Schell Octoberfest Beer - A Microbrew Review

I was digging around down in the fridge tonight and found a bottle of Schell's Octoberfest that I thought I'd try. Hadn't had a chance to sample this craft beer just yet so no time better than the present, that's what I always say when it comes to beer.

Popping the bottle cap on this chilled 12 ounce brown bottle, I poured the beer fairly roughly into my 10 ounce bar mug watching as the creamy off-white head billowed up in the glass to just about a one finger standing. It looked rich and thick and although the beer's head receded just a bit, it constantly glazed the surface of the brew even as I started sipping 5 minutes later.

The color of Schell's Octoberfest was a bright and sparkly light copper rust. Shimmered just a little when holding up to a light with carbonation respectably present and well distributed throughout the liquid. Aroma was sweet with just a smidgen of "sugar cookie" scent to it. Overall, not a real strong smelling marzen beer but that's okay. I'm here to drink it. Total mug presentation of Schell Octoberfest was pretty nice. Nothing turning me away at this point.

Sipping down the first few sips, my first impression was although it was standard Marzen Octoberfest sweet, it seemed a little bit thin for my taste. Watered down may be too strong of a description, but just not an overall rich mouthful in my opinion. It was slick and went down the throat very smoothly with very little carbonation feel in the mouth and on the tongue. A slightly sour aftertaste was distracting. But I'm going to drink the whole beer anyway, what the heck?

As the microbrew warmed at about halfway through the glass, the beer took on more and more of a thicker, richer feel to it. It tasted creamier and became a little more rounded in the finish. There are no hops here at all but that's great for an Octoberfest beer. I quickly finished the last half of the mug and thought I might try another before the month of October is out.

August Schell Brewing Company hails from New Ulm, Minnesota. The brewery has been around since 1860 and has the pleasure of claiming many of its beers to be award-winning throughout the years. Schell's Octoberfest, as one example, won the Silver Medal at the 1991 Great American Beer Festival. There's actually a really neat overview of the history of the brewery if you have a chance to check out their website at August Schell Brewing Company.

My bottom line beer review for Schell Octoberfest is that it is a very quaffable craft beer, especially for this time of year heading into the fall. This Octoberfest beer can be consumed quickly and easily with not a whole lot of complaints from me. At 5.5% alcohol by volume, it's not over the top and won't get you in too much trouble if you partake in 2 or 3 at a sitting. This would be a great Oktoberfest festival beer and I think even better if being pulled off the tap into one of those great big German Octoberfest bier steins. I'll give Schell's Octoberfest 7.25 out of 10.00 points for the beer style and it's one I'll personally be having again, probably fairly soon!
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A Microbrew Review of Penn Brewery's Oktoberfest Lager Beer

I live right here in Western Pennsylvania and have sampled some great Pennsylvania microbrews and craft beers from all across the state. But finally, just yesterday I picked up an unassuming looking bottle of penn brewery oktoberfest from my local bottleshop. Wow, it took me this long to try out a beer from a local Pittsburgh area brewery? Yes, I am a slacker in some senses of the word. But of course, Pittsburgh is not exactly known for its microbreweries and craft beers now is it?

Anyways, this chilled 12 ounce brown bottle features a somewhat festive scene of a good ole German guy and gal in traditional German Oktoberfest celebratory garb (the guy hoisting only one stein of the German liquid gold while the young lady boasts six mugs at once. Pretty impressive for a young lady of any nationality. It's a decent label but nothing too extreme or off the beaten path of those found on many Oktoberfest beers. How much can you do with a theme like an Oktoberfest celebration in Germany?

I poured this beer into a standard, unchilled 10 ounce glass beer mug fairly aggressively. Not a whole lot of head frothing about or anything really going on here appearance-wise. I witnessed just shy of a one-finger white head on Penn Oktoberfest which really didn't hang around very long for more than a minute or two. Beer is very clear and a tawny reddish brown color. A very active culture of tiny bubbles migrate to the surface from every area of the bottom of the mug.

Aroma is not very assuming. Mildly bready and a mediocre malty scent presence. That's really about it here. There was nothing to write home about Penn Brewery's Oktoberfest in the way of an assault on the ole olfactory homefront. Nose is definitely average at best in making me want to take my first sip.

But sip I did. And my first sip provided a smooth but somewhat thin mouthful of beer. Sweet just a bit but a fair balance of hops to balance. There was not much zing on the palate even given the appearance of a high level of carbonation. It was hard to sense much carbonation at all in the mouthful. This Oktoberfest went down very smooth and very easy and it only went easier as fifteen or twenty minutes went by and it warmed in my mug. Only after a while did I start to become a little more annoyed with the thin character of this craft beer. There was a mild sour aftertaste that definitely didn't add to a most positive experience.

I tried this beer after a long holdout of sampling and reviewing any of the products cranked out by Penn Brewery and after this beer, may wait quite a while longer before sampling and reviewing another microbrew from this Pittsburgh microbrewery.

Aside from my experience with Pennsylvania Brewing Company's wintertime offering of St. Nikolaus Bock Bier, I just haven't been all that impressed with most of the others I've tried from this Western Pennsylvania microbrewery. I think they try, but maybe there's some room for one or two more "flagship" type beers that could help put them on the microbrew review map nationally. I hope the best for them as I do all microbrewers and craft beerbrewers alike. More good breweries means more good beer for us all to try and enjoy.

My final word on Penn Oktoberfest Lager from Pennsylvania Brewing Company is that it is an average craft beer, and an average representation of an Oktoberfest style lager. Nothing too, too bad about it but nothing all that great either. I just didn't feel this beer defined itself or offered any separation from the other Octoberfest beers available on the beer market today. Maybe next fall's batch will be different and better overall but for this year, I'm giving Penn Brewery's Oktoberfest a 4.75 out of 10.00 points overall. It would be good for tailgating at the next Steelers game however. I don't know the alcohol by volume, but I'm guessing it's somewhere around 5% or so which would allow for consuming at least a few of these beers per sitting or event. Cheers!

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