In April, Markus Söder (Minister-President of Bavaria, Germany) and Dieter Reiter (mayor of Munich) jointly, sadly, announced the official cancellation of the 2020 Oktoberfest, citing the ongoing coronavirus pandemic: “The risks are simply too high.” The last time Oktoberfest was canceled was seventy-two years ago, in 1948, due to post-war deprivation (temporarily replaced by a small-scale, small-beer celebration). And disease itself has canceled Oktoberfest twice before this year: in 1854 and 1874, in both years because of European cholera epidemics.
If the festival had occurred this year, it would have begun today, Saturday, 19 September, and concluded in sixteen days, on Sunday 4, October.
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Meanwhile, 5,700 miles west of Munich...
In 'normal' years, Sierra Nevada Brewing of Chico, California, USA (and Mills River, North Carolina) has partnered with a different German brewery each year to produce its seasonal Oktoberfest. But, in 2020, as with the Bavarian celebration, such a collaboration has proven pandemically unfeasible.So, this year, Sierra Nevada brewed pro se.
Our Festbier is a refreshing ode to beer’s biggest party. Toasty malts and German hops yield notes of fresh bread and floral, fruity character for a balanced, crisp lager that makes any moment festive.My impression?
- Malts: Two-row Pale, Munich, Vienna
- Hops: Spalter, Spalter Select
- Yeast: Lager Yeast
- Original gravity: 13.9 °P
- Alcohol-by-volume (abv): 6%
- Bittering Units (IBU): 28
Deep golden hue with a white head and good bead. Aromas of toasted malt, gently pungent flowers, and circus-peanut candy. Off-dry interior of sweet malt and light caramel. Spicy/medium-dry finish. Straightforward...and recommended. Going solo didn't hurt much.
Note: I purchased my tasting 'samples' in Atlanta, Georgia, on 4 September. Per a bottle imprint, Sierra Nevada had packaged the beer on 23 July, but whether that had occurred at the California or North Carolina plant was not indicated.
***************More Oktoberfests
Mr. Alistair Reece is a Scot ex-pat who makes his home in central Virginia, USA (arriving there after a detour to Prague, Czech Republic). And he loves his Oktoberfests. For the past several years, around this time of year, he has courageously consumed dozens of Oktoberfests, Fest-styles, Märzens, and American 'craft' interpretations in order to rank them by style fealty and quality, tangible and ineffable. This year, his top ten list goes thus:Caveat: Your mileage may differ. Mr. Reece tasted/judged only those beers available in his neck of the central Virginia woods. For his full list, his scoring and criteria, and his tasting notes, go to his website, Fuggled (the name of which reveals his additional affinity for British-style bitters and milds).
- 1. New Realm (Georgia/Virginia, USA) - Bavarian Prince
- 2/3. (tie) Great Lakes (Ohio, USA) - Oktoberfest
- 2/3. (tie) Sierra Nevada - Oktoberfest
- 4/5/6. (tie) Left Hand (Colorado, USA) - Oktoberfest
- 4/5/6. (tie) Von Trapp (Vermont, USA) - Oktoberfest
- 4/5/6. (tie) Benediktiner (Bavaria, Germany) - Festbier
- 7/8. (tie) Ayinger (Bavaria, Germany) - Oktober Fest-Märzen
- 7/8. (tie) Samuel Adams (Massachusetts, USA, etc.) - Octoberfest
- 9/10. (tie) Devils Backbone (Virginia, USA) - O'Fest
- 9/10. (tie) Warsteiner (North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany) - Oktoberfest
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- Pic(k) of the Week: one in a weekly series of images posted on Saturdays, occasionally (as is the case today), with a good fermentable as the subject.
- Photo 38 of 52, for year 2020. See it on Flickr: here.
- Camera: Olympus Pen E-PL1.
- Lens: Lumix G 20/F1.7 II.
- Settings: 20 mm | 0.6 sec | ISO 200 | f/7.1
- Commercial reproduction requires explicit permission, as per Creative Commons.
- As this post is a review, it's also one in my series of beer reviews: Drinking, again!
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