This beer is #196 (Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest) on my list, but I took the opportunity to try this beer on tap today. My birthday was yesterday, and I thoroughly enjoyed the Goose Island Bourbon County Stout. My dad came to town today and we went out again to celebrate. We went to Bayern Stube, a German restaurant in Gibson City, IL. It’s a really interesting place, and since Oktoberfest is about to kick off, I wanted to enjoy some nice German food and a liter of Oktoberfestbier. We had a wonderful dinner, complete with a serenade by an old German woman playing an accordion.

Location: Enjoyed a big liter glass stein of this beer on tap at Bayern Stube in Gibson City, IL.

Numbers: 5.8% ABV, 185 Calories (per 12oz)

Appearance & Aroma: It’s brownish-amber in color and fairly clear. It had a huge four-finger head on it when it arrived, and the head fell somewhat slowly, leaving some nice lacing on the glass as I drank it. The head was creamy and cream-colored. It smelled nice and malty with a light toasty-bready and caramel malt aroma.

Taste & Feel: The body was medium and the mouthfeel was slightly creamy from the foamy head at first, and then was slightly crisp. Up front, the flavors were bready and lightly sweet caramel. These flavors grew a bit in the middle, with some toasty maltiness, honey, and buscuity flavors joining in the mix. The finish had a light earthy hop bitterness, but the toasty caramel breadiness dominated and lasted into the aftertaste for a brief minute.

Food Pairing: This went perfectly with my meal. I had the Prinz von Preussen – The Prussian Prince – which came with three slices of Schweinebraten, a pork schnitzel topped with mushroom sauce, one Weisswurst, and one Thüringer brawurst. I could not come up with anything that went more perfectly on this plate with this beer than the schnitzel topped with mushroom sauce. The bready toastiness of the beer brought out the breaded schnitzel, and the mushroom sauce went perfectly with the bready and caramel flavors in the beer. The combination of the two is something I’m definitely going back for again soon!

Overall Impression: The mix of bready, toasty, and caramel maltiness worked nicely in this beer, reminding me why these malty beers match so perfectly with cool fall evenings. Most of the time, the enjoyment of a beer has as much to do with the way it tastes, as the circumstances in which it was enjoyed. As for my rating of this beer, the combination of the German food, music, beer, and family, made it a tremendous evening. I’ll definitely be back to Bayern Stube again for this beer and enjoy this type of experience once again.

My Rating:

Reader Ratings[five-star-rating]