Oktoberfest, Part 1

Tonight's tasting:

Hofbräu vs. Paulaner. (can't find my "beer journal," so I'm just typing as I taste!)

Hofbräu tasting notes: unfortunately, the initial aroma is that green bottle skunkiness. Fortunately, it seemed to dissipate quickly enough and leaves a pleasant enough smell: a hint of malt, a sort of lager cleanliness.

The color is a (in my wife's words) shocking yellow. A hint of amber, but mostly straw-colored.

It tastes good. These folks have been at it for a while (since 1589, according to the label) and they know what they're doing. It's a clean, crisp, smooth beer, with that malty sweetness one looks for in an Oktoberfest beer, though it's not quite as malty as I prefer these beers to be. Quite fizzy as German beers tend to be, but not annoyingly so.

Paulaner notes: These johnny-come-lately's (only since 1634, the rookies) put their beer in the much-preferable brown bottle. The beer is a whole lot darker than the Hofbräu, with a much more intense aroma of toasty malt. It's a nice amber color, with very good lace and decent head retention.

Quite a bit more malty, and definitely a darker malt flavor. It's still well-balanced and clean, as you'd expect a German lager to be. Maybe even a bit more carbonated than the previous beer-- that aspect of German beers can get old if you're drinking a few...

The darker malt and overall malt profile is more hinted at than delivered, and leaves me wishing for more. At first whiff I thought I was going to really love this beer, but let's just say I'm still on the market for that perfect Oktoberfest.

I bought several more singles at the store today, along with a bunch of pumpkin beers and the odd fall seasonal, so there should be more to come.

My lovely wife likes the Hofbräu better, she says....