Oktoberfest Beer

So I love this time of year in St. Louis - the cooler, crisp air, leaves beginning to turn, planning out Halloween decorations, Cardinal Playoff Baseball (this year is iffy), and of course, drinking Oktoberfest/Marzen beer. (It's my favorite style of all brews.) For a different website, I made a post rating the various Oktoberfest beers I've tried recently, and thought I'd share the results here.

I’m answering about Oktoberfest beers available in the my local market (St. Louis). Here are the ratings, on a scale of 1–10. *(On this scale, if you are under a 6, I’m probably not buying you again. If you are under a 4, I’ve probably given up and poured the rest of you down the drain. And nobody ever gets close to a 10.

* Left Hand Brewing Oktoberfest - 8.7
* Free State Brewery Octoberfest - 8.5
* Abita Oktoberfest - 8.1
* Ballast Point Dead Ringer Oktoberfest - 7.9
* Beck’s Oktoberfest - 7.8
* Shiner Octoberfest - 7.7
* North Peak Dauntless Oktoberfest - 7.6
* Old Bakery Oktoberfest - 7.6
* Leinenkugel Oktoberfest - 7.4
* Schlafly Oktoberfest - 7.4
* Blue Point Oktoberfest - 7.4
* Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest - 7.3
* O’Dell Oktoberfest - 7.3
* Sam Adams Octoberfest - 7.1
* Paulaner Octoberfest - 7.1
* Hacker Pschorr Oktoberfest - 7.0
* Two Brothers Atom Smasher Octoberfest - 7.0
* Dinkel Acker Marzen - 7.0
* Bell’s Oktoberfest - 6.9
* Boulevard Bob’s 47 Oktoberfest - 6.8
* Church Street Itascafest - 6.5

And the big losers are:
* Hofbrau Oktoberfest - 4.9!!! *I really hope for their sake that I just got a bad bottle, as this one was surprisingly bad. By far the worst Oktoberfest/Marzen I’ve ever had (until I tried the Morgan Street). Extremely hoppy and citrusy - reminded me more of an IPA (I’m no IPA fan!).

* Morgan Street Oktoberfest - 3.4!!! This one is horrific. Once again, Morgan Street can’t brew their way out of a paper bag. I’m amazed they’ve stayed in business since 1995. Every beer I’ve ever had from them was pedestrian at best, and usually much worse than that. Maybe their food is good. If you visit their location on Laclede’s Landing in downtown St. Louis, do yourself a favor and order a Bud Light instead. Or an Iced Tea.

If you have a favorite Oktoberfest/Marzen beer you want to mention, feel free to comment on it!

I generally don't keep track, but I've had about a third of that list and loved them all. Right now I have a few Paulaners in the fridge, gonna crack one with the football game tomorrow night.

It's one of my favorite styles as well, malty without sacrificing hops, very balanced and almost chewy.

If you get Left Hand, you should be able to find Duck Rabbit Marzen. Duck Rabbit specializes in darker beers, the Marzen is perhaps their lightest. I love them all.

Thanks Mosca, I'll keep an eye out for that one. I'm going to crack open a Left Hand right now!