Beer Review: Samuel Adams Octoberfest
Malts - Samuel Adams two-row pale malt blend, Munich-10, Samuel Adams OctoberFest malt, and Caramel 60
Hops - Tettnang Tettnanger, Hallertau Mittelfrueh
6pk 12oz Bottles: SRP $9.99 | 12pk 12oz Bottles: SRP $17.9928pk 12oz Bottles: SRP $29.99| 12pk 12oz Cans: SRP $17.99
I’m ashamed to admit this but when I was underage, around 19 or so, my friend Sean’s older brother would buy us Samuel Adams Octoberfest. It was a guilty pleasure, an unattainable beer that only came around once a year when temperatures started to dip and summer was waning. Sean and I loved this beer and we looked forward to the days when we were 21 and could buy it ourselves. I thought it was bracingly bitter but it tasted like what a good beer should taste like. It’s not my first beer memory (my first is trying Rolling Rock at a very young age and being horrified) but it’s my first GOOD beer memory.
Flash forward twenty years. Samuel Adams Octoberfest is still around, although now it comes out in late July, a “seasonal creep” which many get angry at but I get excited for; it means amber lagers are about to fill the coolers. I don’t care that it’s 90 degrees out with 100% humidity, give me all your marzens.
Trying it now in 2021, I realize that nostalgia is a funny thing and that palates 100% change. What I used to think was bitter is now quite sweet. There’s a lingering red Macintosh apple aroma and flavor that almost overwhelms everything. Samuel Adams' aroma all verges on “sweet” items: toffee, caramel hard candy, fruit basket, candy apple. Then it’s mixed with one of those overpriced cereals from the health food aisle of the grocery store.
The beer pours a lovely amber color and is as brilliantly clear as any well-made beer. Good head retention. Flavors of the beer are similar to the aroma- lots of sweetness with more red apple mingled with digestive biscuit, Werther’s original and home-baked “healthy” cookies.
The verdict- Is it still the same amazing beer I remember from the early 2000’s? No. Is that okay? Yes. Would I prefer other Oktoberfests instead of this one? Yes. Does that mean Samuel Adams’ Octoberfest is bad? No. It’s a perfectly serviceable beer option that misses its mark slightly but come Lederhosen season, it’ll be there for you by the liter.
Like people, beer can change, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I find we cling to things not because they deserve it, but because they are wrapped around something we enjoyed, even if that thing is a distant memory. My entire beer journey is tied into Samuel Adams; it was the first beer I truly loved and enjoyed. I’m older now and see Samuel Adams Octoberfest as an excellent first step; the kind of beer you buy new or casual beer drinkers. The kind of beer you bring to a party (after all, Oktoberfest beers were invented for one of the biggest parties of all) and abandon it for another option knowing full well the majority of the party will be glad you brought it.