Belated Oktoberfest Beer Tasting: Leinenkugel's vs. Firestone Walker
It's been a while since I've blogged about my Beer Tasting 2022 project. My previous entry was almost 4 months ago. Here it is 2023 already... so much for the "2022" part of that title!
Where I left off back in September was with a pair of Oktoberfest beers. (Yes, Oktoberfest happens in September. For an explainer on that and other things about Oktoberfest, click the link.) In that round I compared a US Oktoberfest beer to a German Oktoberfest beer. They're different styles! (That's one of those things. Click the link.) I preferred the US's use of the older Märzen style so for Oktoberfest Round 2 I focused on 2 US beers.
For this taste test I paired the previous round's winner, Leinenkugel's Oktoberfest, with Firestone Walker Oaktoberfest. Leinenkugel's is rich and slight sweet, typical of the Märzen style. Firestone Walker is like the same thing but with the intensity turned up a notch or two. The Firestone Walker wasn't bad but it did taste overdone. It comes on too strong, like it's trying to prove it's the most Märzen-y Märzen that ever Märzened. I prefer the less in-your-face profile of Leinenkugel's. It's a good beer for relaxing with a glass all by itself or with rich food.
Where I left off back in September was with a pair of Oktoberfest beers. (Yes, Oktoberfest happens in September. For an explainer on that and other things about Oktoberfest, click the link.) In that round I compared a US Oktoberfest beer to a German Oktoberfest beer. They're different styles! (That's one of those things. Click the link.) I preferred the US's use of the older Märzen style so for Oktoberfest Round 2 I focused on 2 US beers.
For this taste test I paired the previous round's winner, Leinenkugel's Oktoberfest, with Firestone Walker Oaktoberfest. Leinenkugel's is rich and slight sweet, typical of the Märzen style. Firestone Walker is like the same thing but with the intensity turned up a notch or two. The Firestone Walker wasn't bad but it did taste overdone. It comes on too strong, like it's trying to prove it's the most Märzen-y Märzen that ever Märzened. I prefer the less in-your-face profile of Leinenkugel's. It's a good beer for relaxing with a glass all by itself or with rich food.