AleSchmidt Oktoberfest

Review Date 10/17/2020 By John Staradumsky

           

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. That is the opening line from one of my very favorites books of all time, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. It’s also the story of my evening with AleSmith AleSchmidt Oktoberfestbier. I very much enjoy AleSmith beers, and while we did get them in Georgia at one point, I have not seen them for a while. My only pipeline to these beers now is vai online purchase, and recently I bought a can of AleSchmidt Oktoberfest from Craftshack.

At the same time, I realized that I don’t have an AleSmith beer glass. This situation could not be tolerated, so I browsed Ebay and found a rather nice one. Glass arrived, beer was chilled, and I enjoyed both out on my patio on a cool fall evening. It was the best of times.

As the sun went down and the weather cooled, I brought my gear inside to my workbench/garage bar and opened another beer-which gushed out of the can and all over my workbench. Reaching up to get a paper towel, I accidentally knocked a drill off the rack-right onto my days-old AleSmith glass. It also took out my Monty Python Holy Grail Ale chalice, and barely missed my Maui pint shaker. It was the worst of times.

As to the beer, here’s what the brewery says:

This classic German-style amber lager has been brewed in Germany and Austria for hundreds of years, though it was made famous for being served at Munich’s Oktoberfest celebration since 1872. Modern versions exported to the United States are often labeled Oktoberfest and the name has become synonymous in the minds of most brewers and consumers with the traditional Märzen style, though modern iterations of the style in Europe are considerably lighter. Our take on this classic is characterized by a clean, elegant, and toasty malt character. Prost!

AleSmith AleSchmidt Oktoberfestbier has an alcohol content of 5.5% by volume with 13 IBUs. I paid $3.99 for my can but Total Wine sells it for $9.99 a six-pack. Just not in Georgia.

AleSmith AleSchmidt Oktoberfestbier pours to a slightly hazy orange color with a medium fluffy white head of foam and an inviting gently toasty nutty malt nose. Taking a sip, the beer is full malty with toasted bread and dried nuts. The malts are tasty but they don’t pop the way the German Marzens do. Tasty enough, but the “oom” is missing to go with my “pah pah”. I would buy it again, and certainly drink it again, though there are domestic examples I prefer.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I must be off. It’s time to check Ebay for another AleSmith glass.

Glad I tried it?  T

Would I rebuy it??

 

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled, Canned

(D)=Draft





 

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