October 10, 2009
Samuel Adams Octoberfest
A couple weeks ago, I heard a radio commercial for Samuel Adams Octoberfest. The commercial said that the beer had won a gold medal at some beer festival. It must be pretty good then, I thought to myself. I picked up a six pack of it recently and was looking forward to drinking some great beer that would make me think I was actually in Munich eating Kaasspotzn and Würstl. Although Octoberfest is a decent attempt at a malty, Marzen-style lager, I’ve had better. I liked the maltiness and hint of sweetness, but it also had an aftertaste reminiscent of inferior beers. I just wasn’t as impressed with it as the judges evidently were. How could they think this was worth of a gold medal? Either I know more than the judges that gave Octoberfest a gold medal, or I know absolutely nothing about beer. Maybe it’s the latter, but I still can’t recommend Samuel Adams Octoberfest when there are so many other great beers available.
Phoood rating: 
Please, if it's Oktoberfest...it's only SPATEN.
Posted by: Harold at October 11, 2009 7:15 PMHi there,
I work with Church's Chicken, and we'd love to have you on our media list to contact regarding company news, new menu items, etc. If you could please provide me with your contact information, that would be great.
Thanks!
Laura
Posted by: laura at October 12, 2009 7:29 AMas a beer connoiseur i make it a point to ask people from other countries, especially europe, what beer is like where they are from, and what types they like.
i've only been able to talk to a handful of people about this but it seems that americans brew their export beer to taste differently. the consensus i've reached is that if an american company tried to market budweiser in its domestic form in europe it would fall on its face. they have to make it taste better or no one over there will buy it.
anheuser busch and the like have promoted watery, bland beers for years now and as a result the average american has a taste for watery, bland beer (the same goes for the american palate when it comes to food, but that's a different story). contrast that with europeans who have been drinking good beer for centuries and you can see why they have to tweak the recipes a bit for foreign markets.
what this boils down to is that if sam adams isnt lying about winning a medal for that crap, the beer you drank is most certainly not the beer they served a panel of european beer judges. if we could get hold of some of that, maybe we could see why it won. til then i suggest drinking a better beer such as grolsch, pilsner urquell, or spaten. maybe even a guiness draught or boddingtons pub ale if you can find em.
all of my encounters with sam adams have been disappointing and at around 8 bucks a six pack thats just not right.
Posted by: static at October 21, 2009 6:56 PMi suggest waiting a month and getting the sam adams winter lager. i think it is their best seasonal offering
Posted by: andrew at November 4, 2009 2:23 PMPlease keep your comments clean and relevant to the food! If your comment includes foul or obscene language, it will be deleted. Thanks!