Because we all have leftovers to take care of, tonight I give you a tale of cleaning out the fridge. The victim: Sprecher’s Oktoberfest, a beer from Sprecher Brewery out of Glendale, Wisconsin. I have been to Milwaukee a few times in my adult life, and every time Sprecher has been my beer of choice. I actually carried 50 pounds of various Sprecher beers through three different airports at one point in my life specifically because of its epic taste. Fortunately, I did not have to go through all that trouble this time – a recent visitor to our home brought a few bottles of Sprecher’s Oktoberfest with them and left them here as a present for our drinking pleasure. Being ever-curious, I cracked one open for the sake of science and poured myself a glass to collect my thoughts on it.
Oktoberfest Brew from Sprecher
A lager, the Oktoberfest comes out of the bottle a deep, very clear amber color with a bit of a head on it. My first drink was a harsh one since the Oktoberfest doesn’t even bother masking the alcohol content, a fact that makes itself apparent in the aftertaste. However, this is a very flavorful and malty beer – it has sugary hints of honey and caramel, and is definitely a beer best enjoyed by imbibing in sips. It is a bit bitter, though I suspect that had more to do with the booze content than any hops tossed into the brew. The smell is what really makes this beer stand out – the aptly named Oktoberfest smells of pumpkins, honey, and ripe fruit. Couple this with the fact that it glows orange in sunlight, and you have a beer that reminds you of many of the awesome things October has to offer, like tasty beer. If only a voluptuous European would appear to serve endless pitches of it!
Overall, this is a very good beer for what it is, especially compared to the other Oktoberfest brews that utterly saturate the market in early October. While this is a very well done beer, Sprecher has a lot of other, and frankly better, beers that almost make this one forgettable. The Oktoberfest is a nice treat to enjoy a couple of times a year, but you’ll get tired of it after a couple of bottles. You can pick it up in just about any Milwaukee grocery store during the month of October along with other Sprecher beers.
