Tröeg's Oktoberfest Lager

Review Date 10/10/2023  By John Staradumsky

  Style: Oktoberfest   Brewery: Tröegs   Country: USA   State: Pennsylvania   $ Per OZ: $.15 (B)   ABV: 6.1%

I love the fall! Fall brings September and October, and these months bring Oktoberfest. The Oktoberfest celebrations in Germany and, here in Georgia in Helen, are legendary. Then too, so are the many Oktoberfest brews that hit the market starting in late August. This year I added a new one to my repertoire, and a very good one it was indeed: Tröegs Oktoberfest Lager.

The first sip of this beer screamed “decoction mash!” to me, and a short trip of the fingertips to the Tröegs website confirmed that this beer does indeed undergo decoction mashing. Decoction mashing is a technique most often used by German brewers for styles like Märzen, bock, and doppelbock. It adds a depth of flavor, toasty nutty notes that you just cannot achieve any other way. In decoction mashing, a small portion of the mash is removed from the main mash, super-heated to trigger a Maillard reaction which creates those toasty nutty melanoidin notes, then returned to the main mash. This can be done more than once in what is called double or triple decoction.

If you have never experienced the magic decoction mashing can impart, get yourself some Tröegs Oktoberfest Lager and see for yourself how wonderful it is.

Tröegs says:

Our take on this timeless German style starts with a traditional brewing technique called decoction, creating a bright, dry maltiness. A kettle addition of Hallertau Tradition hops adds subtle floral and herbal undercurrents to this toasty sweet Fest Lager. Eins, zwei, g’suffa!

Ingredients from the website:

HOPS Hallertau Tradition

GRAIN Pilsner, Munich

YEAST House Lager

Tröegs Oktoberfest Lager has an alcohol content of 6.1% by volume and I paid $3.49 for my 12-ounce bottle from Half Time. Total Wine sells it in six-packs for $11.99 or, better yet, 12-packs of cans for $20.99. My bottle has no freshness dating.

Tröegs Oktoberfest Lager pours to a brilliant copper color with a thick head of creamy foam and a nose full to the brim with rich, toasty nutty malt. Taking a sip, the beer is medium in body appropriate to the Märzen style. The rich toasty nutty melanoidins promised in the nose really pop I the palate, and this beer is thick, rich, and delicious with malt.

I am just loving the Munich malt character of this beer and the delightful notes imparted by the decoction. This is the first time I have ever enjoyed Tröegs Oktoberfest Lager. I can assure you, it won’t be the last.

Glad I tried it?  T