Bobcaygeon Bobtoberfest Festbier (5.8%)

My hiatus from reviewing Oktoberfest beers ran a little longer than intended, as a rather nasty virus caught hold of me mid-month and proved rather unrelenting. Adding to my frustration, in the middle of it all arrived a couple of cans of a new Festbier by a brewery previously unknown to me, Ontario’s Bobcaygeon Brewing.

(I know, the Tragically Hip song is going through your head right now, isn’t it?)

Now back to fighting and tasting health, and thankfully still a solid week before the end of the month, it’s time to give it a try.

Presently located in what they describe as their ‘Innovation Lab’ in Peterborough while renovations to a historic building in Bobcaygeon are underway – although, according to the brewery website, for quite some time, as the building was acquired back in 2017 – the 2nd edition of The Ontario Craft Beer Guide by Jordan St. John and Robin LeBlanc reports that the company was founded as a contract brewery in 2015. Since a search around the Internet reveals that Bobcaygeon acquired Innovation Lab – formerly home to Beard Free Brewing – in 2019 with intent to “focus on small batch and unique brews,” my guess is that most of their beer is still being contract brewed.

Still, I’ve nothing against contract brewing if it’s done well, and my first impression of Bobtoberfest is that this is indeed the case.  

An almost bright, light gold colour, this pours with a lovely collar of white foam that proves fairly lasting and boasts what I would classify as a pretty spot-on New School Oktoberfest aroma, sweet without being overly so and robustly floral, with just a hint of candied citrus set against a backdrop of honey and very light caramel. 

On the palate, it is again Bavaria through and through, with immediate honey-ish sweetness on the palate segueing to a still sweet – perhaps a bit too much so – mid-palate with more of that candied citrus peel from the nose, a touch of herbal grassiness, and just the faintest hint of phenolics as it moves through to the drier, but still sweet finish.

Served at refrigerator temperature to quash the sweetness, this is an eminently quaffable festbier, one which I would have no problem supping through an evening. Problems arise, however, when its temperature begins to rise towards that of the room, which is when the sweetness grows a bit too much, even bordering on cloying. All of which is to say that I enjoy this beer, but wish it was a shade drier, perhaps with a touch of hop spiciness to drive the flavour forward.

83 ($3.95/473 ml)