704. Dortmunder Actien Brauerei – DAB Original
Jun06

704. Dortmunder Actien Brauerei – DAB Original

After a long evening of hanging out in Columbia, MO for the evening – stopping at Logboat Brewing along the way – we went back to my friend Tom’s house to crash before the golf tournament in the morning. Tom is big into all things German, and has been there several times for Oktoberfest. He offered me this German bier he had in his fridge while we hung out chatting before bed. I have a bottle of this back in the beer...

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653. Brauerei Hirt – Hirter Morchl
Jan17

653. Brauerei Hirt – Hirter Morchl

It started out to be a bit of a challenging day, but it’s ending pretty good. We bought a new car today – a Toyota Highlander – and took the new car out to dinner to celebrate. We went to CJ’s to get some good deep dish pizza, and I was shocked to see this beer… on draft. Apparently they were having an Oktoberfest in January celebration, so they had this and German food on the menu. I also love that it...

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608. Hövels Hausbrauerei – Hövels Original
Sep24

608. Hövels Hausbrauerei – Hövels Original

I’m on vacation this week at Disney in Florida, and today, my family and I are visiting EPCOT. We had a nice day walking around the world showcase, and we stopped at the German pavilion for a Altenmünster Oktoberfest bier earlier in the day. I thought it would be fun to come back and have dinner here at the Biergarten Restaurant since it’s actually Oktoberfest right now in Munich. So, when our waitress asked, I ordered a...

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445. Mother Earth Brewing – Sunny Haze German Style Hefeweizen
Jul29

445. Mother Earth Brewing – Sunny Haze German Style Hefeweizen

I’m on vacation in Florida, and on our way down we stopped in Atlanta to stay with my friend Joe, to take a break during the 17-hour car drive down. Joe picked up a couple of local craft beers that I couldn’t get in Illinois or Florida, and made sure they were in the can, so I could drink them on the beach. Well, I’m not on the beach yet, but I cracked open one of these while sitting on the veranda looking down the...

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414. Urban Chestnut Brewing Co. – Zwickel
Mar03

414. Urban Chestnut Brewing Co. – Zwickel

After a long day of hitting a few St. Louis microbreweries, including 4 Hands and Urban Chestnut, we headed out for dinner at Dressel’s Public House in the Central West End.  Despite having just left Urban Chestnut Brewing Company, this was one of the only local beers on their list I haven’t had yet.  According to UCBC, “Zwickel, our flagship lager, pronounced ‘zv-ick-el’, is an unfiltered, unpasteurized, German...

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300. König Brauerei – König Pilsener
Apr19

300. König Brauerei – König Pilsener

My work travels have taken me from the Washington DC area to Miami, Florida this week.  It was almost a year ago that I was in Miami for the same project for work.  My coworker suggested a place to eat in Coral Gables, and we discovered it had closed, I suggested we try the Fritz & Franz Bierhaus, where we had dinner last year (and I had the Gösser Dark Beer and Köstritzer Schwarzbier).  The list of Austrian and German beers is...

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210. SABMiller / Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing – Leinenkugel’s Oktoberfest German-Style Märzen
Oct25

210. SABMiller / Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing – Leinenkugel’s Oktoberfest German-Style Märzen

It’s starting to get pretty difficult to find Oktoberfest beers for my Oktoberfest Challenge.  However, a trip to Friar Tuck after work netted a few new options.  I still need a few more, but I’ll worry about that later this week.  I was familiar with Leinenkugel’s, as it seems to be a brand some locals try when they’re looking for a microbrew.  I tried one of their beers once and wasn’t a fan, but I made...

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204. Brauerei Heller Bamberg – Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen
Oct20

204. Brauerei Heller Bamberg – Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen

I was at the liquor store scouring for Marzens and Pumpkin beers to meet my Oktoberfest Challenge when I came across this beer.  I could hardley read much of the label, since it was primarily in German, but usually, when it comes to beer, that’s not a bad thing.  The back label said, “Aecht Original Schlenkerla Maerzen Smokebeer, considered the classic example in its category, has been brewed for centuries in the baroque...

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196. Hacker-Pschorr – Original Oktoberfest Amber Marzen
Oct14

196. Hacker-Pschorr – Original Oktoberfest Amber Marzen

We went to St. Louis for the weekend so I could play golf with my dad tomorrow, and to go to Oktoberfest in Hermann, MO Saturday with friends.  I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to find beers to meet my Oktoberfest Challenge, so before we left, I reached into the beer fridge and grabbed the last two I had.  So, after a nice day out on the golf course, we got back to m parents and I opened this Oktoberfest.  When I opened it, I...

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194. Warsteiner Brauerei – Warsteiner Oktoberfest
Oct12

194. Warsteiner Brauerei – Warsteiner Oktoberfest

I got home from work tonight and reached into the beer fridge for another beer for my Oktoberfest Challenge.  Unfortunately, after a dozen days into the challenge, I’m running short on seasonal beers.  Fortunately, I still had an authentic German Oktoberfest.  The label says it’s 5.9% ABV and 11.2 fl. oz. It was very clear, and was dark golden with a slight bit of an amber tint to it.  There was a creamy head on it, and...

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187. Hofbräu München – Hofbräu Oktoberfest
Oct05

187. Hofbräu München – Hofbräu Oktoberfest

After four straight days of pumpkin beers, I thought I’d break it up a little bit with an Oktoberfestbier.  My picture from my post announcing my Octoberfest Challenge is from a couple years ago when I had dinner at the Hofbrau Haus in Las Vegas and had a huge glass of this beer. Much like the Spaten Oktoberfestbier I had last week, it doesn’t get much more traditional Oktoberfest than this beer.  I only felt like I should...

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181. Spaten Franziskaner Bräu – Oktoberfestbier Ur-Märzen Draft
Sep29

181. Spaten Franziskaner Bräu – Oktoberfestbier Ur-Märzen Draft

We were having our ABNormal Brewers meeting at Fat Jack’s in downtown Bloomington, and I was trying to take a look at the board to see what my next beer would be.  I had tried many of the options, so I thought I’d go for the Spaten Octoberfest, since I hadn’t written that one up yet – despite the fact that it was not yet October.  However, it did give me an idea for the month of October, which I’ll...

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