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Your guide to Oktoberfest beers

By , What’s on TapUpdated
People drink the first mugs of beer after the official opening of the 184th Oktoberfest, Munich's annual beer festival, Sept. 16.
People drink the first mugs of beer after the official opening of the 184th Oktoberfest, Munich's annual beer festival, Sept. 16.Felix Horhager /AFP / Getty Images

October in Munich can be pretty cold and uninviting to enjoy a beer festival, so Oktoberfest, the iconic, beer-soaked celebration takes place during the latter half of September. We certainly don’t have that problem here, so we can take our time and enjoy Oktoberfest’s beers well into our fall.

As always, there is no shortage of varieties, but they’re not all created equal. Some do the season justice, but others fall flat.

The process for making a true Oktoberfest beer that captures all of the complexity in malt flavor is much more complicated than what a brewer does for an IPA or a stout. Called decoction mashing, it involves taking portions of the mash out and heating them all the way to the boiling point, and adding them back to the main mash. This process generates compounds called melanoidins, which bring a complex richness to a beer’s malt character.

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Doing a full decoction process takes quite a bit of time, increasing what otherwise takes a bit over an hour to about five or six hours. Many brewers don’t have the brewing setup needed to do decoctions, never mind the patience. There are specialty malts that add melanoidins, but it’s a matter of debate whether that gives all the benefits of a decoction process.

Among properly made Oktoberfests, there is a big range of taste. The ones consumed in the German-speaking world tend to be drier and lighter in color and body than the ones exported to the United States.

Spaten’s Oktoberfest, for instance, has a sweet, honeylike aroma that carries through into the taste. That is a not a typical festbier for Europe.

Santa Fe Oktoberfest is more typical of what I’ve had in Europe. (I have never been to Oktoberfest proper, but I have drunk the same beers.) It’s got the typical bready maltiness, but it doesn’t have the same thick sweetness. It has some faint cherry and plum notes in the flavor that come from Munich malt, an important ingredient in festbiers. The drier ones are more traditional, but I wouldn’t slight the sweeter ones unless they’re excessively saccharine.

Among San Antonio breweries, Alamo Beer Co. and Ranger Creek Brewing & Distilling have Oktoberfest beers out.

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As in the past, Alamo’s is true to the style, but Ranger Creek’s lacks the complexity of flavor that makes these beers so good. Also, the alcohol is a bit noticable, as is the bitterness, neither of which should be that evident.

Freetail’s Oktoberfiesta doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of these, as it takes the ingredients of an Oktoberfest but uses a Belgian ale yeast instead of the usual lager yeast. For my taste buds, the result is forgettable.

Sierra Nevada has again collaborated with a German brewery on its Oktoberfest. This year it’s Brauhaus Miltenberger’s turn to pair up with the American craft beer juggernaut.

The result is one of the best I tasted. There’s a lot going on in the aroma, with bready malt and caramel. The body is rich and full without being overly sweet.

There are others worth a taste, such as Paulaner from Germany. Domestically, check out Odell Brewing Co., Pedernales Brewing Co., Real Ale Brewing Co., Southern Star Brewing and Saint Arnold Brewing Co.

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The offerings from Victory Brewing Co., Nine Band Brewing, 903 Brewers, Legal Draft Beer Co. and Strange Land Brewery all fall short for one reason or another. Ayinger Brewery’s brew has been excellent in the past but does not taste fresh this year.

Despite the clunkers to avoid, there are a lot of great Oktoberfest beers out there right now. October hasn’t even begun, so you’ve got plenty of time to enjoy them.

Markus Haas is the beer writer for the Express-News. He can be reached at mhaas@express-news.net or on Twitter via @saen_beerguy.

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Markus Haas writes about beer for the Express-News.