Comparing Two Oktoberfest Brews

 Hofbräuhaus and Warsteiner Oktoberfest

This week I picked up a couple of new German beers that I had not previously tried (at Total Wines and More). It's Oktoberfest season, so plenty of Oktoberfest brews are on sale (including US brands I don't bother with).  What I tried this week were Muenchener Hofbräuhaus Oktoberfest and  Warsteiner Oktoberfest.

Hofbräuhaus is produced by the famous restaurant of the same name. This brewery is also one of the handful (6) of officially recognized Munich breweries, and as such, has a beer tent at the Oktoberfest. This particular beer came in a 1.5 liter can and is 6.3% alcohol. 

I had previously had the HB Oktoberfest beer at the Las Vegas Hofbräuhaus. It's been too long to tell if there is a difference, but suffice to say, I liked both just fine.

Warsteiner is brewed in the town of Warstein in North Rhine Westphalia. It is a major brewery and is exported all over the world. I had never had much luck trying Warsteiner at various sites, but as I have mentioned many times, German exports are now much closer in taste to the authentic taste in Germany. 

As for their own annual beerfest, the only thing I can find is that Warstein celebrates something called Bayrischer Woche (Bavarian Week) in October.

The .5 liter can I bought is 5.9% alcohol. It has a smooth, creamy texture and I think the taste was authentic.

As to which I prefer, hard to say, but I will go with the HB. Maybe it's the added .4% alcohol,

Tucher Festbier

 

Tucher is the largest brewery in Nuremberg (founded in 1672). Since I was stationed in nearby Erlangen in the 1960s while in the Army, I am familiar with Tucher. To be honest, it was never one of my favorite beers in Germany. 

However, earlier this month, I happened to be in Montpelier, Vermont, of all places. Checking out a small grocery store downtown, I was surprised to find a can of Tucher Festbier (as pictured above) on the shelf. I figured what the Hell, why not? That evening, I had it with dinner and I liked it. Of course, it's been 11 years since I drank it in Nuremberg, but like most of the German imports these days, it was just fine.

In case you are wondering, it is a 500ml can and the alcohol content is 5.8%.

The Von Trapp Family Lodge and Brewery in Vermont

 If you have ever seen The Sound of Music, you know the story of the Von Trapp family, well-known singers who fled Austria after the Nazis took over the country. What you might not know is that the family eventually settled in Vermont, outside the picturesque village of Stowe. There they established their own resort hotel, brewery, and beer hall with an aim of reproducing the beers, food and ambiance they remembered from back home. Earlier this month, we spent a week in Vermont and had a chance to visit the location. It is well worth visiting if you are in the area.

First, we had late lunch- early dinner at the brewery and beer hall. As for the beers they brew, there are several varieties, including Helles Lager, Vienna style lager, Koelsch, Czech pilsner, Bavarian style pils, grapefruit Radler, smoked lager, and Oktoberfest. My favorite was the Czech pilsner,, which had a creamy texture and a big foamy head.

The Trapp Family Lodge lodge, located a short ways up the hill, sits overlooking the scenic mountains and forests of Vermont and is quite large. It also has a dining room. Pricey, but highly recommended if you are in the area. 

Eibauer Brewery (Cont) Berliner Geschichte Bock

I have posted several articles on the Eibauer brewery located on the German-Polish border. They have many varieties of beer, which I won't list here-you can check out their site. Several varieties are available at Total Wines and More. Most recently, I tried a can of Berliner Geschichte  Bock, which I liked. It is only in the last year or so that I have discovered German bock beers. This one is 6.7% alcohol and comes in a half-liter can. If you are interested in all the stuff about aroma and senses, check this Beer Advocate description. (I don't bother.)

Eibau

Whatever your taste in beer, I recommend the Eibauer products. The best bet to find them is at Total Wines and More.

Bamberger Kaiserdom in Zihuatanejo

 

We just got back from a week's vacation in Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa. On our first day, we stopped into  Soriana's supermarket in Zihuatanejo. In the import beer section, they had Bamberger Kaiserdom, including pils, dunkles and keller bier. I picked up a bottle of the pills along with a can of Karlsbrau pils (a brewery in Homburg). They had smaller bottles of Munchner Lowenbrau, which I passed on. 

While the latter was OK, I want to focus on the Kaiserdom. I have previously written about Bamberg beer and have visited the city several times. Bamberg is a famous beer city in Franconia, and is noted for its Rauchbier (smoked beer) which is not exactly to my taste. When I was stationed in nearby Erlangen in the 60s, one of the local beers I most enjoyed was Bamberger Hofbrau, which closed down in 1977. (I understand it has been recreated and must look into this further.)

As for the Kaiserdom, I really liked it and wished I had tried the dunkles and keller bier as well, but at 80 pesos (about 5 dollars US) I decided to pick up a 6-pack of Bohemia, my favorite Mexican beer, founded in 1905 by a Czech brewer who immigrated to Mexico. If you are interested the Kaiserdom pils alcohol level is 4.9%.

Einbecker Pils

 

I had always heard of the Einbecker brewery but had never actually tasted an Einbecker. Years ago, an American friend who had studied at the University of Goettingen told me that Einbecker was a really good beer. The town of Einbeck is located about 40 km away from Goettingen in Lower Saxony

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Einbeck

While shopping at Total Wines and More this week, I found that they were stocking 4-can sets of Einbecker Brauherren Pils for about $14.00, so I picked up a 4-pack. The results are good because this beer has the nice smooth taste and creamy head that we expect from a German beer. The alcohol content is 4.9%, and the cans come in one-pint size. Highly recommended.

Of course, Einbecker has several varieties of beer to choose from, and you can browse them at their website here. The brewery has been in existence since 1378 and is currently the only brewery in Einbeck.

A Word About Imported Czech Beers

I know this goes against the grain of this blog, which is supposed to be about German beer. Recently, however, I have run into a bit of a snag in finding my preferred German brands at Total Wines and More. Of all the German beers I have written about on this site, my favorites have been the Hoppebrau microbrewery of Bavaria and the products produced by the Eibau brewery by the Polish border especially the bock (Das Bock) beer. Most of the rest of what Total Wines and More offer are the well-known Bavarian brands in 6 packs.

So a couple of weeks ago, I decided to give the Czech brands a try, particularly the ones that come in single .5 liter bottles. In past years, I found that the Czech imports had been disappointing, especially since my visit to Prague in the 1980s, when I came to the conclusion, that after German beer, Czech beer was the best. Now it seems that the Czech beers have caught on and improved their exports as the Germans have done. I must say that I am very pleased with what I have tried thus far.

Here they are:

Samson dark lager ($3.99 a bottle) They also have an original lager and a Czech lager, which I assume are light in color. (I have only seen the dark lager at my store.)

 Lobkowicz Golden Lager -$2.99 a bottle

 Rychtar Lager

Platan Lager $2.99 a bottle.

The bottles are all .5 liter sizes and range from 4.5% to 5.2% alcohol content.

I should also mention that the store also carries some of the larger Czech brands like Pilsner Urquell, Czechvar, Staropramen, and Praga in 6 packs or cans, which I think I will also try.

*Update: Rather than post a new article on Czech beer (This is a German beer site), I will just update this one to advise that I have picked up some Pilsner Urquell, Praga, and Czechvar in order to compare them with the above beers. While I found them to be OK, I still prefer the above,  lesser-known brands in the .5 liter bottles. As always, that's just my personal taste.