Goose Island Oktoberfest (Brewpub Recipe)
The best domestic and imported German malts are used to produce our delicate yet complex bottom fermented lager. Its sweet maltiness dominates the palate but leaves behind a subtle, clean hop finish. Each batch of our Oktoberfest is cold lagered ensuring optimal enjoyment in the finest old-world tradition.
3.4
227 reviews
Chicago, United States
Community reviews
Flight on tap at the brewpub (Chicago, IL). Pours a rich copper hue, great fiery glow, pretty much transparent with a decent offwhite head, dies to a thicker ring, laces ok. Aromas are crispy and sweet carmely malts, toffee, toast, biscuits. Some walnuts, sweet malts, faint spice. Sweeter on the nose than I’d like, staying away from toastiness, spice, or hops. Initial is medium bodied, offering a bit of girth on the palate for a lighter offering. Sweet toffee, caramel, and biscuits. Some mellow light spice, moving into walnuts, a touch of red fruit, and lingering bready and sweeter malts. Backend throws just a touch of spice, yeast, no real hop presence, perhaps just a kiss. Mellow bland sweeter malt finish, offering some sticky malts. Not my thing.. Prefer a dry and hoppy Okt.. Dries out a little as I get further in to it. It was ok.
Ahh Octiberfest time. Bottle. Reddish brown pour withg tin off-white head. Hoppy aromoa with hints of spice. Toasted malts, hops and spice falvor. Good blend. I like!
I drank this one 5 months too late. There were plenty of live cultures floating around which added a psychological aspect to the drink.
Tap. Copper pour, minimal head. Toffee, caramel, and malt on the nose. Taste was slightly sweet and malty. Pretty good brew.
On Tap at Clybourn. Light brown watery almost like tea , white of average quality head . Safe flavors and aroma. Medium roasted malt , malty aroma . Clean slighly watery . some bitterness . Not all that complex, easy drinking.
Tap at Clybourn brewpub, Chicago. Amber coloured pour with slight head. Caramel aroma. Tastes of caramel, malt, honey and hops. Quite drinkable.
On cask at GI Clybourn served in an English pint glass. Dark orange pour with a one-finger thick head of creamy tan foam that slowly settled into a lasting cap. Heavy lace. The aroma had strong caramel, toasted bread, faint citrus, and also some herbs. The flavor was full of rich caramel and biscuity malt. A lot of citrus and noble hops on the backend. Not overly sweet or bitter. Quite drinkable. Medium-bodied with minimal carbonation. A very nice Oktoberfest.
Pours copper with a tan head, Smells of sweet malt and earthy. Tastes of citrus and tarte with a lactic finish.
Another solid American version that doesn’t totally impress, but is quite nice during the season.
20th anniverssary 750ml Waxed in silver via trade shared at Alesmith today with smokepot23 and others. This came out nothing like an oktoberfest, but came out damn good and weird. Poured orangey wiht a tan ring. Nose is sweet, taste is sweet, tart and probably turned or infected but i like it.
Bottled, 355ml from Westholme Stores, Goring, Oxon. Orange amber with slight white head. Heavy caramel body, clinging toffee notes, seemingly a little over processed leading to a boiled herby flavour. Most odd and unfortunate. A pretty poor Oktoberfest beer.
On Tap. Poured light brown with a medium sized head of off-white. Aroma: a mild caramel malt. Flavor: Nutty toasted malt and earthy hops.
20th aniversary Oktoberfest bottle. Pours a copper color with a thin off-white head. Aromas of citrus, herbs, and malts. Taste is suprisingly tart from citric acids, lots of lemon zest, coriander, and clove. Some Sour notes coming throught. Not what I was expecting from an octoberfest, but still great flavors.
Sampled from 750 ml bottle as Goose Island 20th Anniversary Oktoberfest and supplied by The Beer Spot. Pours a semi-clear copper amber brew with a nice off-white head that has good retention and lacing. Aroma of rich caramel malt, toffee, some flowery hops and a touch of honey. Taste is medium to full bodied, with flavors of powdery caramel malt, toffee and some light citrus. Finish is mostly grain malt with very little bitterness.
pours a dirty orange with aromas of sweet malt and wet grain. Flavor is dominated by maltiness. Not the best okto but certainly easy to drink.
20th Anniversary bottling...This poured copper in color with a thin white head. The nose was a bit sweet-and-sour with aromas of citrus, caramel and herbs. This continued into a medium-bodied beer with nice balance and a bitter hoppy finish.
