Hofbräu München Oktoberfestbier

Brewed by Staatliches Hofbräuhaus München
Style: Oktoberfest/Märzen
Munich, Germany

Bottle. Pours clear golden yellow with a hint of orange and a thin white head. Aromas of sweet malts, some hops and herbal notes detected. Good tasting malts blended with aromatic hops. Tends to skew to the sweet malts, with hints of herbs. Somewhat light bodied compared to other Oktoberfest beers, but still pleasurable.

[2686-20100111] 500mL bottle. Mild fruit peel aroma with lightly toasted grains. Clear, orange yellow body with a medium-lasting foamy white head. Slightly charred grains flavour seems watered down. Medium body. Average.
(From LCBO; Toronto, ON; w/ jerc)

I admit I’m fairly new to this beer reviewing thing, especially when it comes to imports (especially when it comes to rare seasonal imports). However, if a niche import looks, smells, and tastes like a run-of-the-mill American mass-market ice beer, I’d find it difficult to defend.

This is exactly how I feel about Hofbrau Oktoberfest – one of the six official German Oktoberfest beers. To date, every other beer of this style has been dark, sweet, and finely crafted. So why does this beer seem so typical?

POUR, COLOR AND AROMA

Before I even poured Hofbrau Oktoberfest I had to raise an eyebrow. It was packaged in a light green bottle and seemed almost clear from the outside. It poured to a bright yellow straw color and formed a very small white foamy head. The head disappeared rather quickly and left next to no lacing on the glass. There was an extraordinary amount of carbonation present upon initial pour and it never stopped until the glass was empty.

Perhaps what shocked me most was the smell: this is a genuine German Oktoberfest? It smells like some cheap frat party brew – just a totally generic “beer smell.” No malts, no seasonings, not even particularly hoppy.

TASTE

I decided not to panic or jump to conclusions. After all, this is an official Oktoberfest beer, surely the Germans know what a good beer is, right? Then how come this tastes exactly as it smells – like some cheap American bargain bin lager?

Technically, my only frame of reference would be Paulaner’s Oktoberfest which was a highly complex, very flavorful, smooth beer. Hofbrau tastes like the exact opposite. It’s just extremely basic, dry, bitter and almost salty. It leaves an unappealing aftertaste and doesn’t improve depending on the temperature in which it’s drunk.

FINISH

It’s rare a beer with an unappealing taste can finish clean, but Hofbrau is surprisingly soft. Since it’s highly carbonated it doesn’t have the cleanest finish in the world, but I wouldn’t call it harsh, just a little gritty.

BODY

What surprised me most about Hofbrau was how weighty the beer seemed. After all, this beer looks and tastes a lot like an American “lite” so it should have a similar effect on the body, eh? At a very potent 5.8% ABV this is a beer that will make its presence known. I’m not sure how many calories it contains but I’d guess it’s close to tipping 200. Why the Germans want to drink such a heavy beer with gobs of food is beyond me.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The American “Octoberfest” beers had been fairly average and underwhelming to me, but none of them were off-putting. So it’s very ironic that Hofbrau Oktoberfest would seem inferior when it’s one of the genuine articles. I can actually see this beer being a good compliment to German festive foods such as brats and sauerkraut, but on its own it’s very disappointing.

Purchased via mail @TheBeerBox Mexico. Golden hazy Body and lager-like head, with a hint of banana on the palate and and subtle floral hop pressence, very refreshing taste, really Thirst-Quencher this one, goes down really easy. Nice

500ml bottle, clean honey gold color, with a rocky white head, fresh mild toasted, munich, pale malt nose with some floral hop, straw notes and a hint of honey candi in the aroma follows through on a medium-bodied palate crisp honeyed, biscuity, toasted, pale character, with a mild buttery, toffee flavor, and some soft flowery hop earthy cloverleaf acents leading towards a malty, honeyish, lingering dry hoppiness finish.

Bottle from LCBO. Bottle. Clear yellow / golden color with a large good lacing white head. Aroma is moderate malty, bread and light hoppy, grass, hay. Inital flavor is ligth to moderate sweet and bitter, finish flavor is ligth to moderate sweet and moderate bitter with a average to long duration. Nice hoppy finish. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation soft to lively.

Bottle. Clear golden with tiny bubbles and a thin white head showing below average retention. Aroma is sweet malt, with some fruits (peach) and minimal herbal notes. Flavor is cereals, sugar, herbal herbal hops, cardboard and some fruits. Thin body with fa slightly oily mouthfeel.

[Tap] Pours a golden color with plenty of dense white head. Grainy malts and grassy hop nose. Taste is of bready malts and sweet grains. A crisp hop finish. Good body and carbonation. Lighter in color than a typical Oktoberfest beer. I was surprised to find the alcohol content in the 6% range though. I would have guessed 4% or so!