The Bar Towel

I am surprised not so see any Octoberfest beers from local brewers on offer at my local LCBO. I would expect at least a few to be out by now.

I fear the LCBO will go straight from summer releases to it's shelves being polluted with pumpkin spice.

Has anybody seen any local offerings? Could it be that so many brewers are so new and haven't been around from before March to have brewed any for this year?

While it's not available at the 'BO, Black Oak's O-Fest is drinking fantastic this year, and is well worth a trip to the brewery IMO. I agree that there aren't nearly enough local O-Fests/Marzens being made in Ontario – let alone examples that are widely available – and I feel the same way about wet hop/harvest ales (Amsterdam and Nickelbrook aside). Pumpkin beers are great, but I'd like to see more style diversity from our local guys when it comes to fall releases.

Tapsucker wrote:I fear the LCBO will go straight from summer releases to it's shelves being polluted with pumpkin spice.

Classic quote. Who ever knew the LCBO was so aligned to the Starbucks WASP yuppie set?

I think one year I bought maybe Brooklyn, Hofbrauhaus München and a handful of others - and it was a nice way to mourn the gradual loss of another summer as we embrace the Jahreszeit of heartier and cooler things to come.

The LC also have Neustadt 456, Beau's Farm Table, Aecht Schlenkerla Märzen Rauchbier. TBS has Erdinger. So buy some ones we do have!

I've seen Creemore's version on the shelves, and I think the latest Mill Street mix pack has a couple oktoberfests in it.

Belgian wrote:The LC also have... Beau's Farm Table... So buy some ones we do have!

Great point about the Farm Table. It too is drinking very well this year.

I had a growler of Royal city octoberfest lager in the weekend. It was drinking really nicely, much better than most of Royal city's other offerings.

It's not a style that very many Ontario brewers seem eager to reproduce in large quantities, that's for sure. They're hard to perfect and not much of a draw in the first place.

I'm not usually one to pump Beau's' tires but their Farm Table Märzen (aka the märzen previously known as Night Märzen) is a pretty decent one. Sawdust's Sagemehl Stadt Festbier is slated to show up at some point, hopefully within the next few weeks.

Creemore's and Mill Street's seem to show up every year, and they are at least passable examples of the style.

Paulaner's Wiesn is also going to make an appearance, and Hofbrau's Oktoberfestbier is slated to return, too. I don't think Ayinger's is supposed to be back this year, which is a damn shame.

As for local options, I know Walkerville in Windsor produces a märzen-esque lager, and I'm pretty sure it's a year-round offering. But their 'BO distribution is a bit spotty outside of SW Ontario. Refined Fool also released one this week, but I doubt it'll be available anywhere other than their bottle shop.

Well, while we're not in the LCBO or TBS, Together We're Bitter in Kitchener has BOTH a Märzen and a wet hop IPA on tap at the brewery currently. Both pouring and tasting really nice.

We've also got Craftoberfest coming up with around 25 breweries represented and around 11 Märzens being sent by the various breweries. So if you're looking to REALLY get your Märzen on, maybe that's where they all ended up. LOL We did some informal research and we think that Craftoberfest will be the Oktoberfest celebration with the largest selection of Märzens in the world: 11 of them. Apparently it IS a style that Ontario brewers are brewing.

Would definitely take a Marzen over any wet hop except for sartori harvest. I find some wet hop stuff just so disgusting.

DeMarco wrote:Would definitely take a Marzen over any wet hop except for sartori harvest. I find some wet hop stuff just so disgusting.

Well they can be dank and vegetal at times.

Although Sierra Nevada Harvest / Hemisphere can be wonderful stuff, IMO. They seem to have a good access to the crop in order to make the style work.

6-packs of Sam Adams OctoberFest are around. I haven't tried it but it's highly rated.

beerstodiscover wrote:6-packs of Sam Adams OctoberFest are around. I haven't tried it but it's highly rated.

Tapsucker wrote:I am surprised not so see any Octoberfest beers from local brewers on offer at my local LCBO. Has anybody seen any local offerings?

There was a lovely unfiltered Marzen at Amsterdam Barrel House shortly after it opened. Can't say for sure whether it is still on or not.