Paulaner Oktoberfest Bier (6%)

A note about the strength of Oktoberfest beers from Munich. If you go back to my Left Field Mr. Oktober review, you will notice that I mention the alcohol contents of the Munich Oktoberfests as being between 5.5% and 6% alcohol, yet here we have a 6% alcohol beer after yesterday’s 6.3% offering from Hofbräuhaus. So you might well be wondering, what gives?

The reason is quite simple, really. For whatever reason, all of the Munich breweries bottle their Oktoberfests at about half a percent stronger than they serve them at the festival itself. (Or, at least, I’m pretty sure they do. I’m sure about Paulaner, Hofbräu, Augustiner, and Hacker-Pschorr, but not absolutely certain about Spaten or Löwenbräu.) So while the basic flavour profile you get from the can or bottle will be the same as that of what’s served on the Wiesn, the kick will be a little bigger.

Now, on to partly Heineken-owned Paulaner. I won’t mince words here: This is far from my favourite Munich brewery, and save for their Salvator Doppelbock, always has been. (Even the Salvator has lost several steps over the years, in my view, although I wouldn’t refuse it if you offered me one.) In fact, when shopping for the brewery’s Oktoberfest, I also picked up a couple of cans of its Münchner Hell ($2.80/500 ml at the LCBO), just to see if I was simply nursing an old grudge. I wasn’t; it’s still as generally disappointing as I remember it. Crossing my fingers, I cracked my first can of the Oktoberfest Bier hoping it would be better.   

Bright gold and pouring with an impressively enduring snow-white foam, this boasts an off-dry aroma that is less about honey-ish freshness than it is a mix of malted and unmalted cereal grain – not in any way off-putting, but neither attractive nor enticing. Drawn again to breakfast cereal analogies, I can’t help but think of a bowl of Grape Nuts minus the sweetness.

The flavour, on the other hand, begins quite sweet, almost candied, with light caramel notes and a hint of lemon drops. On the mid-palate, it grows a bit sweeter, but develops more complexity, mixing earthy honey with turbinado sugar and a touch of assorted herbs. There is also just a hint of phenols that develops in the second half and follows through to the finish, which dries a bit, but also assumes a bit of a watery character. It is also more expressive of its strength than is any of the other Oktoberfests from the ‘Big Six’ Munich breweries, particularly in the finish.

While hardly disappointing, Paulaner’s Oktoberfest offering is nonetheless a relatively simple and straight-forward beer, lacking in both depth and verve.

77 ($3.95/500 ml)