My first official Oktoberfest tasting: Weihenstephaner Festbier
Full disclosure: Weihenstephaner, which bills itself as “the world’s oldest brewery,” makes one of my very favorite hefeweisses that exist on this planet, so I’m going to try to be objective with this one. Their version of an Oktoberfest pours a light gold-straw color that produces a fair amount of bone white head, which dissipates extremely quickly. This beer looks clean and clear, but not the traditional orange-amber that you associate with Oktoberfest beers. The lacing is thin, light to medium carbonation. I immediately smell aromas typically associated with hefes — slight whiff of bananas, cloves, spice. This is an extremely drinkable beer, with a slightly toasty astringent hop aggressiveness up front that fades smoothly. This beer does not taste like a 5.8% ABV, which could spell trouble on pretty much any night for me. The malt taste here is very subdued, hops up front; almost more like a pilsner or even Helles-style beer than an Oktoberfest. Still a very good, refreshing beer, just doesn’t fall easily for me into the Oktoberfest category.