Beer of the Week: Beck’s Oktoberfest

Grade: C+

Some seasonal beers are like a consecutively mediocre sports team. Every year, fans hope the team will perform better, but will always be left with a sense of disappointment.

Beck’s Oktoberfest is a thick, dark beer that tastes a little too bitter going down. Fortunately, the after-taste is not as bitter, but still isn’t enough to redeem the flavor.

A thicker foam usually comes from a darker beer, but Beck’s Oktoberfest only produces a medium thickness when poured out of the bottle. However, even a good, thick foam can’t recapture a beer if it tastes too bitter.

I would definitely not recommend Beck’s Oktoberfest for people who prefer a lighter, smooth beer. I would personally recommend Sam Adams Oktoberfest over Beck’s Oktoberfest for the majority of beer drinkers.

People who enjoy stout and other thicker beers may enjoy Beck’s Oktoberfest.

Drinkers of Guinness Stout might find Beck’s Oktoberfest a nice alternative.

Oktoberfest beers will only be available in stores until shipments for the season run out.

This year, Oktoberfest officially takes place from Sept. 22 to Oct. 7, with celebrations in Munich, Germany, continuing through Oct. 10, according to Oktoberfest.de, the official Oktoberfest Web site.

The celebration of Oktoberfest started in October 1810, when Prince Ludwig of Bavaria held a public celebration when he married Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen, according an article published in BeerAdvocate, a monthly beer magazine.

Oktoberfest originally was an event centered around horse racing and an agricultural show that served substantial amounts of beer, according to BeerAdvocate.