Dead Soldier
Shiner Oktoberfest
Spoetzl Brewery
603 East Brewery Street
Shiner, TX USA
Est. 1909
www.shiner.com
Brain Damage Quotient = 5.8 % ABV
Fluid Oz. = 12.0
Postmortem Brew Review
Clear amber color.
Biscuit and bready malts, not much in the way of hops presence.
Light fluffly near-white head with very little lacing.
Abundant amount of carbonation.
Medium malt taste and slippery/slick mouth feel on the finish.
Light to medium bodied.
Grim Reaper's Eulogy
I do love a good Marzen style Oktoberfest beer. They are the beers that were a gateway into craft for me, so very long ago. I have tasted lots of them by now and it is interesting to see the American take on them versus the German take. There are usually a few variances.
For one thing, American style usually denote the word Octoberfest with the letter "c" as opposed to the letter "k" for the Germans. That's not always true, as in Shiner's case, but it is a generality that I have noticed. Another generality is the American styles are typically a bit more malt forward; that is to say they are also a bit sweeter as a result of the amount and style of malts used. German Oktoberfests are nearly perfectly balanced with hops and malts on the front end and just a touch of hop bitterness at the end. I would also say the German Marzens tend to be lighter tasting and bring you back for more. They finish cleaner, too.
As for this beer, sadly it does not impress me much. I know that Spoetzl is German in origin, but in the end it was a bit lackluster for me when it comes to an Oktoberfest beer.
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