(10/9/08) Draught sample at the brewpub in Clybourn, Chicago. Hazy amber color. Aroma of malt, a bit of caramel and light citric notes. Sweet malty flavor with some toastiness, fruity hints and a slightly bitter finish. Medium-bodied. Not great but quaffable and enjoyable.
Poured cooper with a thin off white head. Light aroma of malt and grain. Light body, it was a little thin and watery. Not much spice to it, I expected it to have a lot more. Kind of disappointing.
Draft at Clybourn. Poured a hazy medium orange color with an off white head. Much murkier than I had expected. Nice enough aroma of hay, noble hops, cereal grain, and honey. Light to medium bodied and slightly sweet. The flavor was similar to the nose; honey-touched cereal grain, hay, and grassy hops. Pretty good.
draft at the original goose island brewpub. i guess i never rated the bottles of this i had before they discontinued them. this draft version clocked in at 5.8%abv. pours hazy copper with white head. toasted grainy malt aroma, flavor is a bit toasted, grain husky, a bit malty. watery body. decent.
Thanks go out to Odeed for this one. No idea how old the bottle was that he gave me, but I could certainly tell that it’s been aged quite a bit. That being the case, I was a little afraid that this was going to be well passed its prime and I prepared for the worst. However, this turned out to completely shock me. Nice head with hardly any hop aroma that allowed the mellowed toffee character to come out. A slight amount of oxidation that actually lended a slight complexity to the roasted caramel malt. A bit of kettle caramelization did the trick for me and really shocked my palate as I was not expecting this at all. I really have to go against the grain here and say that I really enjoyed this one. In fact, this would be one of the best examples of the style that I’ve ever had. One caveat however is that I obviously had an older bottle that not only had been cellared extremely well, but improved the beer as a result.
Tap @ GI Clybourn- Slightly hazy amber color, almost no head. Nose is sweet malt flavors. Very little carbonation, good sweet malt body, not alot of bitterness or hop flavor.
Had this beer on 6/7/2007. Aroma is a mild roasted malt scent. Color is a deep burnt orange with light carbonation and thin head. Taste is a light and toasted. Starting with a light/medium body it goes down crisp with a toasted flavor. Finish is mild with a light caramel malt taste and very faint bitterness. Its a bit too light for an Oktoberfest.
Date: 10/15/1998
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewpub
amber, thin frothy head, sweet carmel malt aroma, rich sweet malt flavor, just the slightness hint of bitterness in the finish, the denifitive octoberfest
Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 5/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.1/5.0
Score: **+/4
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The score was calculated based upon the notes and an old scoring system.
The Dan Journal #43. Sampled 10/22/06. Clear and amber hued. Caramel malty aromas. Slightly vegetal. Medium and sweet. Solid breww with a nice even flow. Long and a little bit grainy.
Strong malt aroma with bits of acidity. It poured a deep muddly brown with a moderate head. Hints of both toffee and chocolate/coffee. A decent beer but not what I was expecting. It was all right.
Rated 9/20/06: Sweet malty aroma with a sharp hoppy nose. Dark bronze pour with a nice off white head and lots of lacing. Mouthfeel is crisp yet not full enough to reflect the abundent aroma and powerful flavor. Goose Island once again finds a wonderful blend of sweet creamy malts and complimentary hops in this brew. A nice all around quality here, fine example.
A slightly cloying malt bill lends a touch of too-slick toffee on the palate. Nice mild ending bitterness and nice head, color, and lacing. Palate, except for ending slipperyness, is full, creamy, and medium weight. Moderate sweetness and touches of raisins and caramel. Really quite nice.
BB 011707 12 oz. An aggressive pour into a pint glass nets a 1 finger, rapidly diminishing head. Aroma is weak, a little malt, perhaps a touch of caramel. Color is a clear coppery amber. Mouthfeel is moderately rich, creamy with carbonation. Flavor is a mild maltiness. Finish is a bit dry, with a touch of astringency mixed with just a hint of hops at the end. Leaves a bit of lace on the glass.
12oz bottle, courtesy of Monger. Thanks, James! Pours a hazy amber color showing yellow at the edges; fluffy, off-white head with good lacing. Light, malty and floral aroma. Medium, chewy mouthfeel: nice roasted malts and citrus hop character; lively carbonation; with a medium, citrus and wet malt finish. Very drinkable.