Societe Festbier

Review Date 10/20/2020   By John Staradumsky

Here’s my first beer from the Societe Brewing Company of San Diego, California: Societe Festbier. I hopped on over to the Societe webpage and found no listing for this beer. I got my can from Craftshack.com, and glad I did; it sold out shortly after I ordered it. The brewery calls itself a San Diego tradition, which is encouraging.

Craftshack has this to say about the beer, which I assume comes from the brewery:

Fest Bier is crafted with Pilsner malts, Vienna, Cara Munich- from @weyermann_specialty_malts. These combine to support the soft pilsner malt mouthfeel of this beer with slight caramel & graham cracker flavors. The dry finish helps balance out some of the more “sweet” flavors and keeps you coming back for more. Our beer utilizes malts in a way that produces a lighter beer closer to the popular Oktoberfest beers developed in the 20th century and brewed in Munich.

Crisp and clean with floral and mineral notes introduced by lager yeast, this year's batch has a touch of lemony citrus zest from the Sterling hops which are supported by traditional Tettnanger hops.

American brewers offer Oktoberfest-style beers in either the Festbier or Marzen versions; some offer both. Marzens seem more common in my experience, though as the years go by I see more Festbiers. Societe’s version is a tasty one.

Societe Festbier has an alcohol content of 4.6% by volume and I paid $3.99 for my can from craftshack. I am not sure what this beer sells for in stores, I could not find a price for it online. My sample was canned 09/10/20.

Societe Festbier pours to a slightly hazy golden color with a thick fluffy white head and a soft bready malt nose. Taking a sip, the beer is smooth bready in the palate as the nose promised, medium malty, crisp and finishes gently bitter. A tasty beer indeed, not quite up to the standards of the Germans, but then few domestics are.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

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

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft

 

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