Day 258, Sep 15 / Ayinger Oktober-Fest Märzen

Day 258 / September 15, 2011

Ayinger Oktober-Fest Märzen

Brauerei Aying / Aying, Germany

A

NG

P

G

VG

O

German Hotels and Tower Records

When I went into my local Total Wine last week and told the sales associate I was looking for a dozen German and American Oktoberfest beers, he immediately volunteered that his favorite was the Ayinger Oktober-Fest Märzen.  Having given out several recommendations in the aisles of Total Wine myself, I gladly took this guy’s recommendation.

Side Note:  As you might expect, especially this year, going to the beer store is not a “just run in and grab a six-pack” experience for me.  It’s at least a 15 minute experience, sometimes stretching up to half an hour.  It involves checking out the end caps and the specialty shelves for the newest beers, and then scanning the shelves for something I may have missed.  It reminds of another experience that young people of today will never have – scanning the aisles at a record (or CD) store like Tower Records, and spending time at the listening stations, headphones on, and reading the album write-up of an up-and-coming new band.  Nowadays, you can do that at home on your laptop.  It’s just not the same.

So Thursday night, I opened the 500ml Ayinger bottle, poured it into my heavy beer mug (OK, did you notice the special glassware for this beer run?), and noticed it was considerably lighter than the previous O’fest beers.  This was a little less sweet than the other German beers, and the hops and malt balance gave it a little spiciness.

So I’ll agree with Total Wine guy, and say this is my favorite Oktoberfest… so far.  I would recommend that anyone who is planning an Oktoberfest party pick up a few bottles (or a case) of Ayinger, and save it for your special friends.  I also saw it at Trader Joe’s for $3 a bottle.

While doing my web research, I found out a couple things:

• Ayinger is also the maker of the legendary Celebrator Doppelbock, which you may have had or seen in stores.
  
• Ayinger also operates a beautiful Bavarian hotel in Aying, about 30 minutes south of Munich.  Check out the pictures and I’m sure you’ll put it on your list of places to visit before you die!

So the scorecard is now slightly tilted in Germany’s favor:

		Germany			USA
Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest		G	6		-	-
Stoudt’s Oktober Fest		-	-		G	6
Duck-Rabbit Marzen		-	-		G	6
Ayinger Oktober-Fest Marzen		VG	8		-	-
TOTALS			14			12