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Beer Review: Karl Strauss Oktoberfest
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I’m insane! I feel like I make that declaration all too often. Maybe so often that declaration is losing impact. I won’t delve too far into my personal life, one, because I do not want to bore you and, two, because repeating might drive me further… more… insaner. Yeah.
It’s your passions that drive you to such extremes, such depths. For me, that passion is writing and my muse, rather the person who has temporarily requested my services for compensation that I pray exists, is the one driving me batty. For you, that passion might be for a sport, say baseball, and what might be driving you insane is the results, say a team of mercenaries snatching a title, a world series if you will, or something of that nature.
In light of insanity, I will be reviewing an Oktoberfest beer… in November! I’ll let that one sink in for you.
We return to the fair city of San Diego (which, might I remind, is where the AP & BCS #6 ranked TCU Horned Frogs will be competing this coming Saturday). There the Karl Strauss Microbrewery produces some very interesting concoctions that you can find all around the area, from BevMo to Ralph’s.
This review will be for their aforementioned Oktoberfest brew. The pour is a crisp, clear orange-amber with a white head that lasted long enough for me to snap a photo. There and gone, I’m afraid.
Candy is almost how sweet the smell is, a dense caramel that's off set by a punch of coffee. Behind that, there are mild spices that do not hit me as anything specific.
Caramel over takes the palate as well and is accompanied by a toffee undertone that settles on a thin body. The edges tingle lightly of pumpkin then seem to wash completely clean of an aftertaste, but not with a crisp finish. The end is not watery, there is no dissipation or separation but rather it is an effect that keeps me searching. Once into the body a satisfying resurgence of butternut toffee is revealed, as if to reward persistence.
The Oktoberfest’s texture is certainly interesting. It is a light body that comes off as frothy, but does not at all sit heavily. That is in contrast to some fairly strong carbonation that brings out the harsher tones. I would have no problem finding room in my frighteningly slender (and pale) figure to toss back a few of these.
Overall: B
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