Spaten Oktoberfest
September 24th, 2007
Oktoberfest continues this evening with the Spaten offering of the same name. Spaten is one of the better-known imports (as far as these things go), at least around these parts, and I’m keeping my eye out for Oktoberfests of all kinds these next couple of weeks.
It’s a 5.9% alcohol brew, and this 12-ounce bottle is green glass. There’s a larger brown glass bottled version, same brew, different size, but the green glass is worth a mention because there is a hint of what I called "green bottle lager syndrome" in my notes, which is something I particularly notice on the European imports that come in green.
Appearance: Super clear, the color of a shiny new copper penny. Bubbles beading and rising from the bottom to a nice head.
Smell: Malty, though less so that what I’m expecting. Noticeable hops. A little bit of "green bottle lager" syndrome of Euros. Caramelized malts, "red" malts.
Taste: Soft on the tongue… pleasantly rich malts with more of a bite of roasted malts. Bready—a darkish rye bread. Noble hops and crispness are reminiscent of a Pilsner.
Mouthfeel: Nice bite, lower-medium in body… very pleasant.
Overall: Enjoyable and drinkable, a lighter version of the style I think.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores 82 out of 100, with 90% approval. On RateBeer, it scores 3.38 out of 5 and is in their 76th percentile.
One response to “Spaten Oktoberfest”
I’m also enjoying Spaten’s Oktoberfest this year. Had it on tap a couple times and was great. I don’t notice a whole lot of drop off in the bottle but *maybe* just a bit off… green bottle syndrome perhaps… but still very nice.
@ September 25th, 2007 at 19:04