps it is something else, something much more constructive, but I always think of hair spray. Not cool.
Fun facts about Schlafly Oktoberfest:
-Style: Märzen.
-Price: $8.49/sixer at the New Pioneer Coop on Van Buren Street in Iowa City.
-Serving temperature: 40-45ºF.
-Alcohol content: 5.5 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: Probably giant pretzels, weisswurst, and fried chicken — all that traditional, Bavarian drinking grub.
-IBU: 25.
-Color: 14 SRM.
-Nerdiness from the website:
Our Oktoberfest is a traditional Bavarian Märzen with a toasty malt aroma and slight caramel taste. This rich, amber lager is balanced by the use of German noble hops, while the lager yeast ferments cold and slow, creating a smooth, crisp beer.
-As best as I can tell, my German ancestors were Hessians and Saxons. Oktoberfest, as I have probably mentioned many times, is a South German/Bavarian thing. Bavarians are not my kin but they enjoy their beer. I will enjoy it with them.
The Quiet Man’s grade: C+.
